Uniting Against Climate Change: How Collective Action Can Make a Real Difference

In the face of the climate crisis, it’s time for us to come together and make waves. Jessica Brown explores why collective action is the key to making a meaningful impact.

Think Global, Act Local: A Lesson from the Pandemic

I’m not usually one for catchphrases, but this year has made me appreciate the saying “Think global, act local.” It’s been a source of pride for our team of millions fighting against the pandemic and economic collapse. We’ve been buying local and battling Covid at our borders. This approach has worked for us, but what about the climate crisis?

The Problem with Thinking Globally

Thinking globally can make the climate crisis feel remote and distant. It’s melting ice caps in faraway lands for future generations. This perspective can make us feel unengaged, powerless, and uncaring. However, thinking about climate change at a community level can help. According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, we need reminders that climate change is happening here and now, harming people and ecosystems. We need to share stories of its impact on food, farms, and fashion.

The Limitations of Acting Locally

We’re told that we’re to blame for heating the planet and that we can fix it by living a sustainable life. But expecting everyone to do all the right things all the time is unrealistic. According to scientists like Dr. Katharine Wilkinson from Project Drawdown, we need to think bigger than ourselves. We’re each only responsible for a small portion of emissions, and focusing solely on that limits our impact. Instead, we should ask ourselves, “How can I make waves much larger than myself?”

From Individual Action to Collective Impact

Growing up in the ’90s, I believed that collective willpower was all we needed to combat environmental threats. However, I’ve learned that bottom lines and greenwashing often hold more sway. The Australian bushfires of 2019 were a turning point for me. The devastation was agonizing, and the impact was visceral. People were standing up for the climate, and it moved me to act.

I wanted to make a difference, but navigating the advice on living a climate-friendly lifestyle was confusing and full of virtue signaling. I realized that my individual actions weren’t having the scale of impact I thought they were. The climate crisis isn’t just about one person—it’s about everyone. The only way to have a genuinely significant impact is to help others reduce their emissions too.

Rethinking Climate Action

Effective climate action isn’t just about individual choices; it’s about influencing wider change. It’s about telling others why you’re making certain choices and how it makes you feel. It’s about rallying, voting, sharing resources, and funding low-carbon projects. For me, this meant setting up Co-Benefits, a non-profit organization that helps fund low-carbon projects and build resilience in vulnerable communities.

We’re proving that you don’t have to upend your life to have a significant positive impact. Helping others reduce their emissions while working on reducing your own can make a massive difference. Fires, tweet battles, and a newly launched non-profit later, it turns out life is a little more nuanced than any old adage that slips off the tongue. “Think global, act local” may not be the motto we need to tackle the climate crisis, but collective action certainly is.