Climate: You Act. Then Make Them Act.

The climate is collapsing, and everyone’s still arguing over who should go first. Is it up to individuals to change their habits, or should governments and corporations lead the charge?

Here’s the answer: yes.

Both. Always both. And the longer we pretend it’s one or the other, the worse it gets.

New research from the World Resources Institute spells it out: individual actions matter — but without systemic shifts, they’re a drop in the carbon-soaked ocean. And without individual pressure, those systems never change. It’s not a choice between recycling and revolution. It’s the realisation that real change needs both.

This Time it's Personal 

Let’s start with what we were sold: the “personal carbon footprint.”

Sounds empowering, right? But it wasn’t invented to empower anyone. It was a PR stunt by BP — yes, the oil giant — to get people pointing fingers at their own shopping habits instead of fossil fuel companies. It worked. For twenty years, we’ve been arguing over plastic straws while oil rigs drill, forests fall, and the beef industry belches methane into the sky.

Now we’re seeing the legacy. Governments delay action. NGOs talk about emissions without naming animal agriculture. Environmentalists refuse to mention meat. And everyone’s still asking what individuals can do — as if this mess was made by someone forgetting to compost.

Meanwhile, the biggest driver of deforestation, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and biodiversity loss is treated like a taboo. Animal agriculture is the methane-belching elephant in the room. And still, most campaigns are about banning balloons.

Yes, Your Burger Is the Problem

Your lunch matters. The UN says it. So does WRI. Plant-based diets use less water, less land, less energy, and produce fewer emissions — massively fewer. cow and lamb flesh are the worst offenders. Cutting them from your diet makes a bigger difference than switching to local or organic food.

The numbers don’t lie. Fully plantbased can save nearly 1 tonne of CO₂ a year per person. That’s 1/6 of the average global citizen’s emissions. Even reducing meat catches 40% of that impact. Now multiply that by billions. Now imagine if institutions — hospitals, schools, governments — made plant-based food the default. That’s not wishful thinking. That’s climate strategy.

But instead, we get greenwashed nonsense about “regenerative” beef and “sustainable” slaughter.

There’s no such thing. Grass-fed beef isn’t a climate solution — it’s a marketing scam. It uses more land, emits more carbon, and destroys more habitats. The beef industry has known this since the 1980s. And like the tobacco industry before them, they chose to lie.

They lobbied. They funded denial. They silenced the science. And it worked. Today, 74% of Americans still believe eating less meat won’t help the climate. That’s not public ignorance. That’s decades of corporate disinformation.

Systemic Change Isn’t Coming — Unless We Force It

Let’s talk about governments.

Politicians love buzzwords like “net zero,” “future innovation,” and “green investment.” What they hate? Changing their own behaviour.

A new UK study found that even MPs who accept the science won’t model low-carbon habits. Why? Because they’re scared of looking “judgemental.” Scared of being mocked. Scared of the Prince Harry effect — being called a hypocrite for flying while talking about climate.

Instead of learning the obvious lesson (“Don’t fly private”), they’ve chosen a different one: stay quiet, do nothing, let the planet burn.

Only two MPs interviewed were willing to publicly talk about their own attempts to cut carbon. The rest stayed silent. They’d rather be seen doing nothing than risk being seen doing the right thing imperfectly.

This is cowardice dressed up as caution. And it’s costing us everything.

Imagine if health ministers refused to eat fruit in public in case it offended crisp lovers. Or if transport ministers were scared of trains. That’s where we are. And it’s pathetic.

NGOs Are Scared of the Truth, Too

You’d think environmental NGOs would be braver. Think again.

A study of over 100 organisations found that 92% of their staff agree animal farming is key to climate collapse. But only 11% make it a campaign priority. Just 2% actively promote plant-based diets.

Why? Because it’s “not their job.” Because they don’t want to offend donors. Because they’d rather fight over solar panels than touch the sacred cow of flesh.

It’s not ignorance. It’s cowardice. They know the science. They just won’t say it out loud.

Some even admitted they’d speak up if someone else “made it easier.” You know, with pre-packaged graphics and standard messaging. In other words: “We’ll do something when it’s trendy and risk-free.”

Meanwhile, forests are razed. Oceans are emptied. 

This Isn’t About Being Perfect. It’s About Being Honest.

The WRI’s report gets one thing exactly right: you can’t unlock the full potential of climate action with personal change alone. At most, you get 10%. The other 90% is systemic. And systems don’t change unless we pressure them.

That means campaigns, petitions, protests, school menu reforms, political demands. It means doing more than swapping a steak for tofu — it means helping others do the same. It means normalising it.

And that starts with visibility. Because right now, silence is killing us. When politicians, NGOs, and public figures avoid the issue, it sends one message: eating animals is normal. Anything else is fringe.

That’s a lie. It’s also a choice. And it can change.

So eat plant-based. Speak up. Demand plant-based meals at your school, your hospital, your workplace. Join groups. Start campaigns. Back the companies making alternatives. And never let cowardice go unchallenged.

We’ve wasted decades waiting for someone else to act. We’ve been sold distraction, delay, and deflection. But the science is in. The tools exist. The future’s on the line.

So stop waiting.