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Environment
Sukhbir Sandhu, Associate Professor in Sustainability, University of South Australia

Individual action on climate was tarred as greenwashing or virtue signalling. But it still has a place

j.chizhe/Shutterstock

Two decades ago, the fight against climate change was often framed as a personal choice. You might try to reduce your carbon footprint by avoiding flights or change your buying habits to avoid meat or reduce plastic.

But this approach lost popularity, as it shifted responsibility from producer to consumer. The carbon footprint, for instance, was famously popularised by oil company BP. In 2008, well-known American climate activist Bill McKibben pointed out the impotence of individual action without collective action.

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