‘Don’t eat meat on Mondays, don’t run the tap while you brush your teeth, use a reusable water bottle and straw.’ We are constantly reminded of sacrifices to make for the environment, while the richest of the world take 17 minute private plane rides and billion dollar corporations dump tonnes of trash into our oceans.
The responsibility of saving the environment is placed upon the shoulders of the working class, even though our individual attempts to help the environment make little difference due to the polluting habits of celebrities and billionaires.
We are once again bearing witness to the increasingly devastating effects of climate change as LA was recently ravaged by wildfires, while the UK and Ireland got hit with the most powerful storm in decades. Extreme weather is now our new reality that we are forced to accept, as we are reminded of the consequences of decades of polluting and carbon emissions. But who is really responsible for this?
According to the Environmental Science Report, an average human will emit 0.5-20 tonnes of CO2 per year. In comparison, Taylor Swift’s private jet emitted a total of 10,000 tonnes last year. Other celebrities such as Jay-Z, Travis Scott, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, the latter of which was labelled a ‘climate criminal’ for taking a 17 minute plane journey, which emitted 1,800 times more CO2 than the average human just from their private plane use.
A study on global inequality by The Guardian found that the richest 1% of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%. At that point you ask yourself, what will cycling to work or cutting meat out of my diet do for the environment? The answer is, probably not a lot.
At Times Square, millions of people walking to work are confronted with an enormous countdown clock, reminding us how long we have left until climate change becomes irreversible. Amongst young people, ‘climate anxiety’ is on the rise, with students feeling demotivated and hopeless about their future due to the uncertain future that climate change poses. At the University of York students were questioned if they felt anxiety about the future due to climate change, over 76% of the 88 students answered ‘yes.’
So why are ordinary people shouldering the burden and anxieties of climate change, while we are met with complete disregard from companies, politicians and people that could enact real change?
Instead of guilt tripping people for taking a 30 minute shower and failing to recycle a plastic water bottle, hold those accountable who have irreversibly damaged the planet for profit and their superficial interests.
Climate change should not solely be the responsibility of the working class, it should be the responsibility of the wealthiest in society who have exploited workers, natural resources and the planet without any regard for consequences.