I do sometimes suffer from real eco anxiety but it doesn't help in any way so I'm trying to focus on the positives and what progress is being made and what we can do.
YABU to expect more of everyone (in Britain) We do have an amazing standard of living, one of the best in the world. Most ordinary people have struggles and worries but most of us do have a roof over our heads, enough food and enough heat. This is more than most people have had in human history. But there are people who struggle to get by; who live from payday to payday and who spend all their waking time working and don't have the time to forgo convenience for the sake of the planet. They shouldn't feel the burden of having to make the changes. And I feel that often the biggest changes we can make (less processed food, reusable nappies, 1 car households) have a disproportionate impact on women.
So many of us do consume far too much though and everything we buy increases our carbon footprint or adds some pollution to the earth. Life's changed so much from when I was a kid in the 80's. For so many there's now an expectation that households should have 2+ newish cars, kitchens and bathrooms should be updated every 10 years, more than one foreign holiday every year and whatever processed food we want. So different to what we grew up with. A new B&M opened near me recently, I walked round it the other day and it just has so much unnecessary crap. Most of which will be bought, discarded and forgotten about within a year.
As a county our impact on the climate is small. On a per capita basis it's probably one of the highest in the world. Previous posters have mentioned the fact that India and China have a big impact - but combined they include nearly half the world's population. On a per capita basis, China's emissions are less than half the US. The mindset that what I do doesn't have enough impact to make a difference so I'm not going to do everything is infuriating. No point doing anything then - give up donating to charity, paying taxes, start shoplifting and flytipping if that's the case. Except if everyone did it, life would be pretty shit. People who fly abroad on holiday more than once a year and drive a 4 x 4 but have an eco coffee cup should probably stop and think about how they could sacrifice a bit more.
And we're making these choices on behalf of the people who will be most impacted by climate change. The average person in Bangladesh is contributing far less to the problem that we are but will be far more impacted - the Marshall Islands representative to the UN described the potential crisis as climate genocide.
I'm being optimistic and believing that the tide of consumerism is slowly changing. Attitudes have shifted hugely in the past year and will continue to do so. Humans have flourished as a species because we're creative, adaptable and resourceful. As women get more power and more access to education and contraception, fertility levels will fall and the world's population will start to level off. As more governments declare climate emergencies, more trees will be planted and they will capture more carbon and slow the sixth mass extinction, transport options will become more sustainable and hopefully communities will be planned to be more liveable so people don't feel the need to drive everywhere. Technology will become cleaner and more efficient - I read an article about hydrogen trains in Germany today that gives me real hope. I hope Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle will become more common and the obsession with new stuff will abate. Our grandparents and parents got by with far less than we have and I don't think we can say we're happier because we have more stuff.
Rambling....life will change vastly. It must. Earth can't sustain our way of life as it is. But humans will be able to avert the crisis before it's too late and to do it in a way that means civilization won't end, life will just look very different in 100 year's time - as it should.