Climate Change have we given up caring

[dwordle]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/nov/11/the-world-we-know-is-over-marshall-islands-president-cop31

Pretty depressing read

Well when oh when will we make manafactureres of products more accountable? le for plastic packaging their products? Surely a major thing there would help reduce petrochemicals from plastic production.. i feel limited by what I’m able to do within the demands of having a job, keeping a mostly clean home children, and marriage..

Well the Green Party certainly have, so where does that leave the rest of us?

I wonder what type of world is being left for the coming generations. These dates are now on the horizon and even people my age are seeing the results.

What on earth are we doing and the frustration is we as individuals can't do anything about it. I think we've actually gone backwards.

I really share your concerns - I think there used to be political consensus on the urgency of climate action but at some point (I genuinely couldn’t pin point when) it seems to have been turned into a wedge issue and it’s as if caring about the climate gets dismissed as a minority, “woke” concern.

I also think to an extent it’s human nature to look away from something that feels as huge and intangible as the climate crisis. And in some ways, I do understand - it’s hard for people to feel the urgency of the climate crusys when they are worrying about something that feels so immediate as the cost of living. But I do think politicians (from all parties) could do a better job of communicating the immediacy of the situation.

Most participents in the climate meeting going on right now travel by private planes...

Why should I be bothered?
Btw we have no car, never fly longhoul and by most clothes second hand due to cost of living.

I care enormously but it's overwhelming, just a huge wall of horror tbh

I one hundred percent understand that frustration. I guess one thing, though, is I’d be wary of letting click bait headlines trick you into believing everyone is flying to climate summits in private jets - those private jets represent something like 1% of the thousands of attendees, many of whom are there to work on ways to protect ordinary people like us from the costs of the climate crisis. Because that’s another reason we should all care - climate change is actively driving up cost-of-living pressures by ruining harvests and pushing up food prices etc. The other thing I’d say is staying engaged and caring doesn’t have to mean you personally sacrificing more - it's about supporting and advocating for policies that get the powers that be to do their share.

If you are rich and privileged you are excused?
Most poor or just avarage people don't have a chance to use the amount of ressources that a few rich people on this planet seem to think is just fine to burn in a few minutes for their own convenient life style.

Davos/the World Economic Forum is the another shitshow of private jets.
It's going on all the time for the rich people and the rest of us are told to be frugal and responsible.

People are more concerned about the here and now . In a cost of living crisis people are not even thinking about some perceived benefits years down the line . I also think as time has gone on there is more discussion about these initiatives not being the holy grail .

I wouldn’t be too concerned if humanity died out . It’ll be tin pot dictators who will see the end not Mrs Barnes lighting a scented candle in Swansea .

Focus on the economics and the politics will follow.

Abundant, cheap energy has resulted in a massive increase in human welfare. Mostly that has been carbon based.

If we want to speed up the transition away we need cheap reliable clean energy.

Renewables works for some of the world. Nuclear is the other answer and the turn away from it has done huge damage both to welfare and the environment (ironically, thanks both the O&G and environmental lobby).

I haven't given up caring but I can see why some have, we are already well past the point of no return and experiencing all the expected effects of that, with the super el nino and collapsing arctic polar vortex. Meanwhile some deny its even happening. What's the point of trying really?

I’d be wary of letting click bait headlines trick you into believing everyone is flying to climate summits in private jets - those private jets represent something like 1% of the thousands of attendees, many of whom are there to work on ways to protect ordinary people like us from the costs of the climate crisis.

Oh yes, they're massive hypocrites but don't you get they're doing it for your benefit, ordinary person?

Frankly, I'm getting rather tired of having climate change constantly dumped at the feet of ordinary individuals as though we're the ones holding the levers of power.

I could spend the rest of my life never getting on a plane, never going on holiday, recycling every scrap of rubbish and living like a Victorian, and it would make virtually no measurable difference to global emissions.

Meanwhile, multinational corporations, fossil fuel industries, global supply chains and governments operate on a completely different scale.

I'm not suggesting individuals have no responsibility, but let's stop pretending that the solution rests with consumers making increasingly miserable lifestyle sacrifices while those with the real power to make systemic changes escape the same level of scrutiny.

You cannot solve a systemic global problem by making individuals feel guilty about their shopping bags and holidays.

I am not exactly sure what you are expecting "us" to do about it?

I would happily help by lowering our household footprint by 10%+ with own solar panels, heatpump etc. Alas, I don't have 20k spare

You cannot solve a systemic global problem by making individuals feel guilty about their shopping bags and holidays.
I am not exactly sure what you are expecting "us" to do about it?

it's a bit like 'donate your saucepans to make Spitfires' in WW2. TPTB knew it was rubbish but it gave the ordinary people the feeling they were actually doing something and contributing.

I'm damned if I'm going to be lectured by millionaires in private jets, or someone like David Attenborough, with a carbon footprint the size of Pluto.

Yep I agree, I'll happily recycle my yoghurt pot while someone flies 3,000 miles to explain why I shouldn't put the heating on.

Sounds like a solid plan! 🙄

I’m actually saying that only a small percentage of the people at those summits are flying by private jets - maybe that small percentage are massive hypocrites. But it’s a fact most people working at those conferences don’t travel by private jet, and that most of them are working hard to find genuine solutions.

And if you’re angry at the hypocrisy of those who are flying there by private jet- I personally believe you should use that anger to fuel you to care more about climate change, not less. Disengaging doesn't hurt the people flying by private jets; climate change will hit ordinary people first and hardest - we’re already seeing how climate change is fuelling the cost of living crisis. So, if we let our anger make us apathetic, we're cutting off our noses to spite people who won't even notice. Better to use that frustration as fuel to care more, not less - vote for regulations that hold big polluters accountable, push for legislation that brings energy back under public control, advocate for higher taxes on private jets, even.

I care, I am profoundly afraid, but I don't see what I can do. We've made some changes ourselves but getting the political will needed to make the necessary changes at national and international level seems beyond my reach to influence, not helped by my MP being a reform defector and the green party seeming utterly useless on climate issues.

And if you’re angry at the hypocrisy of those who are flying there by private jet- I personally believe you should use that anger to fuel you to care more about climate change, not less.

Don't lecture me, thanks. I am appreciating the irony of someone earnestly concerned about climate change actually defending the use of private jets to fly to a climate conference, though.

I work for a climate action charity. Please don’t give up!

I get that we’re all bombarded with gloomy news all the time, and that many of us are struggling financially, but honestly I’m always surprised by how many people just seem to be waiting for someone else to take responsibility. This is something we can all take meaningful action on - no matter how minor. I’m certainly not suggesting we need to let polllutors off the hook or stop pushing for legislative change, but personal practical action is very important too. We all have more power than we think.

Just because we’re missing some of our targets doesn’t mean everything is doomed - each fraction of a degree of warming is worth fighting to for. I found this a measured read on the real dangers and considerations regarding tipping points and why each degree matters - https://www.the-ies.org/resources/environmental-scientist-climate-tipping-points please avoid alarmist news articles, that really will just send you into a depressive slump. Remember that media outlets need to push scary headlines to grab your attention. Things are looking rocky but nothing is a done deal.

I'm quite depressed about the state of the world and the self destructive nature of humans but I actually think that AI will kill us before the climate makes things much worse.

I’m honestly not lecturing you, and I’m sorry if my tone comes over that way.

And I’m not defending the use of private jets either - I’m saying don’t let rage bait headlines about private jets distract you from the actual issues.

I’ll gladly admit to being earnest, though! I do earnestly believe it’s important we stop seeing caring about climate change as meaning washing out our yogurt pots or giving up flying on holiday once a year, and start seeing it as being about holding the companies most responsible to account, and putting political pressure on them to change.

It's not even about disengaging. I already recycle, try to be conscious of my consumption and do the things we're routinely told to do. What exactly is it you expect us to do beyond that?

I could never get on another plane, never go on holiday again, give up every conceivable convenience (or enjoyable experience) and recycle until the cows come home, and it would make no measurable difference to global emissions.

I'm sick and bloody tired of the implication that ordinary people simply need to care more, try harder and make yet more personal sacrifices.

This isn't a problem that can be solved by individual lifestyle choices. It requires global political and industrial intervention.

So rather than telling people to channel their anger into caring more, perhaps direct some of your energy towards holding the corporations, industries and governments with the actual power to change things accountable.

I'm not disengaged. I'm simply questioning what more you realistically expect an ordinary individual to do when the responsibility for meaningful change lies so far beyond their control.

Or AI will solve climate change and then kill us.

Not impossible.