In the face of earth-threatening climate change, there are three main forces we can look at: the individual, the corporation and the government.
Let’s face it: buying $11 metal straws and going vegan isn’t going to save the world. Despite our valiant attempts at reducing our carbon footprint, it’s simply not the individual’s fault nor responsibility to overturn the damage already done.
Around 71 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions since 1988 can be traced back to just 100 companies, according to the Carbon Majors Report, which names investor-owned companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron among the highest-emitting. If current corporate emissions do not change, the global temperature is expected to rise 4 degrees Celsius by 2100.
So, once we recognize that these huge corporations are at the heart of the issue, what next? Many look to governments, who have the duty to protect citizens, to enact some legislation over companies. In a perfect world, maybe.
Politics, through regulation, can theoretically win large-scale battles against companies. However, the Trump administration is not writing or enforcing any such legislation—in fact, it is aggressively trying to roll back environmental protections—it has deregulated 53 policies already and is en route to roll back 32 more. Can we really place our future in the hands of an administration that values money more than our futures?
It can be argued that a corporation’s goals are the same. Ultimately, a corporation exists to make money, but the only way to do so is to please its buyers.
Investors, with their dollars, can pressure companies to represent their interests. As a facility to investors, companies (some 86 percent of the Fortune 500 list) have begun to provide “report cards” on their environmental practices.
None of this is to say that we should stop minimizing our own carbon footprints. But more importantly, the most we can do is to hold companies accountable for their actions. It would be great if the federal government would act. But for now, it’s up to us as investors and customers to make these big corporations act. Neither individual nor federal action is good enough anymore.
