Actions we can implement
Often when faced with big issues such as climate change, we may be unsure where to start. Rhinal wants to remind everyone that it is not the responsibility of one person to do everything 100% right – to do everything perfectly – but rather, for us all to create small changes and habits, that will really help. It will be as a collective that we will make the necessary changes.
We can start by looking into our pensions, our banks, and what clothing chains and other stores we use. There are so many companies such as banks and global stores that invest in fossil fuels and other unethical and harmful things, such as arms, that we may be unaware of.
One example is to minimise the fossil fuel investment of your pension fund, or consider switching to having an ethical bank account, such as with a building society like Nationwide, and in doing this you would be contributing to the bigger picture. If we are conscious of where we are spending our money and how ethical that company is, our individual choices can make a big difference if enough people do them.
We also have the right to contact our politicians and our banks and ask them to do more and invest in less harmful things to the environment. Politicians tend to act on issues that they know their voters care about, but most people in the UK do not shout out about how important this is to us.
WWF’s carbon footprint tool will provide you with some tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint once you have completed the questionnaire. Some of these suggestions include simple changes such as turning off lights when you don’t need them, not leaving devices on standby and becoming a conscious consumer and buying from ethical companies.
WWF suggests some other key ways we can help, by flying and driving less, as transport remains a huge source of carbon emissions.
You could also become a part of an organisation such as Greenpeace and share information on supportive changes or habits with your friends and family.
As the WWF state on their website ‘Climate change is a global issue and we all have a responsibility to step up to the climate crisis. Action on it will need serious investment but has the potential to deliver huge benefits for nature and people. We all need to raise our voices and fight for our world!’