In research published today , UNSW Sydney behavioural scientists, in collaboration with researchers from Griffith University, say they found no evidence for claims that climate action at the individual level distracted from wanting meaningful action on climate change.
After following almost 2800 Australians over four years through the National Climate Action Survey , the researchers found people who made environmentally friendly choices – recycling, using reusable cups and containers, taking public transport, adopting greener diets and cycling to work – were not less likely to support broader climate action.
That finding contradicts a long-running criticism that governments and companies encourage small lifestyle changes to deflect attention from the harder work of transforming energy systems and regulating industry.
"Individual climate actions neither facilitate nor undermine broader climate engagement," says lead author Dr Omid Ghasemi from the UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response.
"We found no evidence for the idea that personal action might reduce collective action or policy support because people feel they've done enough, overestimate the impact of individual actions, or feel less worried about climate change," he says.
Instead, the research suggests everyday environmental behaviours are expressions of existing values rather than catalysts – or obstacles – for broader political engagement.
Not a gateway
Australians who took more personal environmental actions in general tended to be more politically engaged overall – and more likely to sign petitions, attend demonstrations and support climate policies. But tracking those same people between 2021 and 2024 showed that increasing someone's personal climate actions did not, by itself, make them more – or less – politically engaged the following year.
"Our research contradicts the strongest version of the 'recycling is a distraction' argument," says Professor Ben Newell, Director of the UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response.
"But it also offers little support for the idea that small lifestyle changes automatically lead people towards activism or systemic reform."
Dr Ghasemi says the study doesn't dismiss the concern of governments and companies targeting consumer behaviour to shift their own responsibility away from systemic reform.
"Personal and systemic action are not necessarily rivals," he says.
Beyond public policy
The researchers also detected a small decline in collective climate action and support for climate policy between 2021 and 2024, although personal environmental behaviours remained relatively stable.
Dr Ghasemi says a possible explanation is cost-of-living pressures.
"When people are under more financial pressure, they may have less time, energy, or willingness to engage in collective action or support policies that are perceived to have economic costs," he says.
"But whatever the reason, our results suggest that it is not driven by greater engagement in individual climate action."
The findings also carry implications for businesses investing in sustainability programs.
Encouraging employees or customers to adopt greener behaviours may not undermine support for broader climate action, but neither should those initiatives be treated as substitutes for deeper organisational change.
"Doing more personal climate action doesn't seem to come at the expense of broader climate engagement," Dr Ghasemi says.
