3 Disempowering Myths Holding Us Back in Climate Action

The theme of Earth Day 2026 is "Our Power, Our Planet". With the mountain of news and global crises occurring, it's more important than ever that we all recognise our power as change agents. At the same time, it's even easier than ever to feel overwhelmed, questioning the role we can play and whether it's enough.

The tagline of this years' theme is "Progress does not happen in silence. It happens when people show up." So many times, we limit our own power (we know, sneaky!) through stories we tell ourselves, or most likely, stories we've been told by others over and over and have internalised, without even realising (double sneaky). Because of their nature, perpetuated by comments here and sentiments there, these stories can disempower us everyday without us even noticing.

In this blog, we are calling out three of these power-killing myths and busting them. We also share practises to do yourself, so that you can let go and reclaim your power. Now's the time to show up, and be your own best cheerleader for the journey ahead.

Myth 1: "I can't make an impact."

This one also sounds like “I’m not experienced enough”, “I don’t know enough yet” or “I don't have the power to do anything about this!” Essentially, it's any scarcity-minded statement that brings focus to what we cannot do rather than the abundance of what we can.

This myth often stems from a hero narrative: that we must defeat the baddie for good, by ourself. It's the key narrative of most books and movies nowadays. But it is only seen in stories. With climate action, the downside is that there is no single baddie that we can defeat in battle. Equally, there is a really good side: we are all interconnected, part of communities that are stronger in collaboration. That means our task is not to solve it all alone - in fact, we are much weaker alone.

Now, we're not saying that you have the power of a world leader. What we are saying is that just because your action is not instantly and unanimously world-changing, you are still making an impact. We are each of us trees in a forest. Find your you-sized power and it will steer you to be far more impactful than focusing on what isn't possible.

Practise it: One element of a SMART target is that it must be Realistic. Otherwise, it’s a wish list. Write down what goals you have, or what standards you hold yourself to. Ask "Is this realistic to achieve?" If not, bin it. Focus on what is possible. Sidenote: this doesn't mean not being ambitious - we love ambitious goals, as long as they're possible!

Myth 2: “I have to get my own carbon footprint in check first, otherwise I'm a hypocrite.”

Did you know it was BP who popularised the individual carbon footprint calculator? They launched a big campaign around 2005 to do so, and many believe the aim was to shift our focus away from the big pollutors (like themselves). Essentially, making us spend so much time feeling guilty about our individual action that we ignore our power to work collectively to influence and demand wider change.

It's clever because there will always be emissions we can reduce. Not because you’re not trying hard enough, but because we live in an unsustainable system. This often leads us back to Myth 1 (“I can’t do anything about this”) because a lot of our own emissions are locked-in by what options are available and what’s normal. For example, your access to public transport or community groups outside of work time.

It also implies we always have more to do before talking to others even though, as already stated, the impact we can have by working with others is so much larger than our own carbon footprint. Especially when this includes campaigning for change that is needed to facilitate individual climate action.

Now to the hypocritical part: hypocrisy is based in pretence, of stating someone should do something when acting as if we already do. You are not a hypocrite for asking for systems change, even if individually you’ve not ‘done everything’. You are not a hypocrite to share your feelings of wanting change, even if you recognise it’s hard to do. This is equivalent to saying it’s hypocritical for a hungry person to say food is important.

Of course, some people will use this argument to dismiss your point, largely because they are unwilling to hear it. Notice and call out when someone targets you rather than your content. A reluctance to listen is separate to a valid point.

Practise it: identify what you stand for. Go through these one by one and ask “Do I live by this?” It could present in different ways: maybe you advocate for it, maybe you support it, maybe you vote by it. Ticking off a checklist is not the only way to act.

Myth 3: “Not enough people care”

The final myth we'll cover today is that not enough people care. There are layers to this myth to uncover. First, and most importantly, let's bust it: most people are concerned about climate change. This is the case nationally across the UK (DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker, 2026) and globally (People's Climate Vote, 2024, where in both cases over three-quarters of those surveyed say they are concerned about climate change.

So if people do care, why do we not believe it? Climate change has been the focus of misinformation campaigns lasting decades. These aim to sow distrust in both climate science and community action, and it's worked well. Net zero has been polarised effectively so that those who are most concerned about climate action are the most likely to feel like the country is divided (Britain Talks Climate & Nature Report*).

Net zero was an easy target for this - not because most people are against green spaces and reducing pollution. The actual climate action measures on the ground are mostly deemed favourable to communities (we recommend the Britain Talks Climate & Nature Report to explore this). However, it's been an easy target because it's a technical and quite uninspiring term that doesn't reflect what action is actually wanted.

Practise it: if you feel someone doesn't care, then ask them what they do care about. Try to find one aligned topic. Maybe they are not globally curious, but they would love more parks or fresher air, or wish for a better insulated home. Find where you match - it'll be more useful than seeing where you differ.

Show up in your way.

We've explored three disempowering myths that may hold us back. Ultimately, beliefs are subjective and it is our choice whether to subscribe to them or not. With any belief that is disempowering you, we recommend you ask: what does believing this myth result in? Does it help me? The ones we've covered here don't: they mostly result in us not speaking, of a fear that strips us of our confidence to connect with others and of being as effective and powerful as we may hope to be.

As Earth Day 2026 profess, power is in showing up. It's not in focusing on what we can't control or don't have resources for; it's not in setting an impossibly high standard for ourselves that we can't reach; it's not about single-handedly saving the planet. It comes in each person showing up to a collective goal, in the way that is accessible to them and aligned to their skills, capacity, passion and values. In this way, we are another tree that grows the forest - not insignificant but part of the collective. We don't have to be it all: we must take the next best step we can, recognise the power we have and act as if we have it. Because you truly do.

Want more like this?

If these stories feel relevant to you and you want more support, then join our free Earth Day workshop on April 22nd. In this interactive session, you'll explore other disempowering myths, and bust them for your own life and context. You can book via Eventbrite here.

Want even more? Our 10-part Sustainability Leadership Skills Programme is designed to equip sustainability practitioners with the transferrable skills, values and confidence to lead the change we need to see to create a better future. It blends personal development, operational practise and thought leadership through reflective and hands-on workshops to give a holistic and empowering journey. Find out more here.

*The Britain Talks Climate & Nature Report studies how Brits think and feel about climate and nature and the strategic implications for policy and communications. Out of seven segments, Progressive Activists feel most concerned about nature and most believe that our country is divided.