Is "Be the part of the change you want to see in the world!" bullshit?

[John 6IX Breezy]

It's a game theoretic problem, something like the volunteer's dilemma. We all benefit as a group from someone doing something about climate change, but individually we are better off if that someone isn't us. The solution is usually to change the payoffs and incentives. For example, if there's a law that fines me for doing some activity that harms the environment, then I'm better off switching to an activity that doesn't harm the environment.