Should individuals be held responsible for their carbon footprint?

The question of whether individuals should be held responsible for their carbon footprint ties into the broader history of environmental awareness, industrial development, and global climate policy. The concept of a "carbon footprint" emerged in the early 2000s as a way to measure the amount of greenhouse gases an individual, product, or activity generates, popularized through campaigns encouraging personal responsibility for climate change. Historically, concerns about environmental impact date back to the Industrial Revolution, when rapid urbanization and fossil fuel use began altering landscapes and ecosystems. By the mid-20th century, environmental movements pushed governments to recognize pollution and resource depletion as major issues, leading to regulations and international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.