Uniting the Goals of Parenthood and Environmentalism as a Route to Climate Action

ABSTRACT Parents are a critical group to engage in environmentalism because of their influence on future generations. However, becoming a parent can decrease pro‐environmental activities because of competing priorities and role identities that come with having children. Thus, a challenge for research and practice is to find ways to increase the pro‐environmental engagement of parents. In this commentary, we present a solution to this challenge: making environmentalism compatible with parenthood. We outline the potential to unite these goals by fostering shared parent–child environmental stewardship activities. Intergenerational environmental stewardship is foundational in many Indigenous cultures across the world, yet there is a lack of appreciation for these cultural activities in mainstream research and practice. Shared parent–child environmental engagement yields benefits for environmentalism in current and future generations, for family unity and for the well‐being of children and parents. We, as social and environmental psychologists, aim to act as a bridge between social‐environmental psychology and family systems for this special issue.