Individual action on climate change


Individual action on climate change describes the personal choices that people can make to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their lifestyles and catalyze climate action. These actions can focus directly on how choices create emissions, such as reducing consumption of meat or flying, or can focus more on inviting political action on climate or creating greater awareness of how society can become greener.
Excessive consumption is a significant contributor to climate change and other environmental issues, and in 2022 some said population increase is too. High consumption lifestyles have a significant environmental impact, with the richest 10% of people emitting about half the total lifestyle emissions. Creating changes in personal lifestyle, can change social and market conditions leading to less environmental impact. People who wish to reduce their carbon footprint, can for example reduce their air travel for holidays, use bicycles instead of cars on a daily basis, eat a plant-based diet, and use consumer products for longer. Avoiding meat and dairy products has been called the single biggest way individuals can reduce their environmental impact while implementing small changes in their daily lives.
Some commentators say that actions taken by individual consumers, such as adopting a sustainable lifestyle, are insignificant compared to actions on the political level. Others say that individual action does lead to collective action because "lifestyle change can build momentum for systemic change."

Suggested individual target amount


File:2021 Carbon dioxide emissions per person versus GDP per person - scatter plot.svg |class=skin-invert-image|thumb|Scaling the effect of wealth to the national level: richer countries emit more per person than poorer countries. Emissions are roughly proportional to GDP per person, though the rate of increase diminishes with average GDP/pp of about $10,000.
, the remaining carbon budget for a two-thirds chance of staying below 2 degrees of warming is 900 bn tons of or 20 years at 2019 emission rates. Global average greenhouse gas per person per year in the mid 2020s was about 7 tons – including 0.7 tons CO2eq food, 1.1 tons from the home, and 0.8 tons from transport. Of this about 5 tons was actual carbon dioxide. To meet the Paris Agreement target of under 2 degrees of warming by the end of the century, it was suggested in 2025 that each person should have a carbon footprint of 4 or 5 tonnes per year. Per capita emissions vary significantly within countries, with wealthier individuals creating more emissions. A 2015 Oxfam report calculated that the wealthiest 10% of the global population were responsible for half of all greenhouse gas emissions. According to a 2021 report by the UN, the wealthiest 5% contributed nearly 40% of emissions growth from 1990 to 2015.
The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report pointed out in 2022: "To enhance well-being, people demand services and not primary energy and physical resources per se. Focusing on demand for services and the different social and political roles people play broadens the participation in climate action." The report explains that behavior, lifestyle, and cultural change have a high climate change mitigation potential in some sectors, particularly when complementing technological and structural change.

Meaning of "lifestyle carbon footprint"

The carbon footprint was originally coined and popularized by the ad campaign Beyond Petroleum in 2004–2006, funded by British Petroleum, for which other have accused them of popularizing to downplay their own culpability.
In 2008 the World Health Organization wrote that "Your 'carbon footprint' is a measure of the impact your activities have on the amount of carbon dioxide produced through the burning of fossil fuels". In 2019 the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan defined "lifestyle carbon footprint" as "GHG emissions directly emitted and indirectly induced from the final consumption of households, excluding those induced by government consumption and capital formation such as infrastructure." However an Oxfam and SEI study in 2020 estimated per capita emissions rather than -equivalent, and allocated all consumption emissions to individuals rather than just household consumption. According to a 2020 review many academic studies do not properly explain the scope of the "personal carbon footprint" they study.

Travel and commuting

A comparison of travel options shows:
Walking and biking emit little to no greenhouse gases and are healthy alternatives to driving or riding public transportation. There are also increasing numbers of bike-sharing services in urban environments, including ebikes. Walking or biking reduces CO₂ emissions by nearly 5%, and up to 9.5% if widely adopted in cities. It is not just a healthy action; it is a real way to shrink carbon footprint.

Public transport

Reliable public transportation can be one of the most viable alternatives to driving personal vehicles. While there are efficiency problems associated with public transportation, they can be improved as funding and public interest increases and technology advances. In the EU, only 13% of the total population do not plan on owning a vehicle at all.

Electric cars

There are many options to choose from when considering alternatives to personal car use, but the use of a personal vehicle may be necessary due to location and accessibility reasons. The life cycle assessment of a vehicle evaluates the environmental impact of the production of the vehicle and its spare parts, the fuel consumption of the vehicle, and what happens to the vehicle at the end of its lifespan. These environmental impacts can be measured in greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste produced, and consumption of energy resources among other factors. Increasingly common alternatives to internal-combustion engines vehicles are electric vehicles, and hybrid-electric vehicles.
A 2022 survey found that 33% of car buyers in Europe will opt for a petrol or diesel car when purchasing a new vehicle. 67% of the respondents mentioned opting for the hybrid or electric version. Most Chinese car buyers choose hybrid or electric.

Carpooling and ride-sharing services

Carpooling and ride-sharing services are also alternatives to personal transportation. Carpooling reduces the number of cars on the road, in turn reducing the amount of traffic and energy consumption.
Car ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft could be viable options for transportation, but according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, ride-share service trips currently result in an estimated 69% increase in climate pollution on average. There are more vehicles on the road as a result of passengers who would have otherwise taken public transportation, walked, or biked to their destination. Ride-sharing services can reduce emissions if they implement strategies like electrifying vehicles and increase carpooling trips.

Air transport

Air travel is one of the most emission-intensive modes of transportation. The current most effective way to reduce personal emissions from air travel is to fly less. New technologies are being developed to allow for more efficient fuel consumption and planes powered by electricity.
Avoiding air travel and particularly frequent flyer programs has a high benefit because the convenience makes frequent, long-distance travel easy, and high-altitude emissions are more potent for the climate than the same emissions made at ground level. Aviation is much more difficult to fix technically than surface transport, so will need more individual action in future if the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation cannot be made to work properly.
Flying is responsible for 5 percent of global warming. Compared to longer flight routes, shorter flights actually produce larger amounts of greenhouse gas emissions per passenger they carry and mile covered, so individuals may consider train travel instead but this can be more expensive due to aviation subsidies. Airplanes contribute to damaging our environment since airplanes cause greater air pollution as they release carbon dioxide along with nitrogen oxides, which is an atmospheric pollutant. Exhaust emissions lead to changes in the amounts of the greenhouse gases ozone and methane. Avoiding night-flights may help, as contrails may account for over half of aviation's climate change impact.
Climate change is a factor that 67% of Europeans consider when choosing where to go on holiday. 52% of Europeans, specifically 37% of people ages 30–64 and 25% of people aged above 65, state that in 2022 they will choose to travel by plane. 27% of young people claim they will travel to a faraway destination. More specifically, people under the age of 30 are more likely to consider climate implications of vacation spots and air travel.

Home energy and landscaping

Reducing home energy use through measures such as insulation, better energy efficiency of appliances, cool roofs, heat reflective paints, lowering water heater temperature, and improving heating and cooling efficiency can significantly reduce an individual's carbon footprint. After home insulation and ventilation has been checked, replacing a failed gas boiler with a heat pump makes a considerable difference, especially in climates where both heating and cooling are required.
Installing rooftop solar, both on a household and community scale, also drastically reduces household emissions, and at scale could be a major contributor to greenhouse gas abatement.
In addition, the choice of energy used to heat, cool, and power homes makes a difference in the carbon footprint of individual homes. Many energy suppliers in various countries worldwide have options to purchase part or pure "green energy". These methods of energy production emit almost no greenhouse gases once they are up and running
Switching to energy-efficient behavior can cut household electricity use by up to 30%, reducing over 300 kg of CO₂ emissions per year per home.