It may seem like political divides around climate change are only deepening. Yet the world’s largest climate survey reveals a striking consensus: Eighty percent of people globally want their countries to take stronger climate action, and over half think about climate change daily or weekly. Far from being split, humanity is largely united on wanting to do more.
But how can we help move the needle?
First things first: It’s true that governments and big businesses hold the most power to halt climate change. They have the ability to reshape global systems — like how we generate energy, produce food and design cities — that are at the root of the crisis. This is why political actions, like voting and joining climate campaigns, are among the most impactful you can take.
But there’s a lot we can do in our daily lives, too. WRI research shows that shifting a few key behaviors can significantly reduce emissions and climate impacts. And the more people who act, the bigger the collective change. The trick is knowing where to prioritize our efforts.
Ranking Climate-Friendly Choices
The Inequality of Emissions
Wealthy populations have the highest emissions per capita and therefore the most opportunity to shift toward climate-friendly behaviors. By contrast, some developing countries may need to increase emissions to provide basic necessities, like reliable electricity and nutritious food, to all people. Governments should seek clean, affordable pathways to meet these needs, while the biggest cuts must come from the highest emitters.
Narratives around personal climate action can be misleading. Research shows that people often overestimate the climate benefits of easier behavioral changes, like recycling, while discounting more impactful ones, like cutting back on air travel and eating less meat.
A recent WRI paper analyzed 19 climate-friendly behaviors to reveal which ones reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions the most. Even adopting just a few of these actions — particularly those with the biggest emissions-reduction potential — can make a difference. Understanding which actions pack the biggest punch also helps us know where to aim our collective action efforts for the maximum impact.
The “right” decisions will look different for everyone depending on what’s accessible to them. Living car-free is the most impactful behavior by far in terms of reducing emissions. But if that’s unattainable, switching from a gas-powered car to an electric vehicle, or shifting as many trips as possible to walking, biking or public transit, also cuts emissions.
Similarly, going vegan is nearly 3 times more impactful for the climate than decreasing food waste, 9 times more impactful than decreasing consumption of packaged or processed goods, and 30 times more impactful than composting. Full veganism may be a stretch for most people, but going vegetarian or even reducing meat consumption also makes a difference.
Impact also depends on each person’s starting point: Those who drive and fly extensively and eat meat-heavy diets have far greater emissions-reduction potential than those whose emissions are already minimal.
The Catch: It Will Take All of Us
Each of these actions can help reduce your own carbon emissions. But altering the trajectory of climate change hinges on not one, not a few, but billions of people making such shifts.
The challenge is that most high-impact behaviors — like living car-free or installing renewable energy at home — aren’t equally accessible to everyone. Achieving truly widespread change will require unprecedented support from governments, companies, financial institutions and industry leaders to make these behavioral shifts easy, routine and accessible for most people.
Living car-free requires access to reliable public transit, safe bike infrastructure, and subsidies to help people to purchase bikes or e-bikes. Decreasing air travel often depends on companies offering remote options and governments investing in lower-carbon travel, like high-speed rail. Most people would need subsidies to afford the cost of installing rooftop solar panels or paying for energy-efficient home renovations.
Indeed, our research found that interventions intended to shift people toward climate-friendly behaviors — such as asking people to commit to using public transit, or comparing their energy use to their neighbors — achieve only 10% of their potential emissions impact without systemic support. The remaining 90% is reliant on broader changes that make individual actions attainable.
So, What Should We Do to Make the Biggest Difference?
This is the central challenge behind the numbers: Behavioral shifts aren’t just personal, they are also shaped and enabled by the world around us. We need both individual and systems change to solve the problem.
If you want to make a difference, there are ways to contribute at both levels:
Push for what you can’t control alone. Vote for leaders who support climate-smart investments; demand action from those already in power; sign petitions; and join collective campaigns that drive change at scale. For example, look for leaders who champion:
- Investing in public transit that is clean, reliable and accessible.
- Subsidizing electric and hybrid vehicles and building a nationwide EV charging network.
- Electrifying buildings and offering incentives for heat pumps, solar panels and energy-efficient retrofits.
- Expanding protected bike lanes, bike share networks and walkable city planning.
- Making plant-based food affordable, available and appealing.
When it comes to daily choices, make the most impactful actions you can based on what’s accessible and affordable for your circumstances. You might focus on what is most appealing in terms of health (to get more exercise, you could prioritize biking to work); financial savings (installing a heat pump can cut energy costs in the long term), or ease (if you do have to fly, prioritize economy class and/or direct flights).
With each vote, petition and personal change we make, we can become part of the global solution, signaling to leaders what the surveys already show: That we care about our collective climate future, and change cannot wait.
