The world’s leading climate scientists have given us a clear warning – our current actions aren’t enough to prevent climate breakdown[1a][1b]. We have to do more, and we have to do it fast. So what are the most important actions you can take? Here’s our guide to the top 10 climate change actions you can start right now.
- Reduce your energy use and switch to renewables
- Buy less and waste less
- Eat mainly plants
- Influence people, companies and politicians (and use your vote!)
- Change how you travel
- Make sure your money is working for good
- Support the environment at global, national and local levels
- Fly less or don’t fly at all
- Empower women (and under-represented groups, and quiet thoughtful people)
- Make sustainable changes at work
If you want to know how we created this list, please see our methodology below.
Climate action #1:
Reduce your energy use and switch to renewables
Insulate your home
Energy use in buildings accounts for a staggering 17.5% of global greenhouse emissions[2a], so improving your home’s or business’ insulation should be an easy and effective win. Your roof is a good place to start, because uninsulated properties lose 25% of their heat through the roof [2b], and it’s often the easiest insulation to upgrade.
You can tell if your property is underinsulated (compared to your neighbours) by looking at the roof on a frosty or snowy day. The heat rising through the roof of a badly insulated house will melt the frost or snow faster than on neighbouring roofs.
Depending on where you live and your personal circumstances, there may be grants available to help you with the cost of roof insulation. See the UK government’s energy advice page or the Energy Saving Trust. The Energy Saving Trust also has advice on which types of insulation may be suitable for your loft.
Check out these other ideas for saving energy and ideas for building greener.
Turn your thermostat down
The Energy Saving Trust recommends 18 to 21 degrees C in the UK [2c]. (Lower temperatures increase your risk of stroke, heart disease and respiratory diseases.) Adjust your clothing to the weather – you shouldn’t go barefoot in a t-shirt in the winter. Wear socks and a jumper and you can turn the thermostat down without noticing a difference.
Use new, sustainable technologies
Reducing your overall energy usage is most important, but for your remaining energy demands, consider installing solar panels, an air-source heat pump or even a wind turbine. Prices should be coming down in the next few years as gas boilers are phased out and the technology improves.
Check for grants that may be available to help with costs. At the time of writing, if you are in a couple with 2 children and earn less than £32,300 per year, and your house has a low energy efficiency rating, you could be eligible for a government-backed means-tested grant that covers the whole cost of insulating and installing a heat pump in your home. (Other limits apply if you are single or have more/fewer children.)
Make sure you fully understand what you’re signing up to if it isn’t a simple pay-and-you’re-done deal, so you don’t sign yourself and future owners of your house up to a bad deal.
When it becomes possible again, switch to a green energy supplier
Reduce your electricity usage as much as you can, but choose a green tariff to ensure that for every kWh you use, an equivalent amount is generated through green technology. It supports the growing market and sends a strong demand-side message to the people in charge of future energy generation and wholesale energy buying.
The energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means it isn’t currently possible to switch to a green tariff online, but when things improve you should be able to check for the best current UK green tariff here.
Write to your political representative about ending fossil fuel subsidies and extraction
Governments that make climate change commitments in their speeches, while signing off new fossil fuel projects and continuing fossil fuel subsidies worth billions, deserve to get called out for it.
Write to your political representative to ask them how they justify it. Demand an end to fossil fuel subsidies and new fossil fuel extraction projects.
Support on-shore wind turbines and photovoltaics (solar)
Significant investment in off-shore turbines is essential, but on-shore wind turbines and photovoltaics are also vital parts of the climate security and energy security strategies that we desperately need.
Support on-shore wind turbines and utility-scale solar farms even if they are in your area. Publicly speak out in favour; the alternative, climate breakdown, is far worse than a turbine. According to a survey by Greenpeace, 80% of people in the UK support onshore wind energy, and only 4% oppose it, so you will have more allies than you think. Even in rural areas, where more wind turbines are built, 65% are in favour.
Lobby for all new commercial buildings and existing car parks to have solar panels
Commercial buildings are usually built speculatively for profit, so it won’t harm the developers one bit if they are forced to fit solar panels to the roofs of all new developments. They can pass on the costs to the companies that buy or rent the buildings, and those companies will benefit from lower utility costs.
Legislating to fit solar panels above all car parking lots might seem far-fetched, but France has already passed a law requiring it, at least for larger car parks. Lobby your political representative and the directors of major car park companies (like NCP) and supermarkets for similar action in your country.
Write to your political representative about taxes on energy companies and prosecution of executives
Energy companies like Shell knew about fossil fuels and climate change back in the 1960s, and covered it up with decades of denial. Now they’re making record profits while many people can’t afford to heat their homes.
Write to your political representative to demand new, excess profit taxes on energy companies, with the money raised to be invested in sustainable infrastructure like green mass transit and wind farms.
It’s also time to prosecute the energy company executives who covered up the climate change science for decades, making the problem immeasurably harder to solve and putting us all at risk. It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds. The USA seems to be leading the way on this, as “an unprecedented wave of lawsuits, filed by cities and states across the US, aim to hold the oil and gas industry to account for the environmental devastation caused by fossil fuels – and covering up what they knew along the way“[9]
Climate action #2:
Buy less and waste less
See yourself as a citizen, not a consumer
Marketers have trained us to see ourselves as consumers, valuing our worth by how much we can accumulate and how quickly we can get shiny new things.
Re-train yourself to value other things – new experiences, time with family and friends, actions to improve your community, reading, gardening, nature, sports, volunteering, creative hobbies… the list is endless and infinitely more fulfilling than shopping to fill a void that can never be satisfied.
Buy less, buy local
European countries claim to have reduced their carbon emissions in the last 30 years – but much of the reduction has only been achieved by shifting manufacturing offshore, and the carbon emission burden onto other countries.
Our leaders must be pressured into recognising carbon emissions at the point of demand, not just at the point of manufacture.
As individuals, we are responsible for buying less stuff, and buying it locally – reducing transport emissions and supporting local businesses.
As individuals, we’re also responsible for reducing demand for wasteful, unnecessary products and fast fashion.
Live minimally
Living minimally is about:
- clearing out what’s holding you back
- appreciating the things you’ve chosen to keep
- only choosing to buy things you really need
Well-made, purposefully chosen, useful things are at the heart of the minimalist movement, which ties in well with the green movement.
Buying less, but better quality, helps the Earth’s resources go further and reduces transport and manufacturing emissions. In the long run, it should also save money too.
Simply having less “stuff” frees up space, so there is room to do the things that are more important to us – like having people stay over, a place to enjoy a hobby, space to work from home, or simply a quiet area to ourselves.
Read more about living minimally
Buy better, and make it last
Avoid fast fashion and the throw-away, upgrade culture in electronics.
Shop “second-hand first”. Charity shops, Vinted, Depop and eBay are great places to find a bargain that no one else will be wearing.
Buy the best quality items you can afford, and resist the urge to upgrade every time a new version comes out.
Learn how to mend, or find a local person who can do clothes repairs and alterations.
Reduce, reuse, recycle…?
That old mantra sounds a bit hollow now we’ve learned what some unethical companies and governments are doing with our carefully-separated recyclables.
Containers full of recyclable material are shipped overseas, but when they arrive there’s no guarantee that they will actually be recycled. Our plastic waste ends up on beaches, in rivers, in landfills, or could be incinerated. Burning plastic releases toxic gases which could harm the health of the people living nearby.
So while recycling is good in principle, we can’t just ship it abroad and forget about it.
We need to focus on “reducing” (not causing plastic to be used in the first place) rather than “recycling”.
Read more about reducing plastic use here
Throw away less food
Wrap, the waste action organisation, estimates that the UK produces 9.5 million tonnes of food waste every year, with 85% of that waste being thrown out by households and food manufacturers. [8] This waste is worth more than £19 billion pounds and generates 36 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
You can prevent food waste by:
- Planning your meals in advance
- Shopping with a list (to avoid impulse buys)
- Using your judgement about whether food that’s past its best-before date, is still OK to eat
- Learn to cook from scratch
- Have a “whatever” night once a week, where you use up whatever’s left in the fridge
- Make lunch from last night’s leftovers
- Freeze food in portions so you don’t defrost more than you need
Climate action #3:
Eat mainly plants
Go vegan (or 90% vegan, or vegan-except-for-your-absolute-favourite-food, or vegan-at-home; whatever works for you)
As individuals, choosing a plant-based diet is one of the easiest and most effective things we can do to reduce our environmental impact.[10] Meat and dairy provide just 18% of calories, but use 83% of farmland and produce 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.[10]
It’s low cost, easy to start (or re-start if you slip up), and unlike buying an electric car or a heat pump, it isn’t a huge all-or-nothing monetary risk. Every plant-based meal counts as a success, and you can decide how far you’re prepared to go. Anything you do helps.
It can also be quite hard (particularly if you don’t know any other vegans to help you work out what you’re doing, or if your family is unsupportive) which is why we suggest you may want to get there in stages. Cutting out meat a few times a week is a great starting point, followed by going vegetarian and then vegan. However, going vegan is getting easier all the time as more and more companies get on board, so go for it!
See our Food page for our step-by-step process towards a more sustainable diet.
Learn to cook from scratch
Learning to cook is a really helpful stepping stone to eating more sustainably and with more variety, and it will save you money too.
If you already know how to cook, teach others in your family or community.
Climate action #4:
Influence other people, companies and politicians
Vote
No matter what we do as individuals, it’s nothing compared to the impact of decisions taken by governments. New laws, taxes, or incentives affect the behaviour of millions of people, whether they like it or not, so government action is vital if we are to succeed.
It goes without saying that many politicians do not care about the environment. So we need to support national and local politicians who put the environment at the heart of their economic and industrial policies.
Encourage everyone you know to use their vote, particularly younger people. Younger people, as a group, are likely to support environmentally friendly policies, but they tend to turn out to vote less than older people do.
Even in “safe” seats, the winning party will be monitoring their opponents’ levels of support, so the only wasted vote is the one you don’t use – and even supposedly safe seats can be overturned.
However, sometimes it’s important to vote tactically to prevent a party with a bad environmental record from winning – in which case find out which candidate your local Green Party recommends lending your vote to, and vote for them.
Find out more about registering to vote here
Influence politicians
Governments aren’t likely to make changes unless public opinion forces them to. So we need to speak to politicians loudly and often, until they realise the green lobby is growing and it isn’t going away. When their power and money are at risk, they may start taking climate change seriously.
Lobby your political representative
There are dozens of things you could lobby your political representative about. Here are a few ideas.
- subsidising and expanding public transport and cycling networks
- subsidising or supporting developments in green technology
- more opportunities for individuals and businesses to invest in green energy generation and insulation
- policies to prevent deforestation, particularly foreign policy and trade policies directed at countries which destroy rainforests
- funding research into carbon capture technology
- making solar panels and renewable energy generation systems mandatory on all new buildings
- building sustainable transport routes as part of all new large developments
- banning bee-killing pesticides (or maintaining a ban, depending on where you live)
- banning (or keeping a ban) on fracking, depending on where you live
- introducing a frequent-flier tax
These things could happen, with political will and significant investment, and they could create a lot of “green” jobs.
Contact your political representative. While one letter, tweet or phone call won’t change anything, trust that yours will eventually be one of hundreds of thousands, evidence of a groundswell of public opinion that they can’t ignore.
Read more on our Influence page
Take part in a national protest or a school strike
Protests organised by groups like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, and school strikes inspired by Greta Thunberg’s actions, are a direct challenge to leadership (whether that is governments, corporations, teachers or parents). Not to be taken lightly, they are a valuable attention-raising tool in the fight against climate change. Join Extinction Rebellion or Just Stop Oil to hear about protests well in advance so you can join in, and read more about school strikes here.
Influence companies
Similar to politicians, many company directors won’t change their policies unless their profits, bonuses and jobs are at risk. So we need to communicate in terms they understand – take your business elsewhere, encourage others to do the same, and tell the companies why we’re doing it.
Encourage your favourite suppliers to go greener
Ask your favourite brands or suppliers of anything why they aren’t using paper-based or plant-based wrappers for their products yet, or why they are still using plastic in their products when they don’t need to.
Email, tweet, maybe start or sign a petition, and get thousands of others behind you.
Twitter is a good place to bring pressure on companies because they don’t like negative publicity. But make sure you’ve got your facts straight first, and be polite. There’s a real person at the other end. Feedback from the customer service or public relations team may be very valuable in convincing management to make the change.
You can start a petition on Change.org, but first, ask yourself if you’re committed to following it through. The most powerful petitions are started by people who are really committed, and who have the time to meet the target of the petition in real life and work together for solutions. A half-hearted petition is a wasted effort.
Be a positive influence in your community
Join or create a green group
When you see people buying fast fashion, sandwiches in plastic packaging, or choosing to buy a petrol or diesel car, it can feel like you’re the only “ordinary person” who’s doing anything to fight climate change.
Finding a group of people who are on the same path can really help when your motivation gets low. Talking through problems and sharing solutions will help all of you make faster progress, and create a visible hub that people new to “going green” can join.
Talk about the changes you make
Share your sustainable actions with friends, colleagues, family and people in your community. Make it clear you’re there if anyone wants help or advice. Enjoy your new role as the neighbourhood/company/family greenie.
Climate action #5:
Change how you travel
Use public transport, walk or cycle
Electric and (eventually) hydrogen-powered vehicles are better for the environment than petrol and diesel, but they still encourage individual travel and lead to microplastic pollution from tyre wear.
Where possible, use public transport, cycle or walk instead. If your area has good public transport, you may not need a car – and on the rare occasion you do, you could use a taxi and train, hire a car or join a car club.
Bus networks are in dire trouble from years of government underfunding, but the more people use them, the more profitable they will become, leading to more frequent services and the creation of more routes. Cycling and walking are good for shorter routes; the exercise is good for your physical health, and slowing down and appreciating your local environment is good for your mental health too.
However, the long-term solution has to be the creation of a mass public transport system that’s fit for the future.
Imagine a public transport system that:
- regularly connects all our villages and housing estates with schools, town centres, employment areas and transport hubs
- is affordable, maybe even free
- is powered by renewable energy
- is reliable
- is regular enough that you can get rid of your car altogether and still get everything done
Write to your political representative. While one letter won’t change anything, trust that your letter will eventually be one of hundreds of thousands, evidence of a groundswell of public opinion that they can’t ignore.
Read more on our Influence page
Get an electric car
If you can’t manage without a car, replace your petrol or diesel vehicle with an electric one. Electric cars have been around long enough to reach the second-hand market so it needn’t break the bank, and mileage ranges and charging networks are improving all the time, so range anxiety is becoming a thing of the past. Even better, join a car club that uses electric cars.
Work from home
If you normally work five days a week, working from home one day a week will reduce your commuting transport emissions by 20%. Working from home two days a week would give you a 40% reduction, and so on.
Climate action #6:
Use your money for good
As actions go, sorting out your money is kind of invisible – but it’s really important for two reasons.
One, money talks very loud in capitalist societies. Nothing will push the green agenda faster than persuading the money-people that fossil fuels and animal-based products are dying industries.
Two, you can do it once and pretty much forget about it, so your money keeps working for good while you concentrate on more exciting things like setting up a community garden or taking sustainable holidays.
So here are three hugely effective, do-it-once-and-forget-about-it things for you to do on the next rainy Saturday.
Change to a bank that doesn’t finance environmentally damaging projects
Environmentally damaging industries, like coal mining and drilling for oil, need money in the form of loans and insurance cover, and most of this finance is provided by banks and big commercial reinsurers. So if your money is held with one of the big, traditional banks, it’s possible – even likely – that you are helping to support the fossil fuel industry, other climate-damaging industries like international shipping and aviation, and unethical industries like weapons manufacture and tobacco.
Some newer, challenger banks have chosen an “ethical banking” approach, which means they avoid investing in problematic industries. Instead, they invest in green technology, local communities and government assets.
There are signs of change in the traditional banks too. Together with a range of commitments on fracking and oil and gas exploration, Lloyds Banking Group has announced that it’s not providing financing to new clients in the oil and gas sectors, unless it is for viable projects into renewable energies and transition technologies. However, the bank does not appear to be pulling out of existing projects, so the challenger banks remain a better bet from an environmental point of view.
At the time of writing, moneyexpert.com recommends Triodos Bank and Starling Bank for the UK, but you can check out their current recommendations here.
In the US, have a look at How To Divest, or in Australia, check out Market Forces.
If you’re moving companies, make sure your old bank knows why you left them (for best influence use social media), and let us know you’ve done it by tagging #biggreenideaslist on social media.
Important: the Big Green Ideas List and the individuals involved with it are not financial advisers. You should take advice from an independent financial adviser when making financial decisions.
Check you are happy with how your pension is invested
Your own pension scheme might be smaller than you’d like, but globally, our pension schemes add up to trillions of dollars. Just like banks, most pension funds invest our money across a broad range of companies including environmentally damaging fossil fuel and fast fashion companies as well as unethical but profitable ventures like tobacco and weapons.
Check the investment strategy of your fund. If you want to, you can probably change your investment strategy, even if you are in a company scheme. Royal London has a sustainable fund range and Aviva offers sustainable funds, as does the workplace pension scheme Nest.
Speak to your employer, independent financial adviser or pension scheme to find out more and work out whether sustainable investing is the right choice for you.
Important: the Big Green Ideas List and the individuals involved with it are not financial advisers. You should take advice from an independent financial adviser when making financial decisions.
Choose an ethical insurer
Pension funds are the biggest investors worldwide, followed by insurers. Choose an ethical insurer to make sure your money doesn’t help support the fossil fuel industry. The Good Shopping Guide has a list of insurers ranked in order of their ethical credentials – unfortunately, it isn’t clear how up-to-date it is, but it’s better than nothing if you’re looking to change. Bear in mind you may have to pay a fee if you exit your policy mid-term, so this might be best to do on renewal.
Lobby the board of your bank and pension scheme provider
If your bank or pension scheme hasn’t divested from fossil fuels, they should at least use their massive voting power to influence the boards of the fossil fuel companies and manufacturing companies in which they invest.
Consider your personal investments
If you hold shares in environmentally unsound or unethical companies, you might be thinking about disinvesting. Alternatively, you might want to hold shares to give you the right to attend AGMs, have voting rights, and tick the “I’m a shareholder” box on petitions. (This allows the petition owner to lobby the target company with claims like “X% of your shareholders thought you ought to do (petition action)”.)
Climate action #7:
Support the environment at global, national and local levels
Join or follow environmental campaign groups
Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace, Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil and Friends of the Earth are just some of the many environmental groups that lead campaigns and arrange stunts or protests to keep climate change in the public eye and in the news.
Support them with donations, by attending protests, and by sharing/interacting with their social media posts to increase their reach.
Make sure your MP knows that rainforests and oceans matter
Write to your MP about protecting the rainforests, oceans and the creatures within them.
Find out what action they are taking to support governments in countries like Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia, to help them transition their economies away from practices that destroy vital environmental habitats.
Find out what they are doing about illegal trawling, the decimation of fish stocks, and plastic dumping at sea.
Tell them that protecting rainforests and supporting indigenous community land management are critical to addressing climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Encourage them to fund international development that shifts development pathways towards sustainability, as recommended by the IPCC’s Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment Report.
Avoid food that contributes to deforestation
Avoid foods that are often grown on land that has been deliberately deforested for grazing – mainly beef, palm oil and soy (soya/soybean).
However, note that most of the soy grown on deforested land is used as animal feed for cattle and poultry, so it’s still OK to eat soy if you are adopting (or moving towards) a vegan diet. For soya products you eat yourself, look for soya grown in Europe or North America.
Buy responsibly-sourced products
Choose products made from recycled or sustainably sourced materials. Whether it’s things you buy often, like toilet paper, or things you buy infrequently, like jewellery or new flooring, look into the environmental impact of your planned purchase before buying.
As a shortcut, look for B-Corp-certified companies – the hard work of checking has been done for you!
Support indigenous communities
Unsurprisingly, indigenous communities know best how to manage their land. If an indigenous group says they know how to address a problem, listen to them – even if it goes against the accepted wisdom you’ve been taught. In countries like the UK, this might mean listening to older members of local communities about how peat bogs and moorlands should be managed, how often rivers should be dredged to prevent flooding, or whether potential housing sites are actually floodplains.
Support politicians from indigenous communities, and also support politicians who show respect for, and actions that benefit, indigenous communities.
Amplify the voices of indigenous spokespeople in social media and traditional media. They are not voiceless; they are speaking, but not being heard.
Buy from collectives like Ten Thousand Villages to support indigenous communities directly.
Re-wild entire spaces
Give part of your garden, farm, or public space over to nature. Re-wilded areas absorb more carbon and allow birds and insects to thrive. Support schemes that give large areas of land to rewilding projects, like native forests, wildflower meadows and returning “reclaimed” agricultural land to marshes and peat bogs – even if it changes the local landscape you’re familiar with.
Support companies that recover and recycle ocean plastics
Support companies that recover and recycle ocean plastics into new products, like backpacks and jackets (Econyl) and sunglasses (Waterhaul). There are more examples here.
Plant a tree, or lots of trees
Trees absorb and lock away carbon – on average about 22kg of CO2 per year.[4] Research shows that planting billions of trees is the simplest and cheapest way to help tackle the climate crisis.[5]
While we absolutely must reduce emissions as well, planting trees is a quick, easy win, because it doesn’t require political will or rely on technology that hasn’t been invented yet. It’s a low-tech, cheap solution that can be started right now by anyone, anywhere.
In addition to capturing carbon, responsible reforestation also prevents soil erosion, improves soil health, prevents flooding by improving groundwater recharge (the process by which water returns to the water table), supports native plants and animals, regulates local temperatures (e.g. cooling cities naturally) and provides work for local communities.
Trees planted in tropical areas are thought to have the most impact[6]. So, on a global scale, it’s a good idea to support a scheme that aims to plant millions of trees in equatorial areas, like Earth Day’s Canopy Project. Alongside many other campaigns, they plant trees in areas most at risk from climate change, and after environmental disasters.
However, more recent studies have shown that European trees lock away twice as much carbon as previously thought. So if you’re in charge of a lot of land (e.g. managing an estate, a park, a school or looking after community-owned land), check out the Woodland Trust’s tree planting scheme. They can help with access to grants and funding schemes and suggest which trees you should plant. They can even supply free trees to schools and communities. Applications open in spring for autumn delivery.
In your area, support schemes to plant native trees in public spaces, or plans to plant locally-appropriate woodland and forests, and support campaigns to replant forests that have been destroyed by farming and mining.
If you have room, plant a native and appropriately-sized tree (research how big it will grow so you don’t cut out all your light and damage your foundations). If you plant a fruit tree, you can also have a free seasonal supply of apples, pears or other fruit.
Plant a leafy plant
If you have less space, planting any leafy plant will help. Consider planting fruit bushes, or something that flowers in the winter, like viburnum, to provide out-of-season food for beneficial insects.
If you have no outdoor space at all, even indoor plants will help. They’ll remove CO2 from the air, and they’ll also help remove volatile organic compounds (given off by furnishings and paint) from your home. Good Housekeeping, quoting a study by NASA, recommends aloe vera, areca palm and snake plant, among others.
Grow your own food
Every piece of food that you grow yourself absorbs carbon, connects you to nature, saves you money, has zero food miles, zero packaging waste, gets you outside in the fresh air, and gives you a massive sense of achievement. You also get the satisfaction of eating seasonally and learning to store and use your own produce, and you can do it on a small or large scale.
See our gardening page for more ideas.
Ask your council to make roadside verges bee-friendly
According to the wildlife charity Plantlife, 97% of the UK’s wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s[3b]. This habitat loss is one of the reasons bees and other beneficial insects, which are essential for the pollination of many crops, are in decline.
Roadside verges are part of the solution. There are nearly 500,000 km (310,000 miles) of roadside verges in the UK, and many councils are now saving money (as well as the environment) by mowing less often and not spraying them. If your council hasn’t caught on yet, suggest it.
Read more about encouraging your local council to adopt environmentally-friendly policies
Climate action #8:
Fly less or don’t fly at all
Aviation makes up nearly 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions from transport, and 80% of that comes from passenger flights[2a].
Take fewer foreign trips
Foreign business travel, weekend breaks and family holidays all add up in terms of carbon emissions. Where possible, use virtual meetings, take the train, or take breaks closer to home.
Fly short-haul rather than long-haul, and fly direct
Shorter flights are more polluting per passenger mile than longer flights, because takeoff and landing use the most fuel, and that cost is divided by fewer miles for short-haul flights.
But this is outweighed by the fact that you travel a lot more miles on a long-haul flight, so overall your emissions are much higher. Long-haul flights also travel at higher levels of the atmosphere. Emissions at higher altitudes have a much worse effect than the same emissions created at lower altitudes.
A long-haul flight that also involves multiple changes is worst of all because you have multiple take-offs and landings as well as high altitude emissions. So, if you must fly long-haul, fly direct.
Don’t fly at all – stay local, drive electric or take the train
The greenest choice is simply not to fly at all, choosing rail or road instead. Electric cars can be recharged en route, and across Europe night-train (sleeper) services are being re-started by rail operators Nightjet, Snälltåget, and Midnight Trains.
Dedicated no-fly travel company Byway offers travel and accommodation packages using trains, bikes, buses and ferries, while Trailfinders has a no-fly section (although you should avoid the cruises, as cruise ships are not a sustainable option either).
Friends of the Earth has a great section on no-fly holiday ideas, covering house swaps, conservation work, snorkelling, gardens, museums, festivals, walking, city breaks and more.
As more people make the choice to choose alternative methods of transport, we can expect investments in train and ship technology that will improve speeds, and investment in routes that will improve frequency and convenience.
Vote with your wallet and move to alternative forms of transport.
Offset your carbon emissions from flying
It’s best not to fly at all, but if you can’t avoid it, you could offset the effect of the emissions generated. Offsetting usually means giving money to projects that aim to offset the damage by capturing carbon or reducing emissions elsewhere.
It’s not perfect, but it’s better than not doing it, and it encourages you to price in the wider costs of flying.
The UN Climate Convention maintains a list of projects around the world which you can filter by cost, project type, location, benefits, industry, and how long they’ve been running. This should help you avoid contributing to low-impact projects, or projects that accidentally do more harm than good.
Climate action #9:
Empower women (and under-represented groups, and quiet thoughtful people)
Support women and other under-represented people in leadership
According to Christiana Figueres & Tom Rivett-Carnac in their inspiring book, The Future We Choose, companies, countries, Non-Governmental Organisations and financial institutions take stronger climate action when they are led by women or have a higher proportion of women in decision-making roles[7]. Figueres and Rivett-Carnac suggest that this may be because women are often more sensitive to a wide range of views, and are better at working collaboratively with a longer-term perspective.
Women need to be empowered to play at least an equal role in decision-making at all levels – in the family, in their communities, in professions, companies and in government. While countries like the UK have plenty of work to do, many other countries worldwide are much further behind or going backwards – the US, Iran and Afghanistan, for example.
By extension, we suggest that stronger climate action will be likely if not only women, but people from all currently under-represented or historically-excluded groups (including quiet, thoughtful people of all genders and ethnicities), are allowed to participate in and lead the decision-making process.
It’s easy to see that the current structures aren’t working, for the majority of us or for the climate. It’s time to stand up and make change happen.
How can we improve the representation of historically-excluded groups?
It’s time for more under-represented people to run for political office – but we need to acknowledge that doing so is frightening. Misogynists, homophobes, racists and trolls are being allowed to run riot in both traditional and social media, and these threats exist in the real world too.
But things are changing. People are reaching the end of what they will put up with. As more, determined, historically-excluded people reach decision-making positions in companies and government, the more improvements we can make.
If you are already in a position of power or influence, identify and support under-represented people around you, to help them to progress at work or in politics. Give under-represented people status and visibility so others can see them and follow. Make it clear that you won’t accept misogynistic, homophobic, racist or other negative behaviours in your organisation.
People who are not in positions of power – support those who are, or who are aiming to be. Volunteer your time, money, likes, shares and positive comments, and visibly support the people who are standing up, against those who are trying to bring them back down and silence them.
If you’re a member of a historically-excluded group, don’t wait for opportunities to be offered to you – ask for them, or make them yourself. Good managers are looking for people who are willing to step up, and who can suggest a solution to a problem.
Don’t wait for someone in your community to start that project you know is needed. Speak to other people who’ve done similar things. Take a course in community action, like this Zero Carbon Britain online course. Join your local Extinction Rebellion group.
Be the change we need to see.
Support family planning and education for girls and women
Educated women are more economically productive, and all women should be empowered to make their own reproductive choices. But, around the world, women’s rights are being eroded – preventing women from fulfilling their potential, preventing them from contributing to decision-making, and burdening them with large families they don’t want.
Make sure your political representative and the heads of major news outlets know that a) reproductive rights and b) girls’ access to education worldwide are important to you, and let them know that they are also important in the fight against climate change.
You’re aiming to be one message in thousands here, part of a public outcry. Don’t worry if your message isn’t well written. Ask the politician or media representative what they’re doing about it, or how they justify their stance, and leave it up to them to do the work.
Have fewer children
The world’s population could reach a peak of nearly 11 billion people by the end of this century, according to the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The resulting changes in the size, composition and distribution of the world’s population have important consequences for achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the globally agreed targets for improving economic prosperity and social well-being while protecting the environment.
Particularly in the West, where we already consume far more than our fair share of resources, resist the pressure to have children if you don’t want them. Plenty of people are very happy being child-free, and you don’t owe your parents any grandchildren, however much they want them.
Of course, if you do want children, that’s completely up to you – but do your best to raise them as environmentally responsible citizens.
Climate action #10:
Make sustainable changes at work
What we can do as individuals is limited, compared to the impact of decisions taken by companies and governments… but ultimately, companies and governments are just groups of people making decisions.
If you’re working for a business or in government, you’ve got a great opportunity – a responsibility, even – to make things better. See our huge “How to make sustainable changes at work” section for ideas to help you drive change, and look for opportunities to promote sustainable changes in the workplace.
Be open to the idea of working part-time or in a job share
As we move towards an economy in which we consume less, companies will need to be leaner, and there will probably be less paid work available. Rather than have many people unemployed and others overstretched, share the load. The time you free up could help you contribute to the green effort in other ways, e.g. gardening, preparing your own food, and community projects.
How did we decide which are the most effective, urgent and important climate change actions?
We spent a long time agonising over what the top ten climate change actions should be. Without a huge research team, how could we possibly know which actions are the most important and effective? How could we prevent our own biases from affecting our choices?
To address this, we found five reputable sources who do have good research teams, and made a list of each of their top ten climate change actions.
Our Reputable Sources were:
- United Nations Environment Programme
- The Grantham Institute (Imperial College London) (this source only has 9 actions)
- The BBC
- Christiana Figueres (UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change 2010-2016) & Tom Rivett-Carnac (senior political strategist for the Paris Agreement) in their book The Future We Choose
- Project Drawdown (this source has many more actions, and considers two different warming scenarios. We chose the top ten actions across both scenarios)
We put all the recommendations into a spreadsheet and then ranked each action according to how many of our Reputable Sources thought it was important. For example, “Save energy and use renewable energy” is our number 1 action because actions related to renewable energy appeared most frequently (9 times!) in our Reputable Sources’ recommendations. “Buy less and waste less” is our number 2 action, because actions relating to consumption and waste were the second most frequently mentioned ideas in our Reputable Sources’ recommendations, and so on.
After the top 9 actions, we got into the outliers – actions that one Reputable Source thought was important, but the others hadn’t included in their lists. We couldn’t choose between them, so included our own action as number 10 – “Make sustainable changes at work”. We allowed ourselves that liberty because our Reputable Sources were, in the main, thinking about what individuals can do in their personal lives, and we think that the actions people take at work can be even more valuable because they affect more people.
The outlying actions are useful as they show that there are many other important actions you can take, depending on how you look at the climate crisis. We’ll include these in a later update.
References
[1a] IPCC, 2018: Global warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to
eradicate poverty [V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, H. O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J. B. R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M. I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, T. Waterfield (eds.)]. In Press.
[1b] Ar6 synthesis report: Climate change 2023 (2023) IPCC. IPCC. Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/ (Accessed: March 22, 2023).
[2a] Ritchie, H., Roser, M. and Rosado, P. (2020) Emissions by sector. Our World in Data. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector (Accessed: March 22, 2023).
[2b] Energy Saving Trust. 2021. Roof and loft insulation. [online] Available at: <https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-insulation/roof-and-loft> [Accessed 22 November 2021].
[2c] Woodward, K. (2022) How to control your central heating system, Energy Saving Trust. Energy Saving Trust. Available at: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/take-control-your-heating-home/ (Accessed: March 23, 2023).
[3] Plantlife. 2021. Real Action Needed To Save Our Vanishing Meadows. [online] Available at: https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/about-us/news/real-action-needed-to-save-our-vanishing-meadows [Accessed 25 January 2021].
[4] Urbanforestrynetwork.org. (2019). Trees Improve Our Air Quality. [online] Available at: http://urbanforestrynetwork.org/benefits/air%20quality.htm [Accessed 27 Jul. 2019]
[5] “The restoration of forested land at a global scale could help capture atmospheric carbon and mitigate climate change.”) Bastin et al (2019). The global tree restoration potential. Science, [online] 365(6448), pp.76-79. Available at: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6448/76.
[6] Carrington, D., 2019. Tree planting ‘has mind-blowing potential’ to tackle climate crisis. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/04/planting-billions-trees-best-tackle-climate-crisis-scientists-canopy-emissions [Accessed 14 February 2021].
[7] Figueres, C. and Rivett-Carnac, T. (2021) “Action 9 – Build Gender Equality,” in The Future We Choose – the stubborn optimist’s guide to the climate crisis. London: Manilla Press, pp. 146–150.
[8] Food surplus and waste in the UK – key facts. October 2021. rep. Available at: https://wrap.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-10/food-%20surplus-and-%20waste-in-the-%20uk-key-facts-oct-21.pdf (Accessed: January 2, 2023).
[9] Big Oil and gas kept a dirty secret for decades. now they may pay the price (2021) The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/30/climate-crimes-oil-and-gas-environment (Accessed: February 6, 2023).
[10] Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth (Accessed: February 20, 2023).
Image credits:
Solar panels on the roof of a commercial building – photo by Nuno Marques on Unsplash
Spend time with friends – photo by Kelsey Chance on Unsplash
Vegetarian nachos – photo by Ralph (Ravi) Kayden on Unsplash
Voting stickers – photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
Grassy cycle path – photo by Mitchel Boot on Unsplash
Wind turbines in idyllic countryside – photo by Matthias Marx on Unsplash
Rainforest, Borneo – photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash (image removed from Unsplash)
Deutsche Bahn high-speed train in the station – photo by Daniel Abadia on Unsplash
Smiling businesswoman – photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash
Sustainable agricultural robotics engineer standing in a polytunnel – photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash