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The most effective actions against climate change according to science: what you can do that really makes a differenceA new approach based on scientific evidence reveals that not all personal decisions carry the same weight.By Estefanía Muriel for Ruta Pantera on 10/16/2025 8:28:35 AM |
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| The most effective actions against climate change according to science: what you can do that really makes a difference A new approach based on scientific evidence reveals that not all personal decisions carry the same weight. From reducing flights to voting for green policies, some everyday choices can transform the future of the planet. The growing urgency of climate change raises an increasingly unavoidable question: what can an individual do to make a difference? A recent effort called Shift (Super High-Impact Initiative for Fixing Tomorrow) seeks to answer this question by using a questionnaire that directs individuals toward the most effective “climate superpowers” based on their personal context (Nicholas, cited in Timperley, 2025). Although it is difficult to quantify the impact of each individual decision, emerging evidence suggests that some personal actions have surprisingly high power to influence the global trajectory of the climate. Priorities with scientific support The Shift approach organizes individual actions into five roles—consumer, citizen, investor, professional, and role model—and prioritizes those for which there is the best evidence of impact (Timperley, 2025). For example, in the consumer role, the guide is not a traditional carbon footprint tool, but rather emphasizes the levers with the greatest impact: reducing flights, limiting car use, reducing meat consumption, and opting for renewable energy (Timperley, 2025). These options emerge from a meta-analysis that quantified the reduction potential of 60 household actions (Ivanova, cited in Timperley, 2025). Beyond what we buy or consume, the role of citizens can be even more transformative. In liberal democratic systems, voting can lead to a significant drop in emissions: a study in Canada estimated that a person could avoid up to 34.2 tons of annual emissions by voting for a party with ambitious climate policies (Timperley, 2025). Furthermore, activities such as contacting political representatives, joining advocacy organizations, or participating in peaceful protests have demonstrated the ability to influence political decisions and shape public opinion (Timperley, 2025). | ||||
| In the professional field, a high-impact strategy is to persuade the organization where one works to join initiatives such as the Science Based Targets Initiative , which would align corporate action with the goals of the Paris Agreement (Timperley, 2025). And in the investor role, shifting capital away from banks or funds that finance fossil fuels to "fossil-free" instruments provides an additional lever (Timperley, 2025). The role model role applies to everyone: creating and sustaining climate communities—from book clubs to local groups—helps break the “spiral of silence” around the climate emergency and promotes a culture of shared action (Timperley, 2025). Those who have already adopted clean technologies, such as solar panels, show a contagion effect: neighbors are more likely to join in (Timperley, 2025). Towards meaningful action Shift's proposal is based on the recognition that not all individual measures have the same effect—and many cannot even be quantified so far. Therefore, it prioritizes the few but powerful actions whose effectiveness is supported by research (Nicholas, cited in Timperley, 2025). Its initial questionnaire even considers factors such as income, type of political regime, and education to guide each person toward the roles in which they can have the greatest influence (Timperley, 2025). The final call is clear: it's not about accumulating small good actions, but rather focusing on those that truly move the needle. With 20 minutes a day and a few well-chosen steps, participants can complete the questionnaire and begin implementing these strategies (Timperley, 2025). Within a timeframe designed by us, these accumulated actions—as a citizen, professional, investor, or role model—have the potential to turn climate urgency into real transformation. | ||||
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