Recognising the importance of high impact, individual actions for reducing carbon emissions

The 8th most shared climate change research paper of 2017 addressed the potential role of high impact, individual actions for the reduction of GHG emissions, according to a list published this week by The Carbon Brief. 

The authors argue for official recommendations to shift their focus from ‘incremental behaviour changes that require minimal effort’, to ‘high impact actions’.  While the individual actions outlined in the paper are not necessarily ‘disruptive’, it does highlight the collective power of individual lifestyle choices, and the authors explicitly state their view that scaling these bottom – up actions is crucial to remaining below the 2°C limit.