The Effective Impact of Behavioral Shifts in Energy, Transport, and Food

This working paper is the first to analyze which individual behavior shifts have the largest “effective impact” on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Effective impact is a novel measure that combines both theoretical potential (what could happen if everyone adopted sustainable behaviors) and real-world results (what actually happens when interventions aimed only at individuals are attempted without changing the broader system). 

While sustainable behavior shifts could theoretically cancel out all the GHG emissions an average person produces each year, individual-level interventions typically achieve only 10% of this potential — highlighting the need for both individual and systemic change. In addition, this paper identifies which behavior change tools (like defaults, social norms or providing information) are the most effective.