An airplane, a packaged piece of meat, and a sports car

A carbon-intensive lifestyle feels comfortable and familiar. Whether it’s cutting back on meat, driving less, flying less, or shopping sustainably, people find it difficult to change their ways.

Consumerism makes us too reliant on a carbon-intensive lifestyle

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Minimizing the impacts of climate change requires rapid transitions in people’s lifestyles and how we organize our societies, institutions and infrastructure. This is underscored by the fact that household consumption accounts for around two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Bridging the gap – the role of equitable low-carbon
lifestyles (PDF)

Climate change is affecting the ability of food systems to provide sufficient nutritious and affordable foods at all times. Healthy and sustainable (H&S) food choices are important contributions to health and climate change policy efforts.

The Cost of a Healthy and Sustainable Diet: Who Can Afford It?

There’s also a cost involved too, which makes sustainable choices more difficult for many people.

And when people do make changes, it feels like a tiny drop in the ocean. The effect of individual actions is hard to gauge, making behaviour change even more demotivating.

What is the impact of our individual actions in the climate crisis?

Consumerism makes us too reliant on a carbon-intensive lifestyle