According to a study by the Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft (IW), citizens can save several million tons of CO2 in the fight against climate change with moderate changes to their individual habits.
If German households were to reduce their annual food waste by half, a good six million tonnes of CO2 would be less, according to a calculation published by the IW on Friday.
The logic behind this: The need for food would decrease, it would have to be cultivated, transported or refrigerated less, and fewer greenhouse gases would be produced. For comparison: According to the information, domestic German air traffic caused around two million tons of carbon dioxide in 2019.
The experts list other measures: If citizens were to eat a fifth less meat and instead eat meat substitutes, the savings would be almost 10 million tons of CO2. The experts also see potential for climate protection in other areas of everyday life: If all citizens were to buy a fifth less new clothing than before, the CO2 savings would be around 12 million tons per year, according to IW. On average, every citizen in Germany buys 56 pieces of clothing per year - if it were eleven less, the aforementioned amount of greenhouse gases could be saved. Switching from airplanes to trains would also help to reduce per capita greenhouse gas emissions.
The four measures taken together would therefore reduce the CO2 footprint per inhabitant from the current 11 tonnes per year by 0.6 tonnes. Should global warming be limited to 1.5 degrees, according to IW, a reduction to less than 1 ton would be necessary. The biggest chunk would come from the climate-friendly conversion of energy generation, from industry and transport.
According to IW expert Roland Kube, the figures show that every citizen can do something with changes in their everyday lives. "A sustainable way of life is a complementary but important factor in reducing emissions significantly in terms of climate protection," says Kube. The figures are about so-called CO2 equivalents - so not only the greenhouse gas effect of carbon dioxide is included, but also, for example, that of the methane released in agriculture.