Feeling climate doom? Experts say there are things you can to do right now to help fight the climate crisis

The world's leading climate scientists are calling for a rapid, co-ordinated response to climate change in the next seven years in order to prevent increased natural disasters and irreversible damage to the earth.

The need for change is urgent. The crisis has already devastated huge swathes of the earth, especially in developing countries, despite rich ones contributing the most greenhouse gas emissions.

In its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Synthesis Report, the United Nations is calling on the world to cut emissions by almost half by 2030, and said wealthy countries like Canada should reach zero emissions by 2040. (We have so far only committed to reaching zero emissions by 2050).

The report calls for the protection of intact forests, wetlands and other natural ecosystems. It notes that solar and wind power, and even bike-riding, help.

There are steps individuals can take to help, but there also needs to be a societal shift, one climate expert and a climate activist told the Star.

Do what you can, but make it visible and social," said Matt Hoffman, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto and co-director of the Environmental Governance Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

We have to get societal and policy change," he added. The link between individual behaviour and individual choices and those societal changes are about making your choices part of the conversation and making your choices part of changing what's natural in our society."

Evelyn Austin, the executive director of Banking on a Better Future, also weighed in on a campaigns to stop fossil fuel development and expansion projects.

According to a recent report by Lakehead University, nearly 8 in 10 people aged 16 to 25 are feeling the impact of climate change on their mental health. But these experts say there are steps people can take right now to help make a difference.

Pressure politicians across party lines

In Hoffman's view, the biggest thing many individuals can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to help make climate change a non-partisan priority, where it's seen as natural" to take aggressive action on climate change, regardless of political association.

Vote for candidates at every level who take climate change action seriously and are committed to acting aggressively on it," Hoffman said. And not only voting, but telling people in your family, in your neighbourhood, and telling your politicians why you're voting."

Change your RRSP investments

People whose RRSPs or pensions are invested in the oil and gas industry are contributing capital to the industry that's creating the problem," Hoffman said.

More and more, there are mutual funds and investment options that are more sustainable and fossil fuel free," he added, but you have to explicitly choose to make it a priority.

If people pick their own, finding fossil fuel free investments for your RRSP can be a pretty big deal," he said.

Consider alternative banking options

According to a 2022 report, Canada's Big Five banks - RBC, Scotiabank, TD, CIBC and BMO - have invested $911 billion into the fossil fuel sector since the 2015 Paris Agreement, when governments around the world agreed to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

There's a movement underway across Canada, which began in universities, to pressure banks to divest.

Laurentian Bank is the only major bank in Canada that has agreed to phase out its investments in the industry, Austin said. There are also a number of credit unions that don't invest in fossil fuels projects at all. In Ontario, those include Alterna Savings Credit Union, DUCA Financial and Kindred Credit Union.

Through Banking on a Better Future, Austin advocates for people to make the switch, arguing credit unions across the board are more democratic than banks and therefore can be more receptive to depositors who vote for it to phase out investments into fossil fuel development.

Pressure banks to stop financing fossil fuel projects

By funding fossil fuel projects, banks are condoning the activity of that industry," Austin said.

The goal of her advocacy with Banking on a Better Future is to use public pressure to take away the social license to operate" that banks have in supporting the development and expansion of fossil fuels - effectively stigmatizing the practice until it is no longer socially acceptable - and to deplete the companies of the funds needed to complete the projects.

It took 10 years, but it was Indigenous and environmental advocacy that ultimately led the Keystone XL pipeline project to be cancelled in 2021. The project lost its social license," Austin explained.

Advocates are putting the pressure on by attending banks' Annual General Meetings (AGM) as shareholders put forward resolutions that touch on either ending fossil fuel expansion and financing, or integrating FPIC, Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples into their lending practices or both," she said.

Switch energy sources, watch your food - and spread the word

There are limitations to what individuals can do to help reduce climate change, Hoffman said, because making green decisions often comes down to how much money someone has to spare. For those who can take these steps, he suggests spreading the word and pushing politicians to make environmentally-friendly options more accessible to everyone.

Some of the most important individual changes can be made at home and on the commute, Hoffman said.

One of the big things you can do in your house is get a heat pump instead of a gas furnace," he said.

The government has rebates to repay the costs, he added, but doing so is limited to homeowners and people who have the cash available to start.

Changing your light bulbs to LED light bulbs is good at reducing electricity use in your house, but that kind of impact is overwhelmed by how we are stuck in systems that are really reproducing climate change," he said.

Other steps individuals can take is turning off the lights, eating less meat, walking and biking as much as possible, switching from a gas-powered car to an electric vehicle, and taking fewer flights, Hoffmann said.

With files from Kate Allen

Manuela Vega is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star's Express Desk. Follow her on Twitter: @_manuelavega