Reducing carbon emissions from everyday life is key to decarbonizing society. Despite growing concerns about climate change, people are not engaging in activities that are commensurate with the severity of the threat. One reason may be There may be a lack of knowledge about which climate measures are most effective. People often have significant misconceptions about the relative effectiveness of different behavioral changes., which can lead to suboptimal use of effort and resources. For example, many believe that comprehensive recycling is among the most effective measures, even though its impact is orders of magnitude smaller than other behaviors, such as transportation decisions.

A study conducted in the United States with a sample of 3,895 participants examined whether climate literacy intervention programs could correct these misconceptions and increase commitments to more effective individual climate action. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups: a Prediction Group, where they predicted the effectiveness of 21 climate behaviors and then received feedback on the actual ranking; an Information Group, where they were passively exposed to information about the relative emission reduction potential of the same behaviors; and a Control Group with no information.

Findings on individual actions:

• Interventions significantly increased the accuracy of perceptions of the effectiveness of climate action compared to the control group. This effect was sustained even after a week.
• It turned out that passive exposure to information was slightly more accurate as prediction-feedback in correcting distortions.
• Both intervention groups increased their commitments to more effective individual measures compared to control. Correcting distorted perceptions thus led to a shift in commitments to more impactful actions.
• No significant difference was found in changes in commitments between the information group and the prediction group, suggesting that a direct information approach can also be effective.
• In the prediction group, the greater the initial bias (the difference between predicted and actual efficiency), the greater the changes in liabilities – Liabilities to overvalued shares decreased and liabilities to undervalued shares increased.
• However, these changes in commitments to individual actions did not remain significant after a week, indicating their short-term impact.

Study also identified some individual measures that have high potential for reducing emissions and high behavioral plasticity (perceived ease of implementation). These include, for example, not taking one less flight, not adopting a dog, or eating lower-carbon meat. These actions represent a strategic starting point for those designing behavioral change interventions.

Findings on collective actions:

• Although the interventions focused only on individual actions, the study found negative spillover effect on collective actions (such as voting or participating in climate marches). Participants in the intervention groups reduced their commitments to these collective actions compared to the control.
• This negative impact was partly mediated by changes in perceptions of the effectiveness of collective actions.
• Authors recommend that intervention programs do not forget about collective actions.

Exploratory analysis showed that various factors predict commitments to individual and collective actions. For individual actions (e.g. switching to public transport), behavioral plasticity (perceived ease) is a stronger predictor. For collective actions (e.g. participating in a march), perceived efficacy is a stronger predictor.

In conclusion, the results indicate that Information interventions can effectively correct distorted perceptions about the effectiveness of climate action and shift commitments to more impactful individual actionsHowever, it is important to include collective actions in these interventionsto avoid negative side effects. The durability of the effects on behavioral commitment is questionable, as changes were not sustained after one week. Future studies should examine longer-term effects and consider different strategies, such as repeated “booster” interventions. Spring