Opinion: Individual responsibility is key to addressing climate change

Governmental action will be crucial in tackling global climate change, but individuals can also take steps and play a major role. Here Professor Gabriel Waksman (UCL Biosciences) writes about his own eco-anxiety and why he's been planting trees to combat carbon emissions. During my almost 30 years as an academic and scientist, I have clocked up thousands of air miles. I have travelled from international conferences to grant-review panels, from invited seminars abroad to lectures at foreign institutions. These journeys emitted many tonnes of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Although frequently useful for communicating my results and finding inspiration for experiments, travelling has a significant environmental cost, which we must reduce. Governmental action will be crucial in solving the problem of climate change, but individual responsibility has a major part to play.