Efforts to achieve emissions targets often fall short. Science can help meet the targets by assessing the feasibility of initiatives proposed to reach them, focusing on issues of adoption and implementation and the behavioural plasticity of intended responders.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
A dataset of emissions and removals from scenarios and pathways within long-term national climate strategies – the LTS-SP dataset
Scientific Data Open Access 23 March 2025
-
Multi-country evidence on societal factors to include in energy transition modelling
Nature Energy Open Access 21 February 2025
-
Perceived feasibility and potential barriers of a net-zero system transition among Japanese experts
Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 23 November 2023
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References
Emissions Gap Report 2022: The Closing Window—Climate Crisis Calls for Rapid Transformation of Societies (UNEP, 2022).
IPCC. Summary for policymakers. In Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change (eds Shukla, P. R. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2022).
Nielsen, K. S. et al. One Earth 3, 325–336 (2020).
Stern, P. C., Dietz, T. & Vandenbergh, M. P. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 91, 102735 (2022).
Finkel, E. J. et al. Science 370, 533–536 (2020).
Schaffer, L. M., Oehl, B. & Bernauer, T. J. Public Policy 42, 136–164 (2022).
Pülzl, H. & Treib, O. in Handbook of Public Policy Analysis (eds Fischer, F., Miller, G. J. & Sidney, M. S.) 89–107 (Routledge, 2007).
Nilsen, P. & Birken, S. A. Handbook on Implementation Science (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020).
Sloot, D. & Scheibehenne, B. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 168, 112761 (2022).
Stern, P. C., Wolske, K. S. & Dietz, T. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 52, 9–18 (2021).
Jewell, J. & Cherp, A. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Clim. Change 11, e621 (2020).
Dietz, T. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 18452–18456 (2009).
Brutschin, E. & Pianta, S. Polit. Gov. 10, 186–199 (2022).
Henry, A. D. Hum. Ecol. Rev. 26, 171–193 (2020).
Peng, W. et al. Nature 594, 174–176 (2021).
National Research Council Understanding Risk: Informing Decisions in a Democratic Society (National Academies Press, 1996).
National Research Council Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making (National Academies Press, 2008).
Acknowledgements
K.S.N. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Carlsberg Foundation (grant no. CF20-0285). T.D was supported by Michigan AgBio Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stern, P.C., Dietz, T., Nielsen, K.S. et al. Feasible climate mitigation. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 6–8 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01563-7
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01563-7
This article is cited by
-
Multi-country evidence on societal factors to include in energy transition modelling
Nature Energy (2025)
-
A dataset of emissions and removals from scenarios and pathways within long-term national climate strategies – the LTS-SP dataset
Scientific Data (2025)
-
Evaluating carbon footprint calculators: a comprehensive assessment framework
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy (2025)
-
Realizing the full potential of behavioural science for climate change mitigation
Nature Climate Change (2024)
-
Supply, demand and polarization challenges facing US climate policies
Nature Climate Change (2024)