Previous research has found that social norms and efficacy are important for self-reported mitigating behaviors in relation to climate change, but less is known about what type of actions more committed students opt for. Therefore, this study aims to describe what aspects of climate action underpin their willingness to act. An interview study with 30 student activists (18-29 years) in Germany and Sweden who are actively involved in climate movements was conducted. The transcribed recordings were analyzed using qualitative thematic content analysis. The proposed actions were coded according the two dimensions of action possibilities: individual/collective and direct/indirect. Two main pathways towards mitigating climate change become visible in the data. The most emphasized pathway describes the importance to create opinion via indirect actions, mainly at the collective level, but also at the individual level, to create pressure on the political system to change legal systems and social norms. A second, less emphasized pathway points to the need for direct individual actions as a way to act as moral role models. The results highlight the needs to redirect climate change education away from only teaching at the individual level, as commonly suggested in climate literacy programs in schools