Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 23 views

    Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies For Climate Change

    Uploaded by

    David Fan
    The document discusses strategies for both mitigating and adapting to climate change. It outlines factors like location, wealth, education, and media influence that impact communities' risk and vulnerability. Major mitigation strategies addressed are reducing emissions through energy efficiency and renewable resources, while major adaptation strategies include relocation, infrastructure upgrades, and education. The Paris Agreement set goals to limit global warming through country-set emissions targets and carbon accounting. Both governmental policies and voluntary actions from civil society and businesses are needed to fully address the complex challenges of climate change.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies For Climate Change

    Uploaded by

    David Fan
    23 views6 pages
    The document discusses strategies for both mitigating and adapting to climate change. It outlines factors like location, wealth, education, and media influence that impact communities' risk and vulnerability. Major mitigation strategies addressed are reducing emissions through energy efficiency and renewable resources, while major adaptation strategies include relocation, infrastructure upgrades, and education. The Paris Agreement set goals to limit global warming through country-set emissions targets and carbon accounting. Both governmental policies and voluntary actions from civil society and businesses are needed to fully address the complex challenges of climate change.

    Original Title

    Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Climate Change

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document discusses strategies for both mitigating and adapting to climate change. It outlines factors like location, wealth, education, and media influence that impact communities' risk and vulnerability. Major mitigation strategies addressed are reducing emissions through energy efficiency and renewable resources, while major adaptation strategies include relocation, infrastructure upgrades, and education. The Paris Agreement set goals to limit global warming through country-set emissions targets and carbon accounting. Both governmental policies and voluntary actions from civil society and businesses are needed to fully address the complex challenges of climate change.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    23 views6 pages

    Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies For Climate Change

    Uploaded by

    David Fan
    The document discusses strategies for both mitigating and adapting to climate change. It outlines factors like location, wealth, education, and media influence that impact communities' risk and vulnerability. Major mitigation strategies addressed are reducing emissions through energy efficiency and renewable resources, while major adaptation strategies include relocation, infrastructure upgrades, and education. The Paris Agreement set goals to limit global warming through country-set emissions targets and carbon accounting. Both governmental policies and voluntary actions from civil society and businesses are needed to fully address the complex challenges of climate change.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 6

    Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Climate Change

    The stakes…
    • To limit irreversible/ highly-damaging impacts on environment & societies → must limit
    change in GMST to less than +2o (~550 ppm CO2 in atmosphere)
    • Why isn’t more being done to curb emissions and build resilience to environment changes?
    • Not all groups face same risk exposure
    • Many of the most vulnerable have the least power to enact change

    Factors impacting risk perception/ vulnerability


    1. Location
    2. Wealth
    3. Education
    4. Age
    5. Influence of media and leaders

    Major strategies available to governments:


    1. Do nothing
    2. Mitigation: addressing root-causes of climate change by reducing GHG emissions and/ or
    increasing carbon capture
    3. Adaptation: adjusting to changing conditions in environment (coastal defenses against rising
    sea levels, etc.)

    Mitigation approaches:
    • Energy conservation/ efficiency
    • Renewable energy sources
    • More sustainable transport (fuel efficiency, rail vs. trucks, etc.)
    • Use of landfill & sewage digester gas
    • Carbon sequestration & sinks (tree planting, etc.)
    **High up-front costs for these measures

    Adaptation approaches:
    • Relocation & land-use change
    • Business contingency planning
    • Upgrades to buildings/ infrastructure
    • Education/ training
    • Health spending
    **Higher (and ever-increasing) long-term/ future costs

    Common to both approaches:


    • Building efficiency (better insulation, etc.)
    • “Green” infrastructure
    • Conserving resources (water, energy, etc.)

    International climate change agreements


    • Concerns growing since 1980s
    • Culminated in 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) & resulting Paris Agreement
    • Designed to limit GMST rise to +1.5° (rather than predicted +2°)
    • Signed by 195 countries (though not all have ratified)
    • Countries set their own contribution goals (NDCs) and regularly increase

    Paris Climate Agreement (COP21)


    • Premise: GHG emissions can rise (but should slow) but will need carbon capture technology in
    future
    • Emissions targets set by countries, but reviewed and increased every 5 years
    • Countries must keep and share accurate emissions data
    • Rich countries share technology with developing countries, help vulnerable countries with
    funding
    • Developed countries acknowledge larger role in historic carbon stock contribution

    Evaluating the Paris (COP21) Agreement


    European agreements
    • EU = largest group of high-income countries
    • Accept major role in historic carbon stock contributions
    • GHG emission cut pledges:
    • - 20% (vs. 1990) by 2020
    • - 80% by 2050

    Carbon emissions trading & offsets


    • CET (carbon emissions trading) systems:
    • Mitigation strategy (reduces emissions)
    • ‘environmental economics’ – relies on market forces rather than pure government
    regulation
    • Businesses & consumers will favor low carbon options if less expensive
    • a.k.a. cap and trade systems

    Example: EU emissions trading system (EUETS)


    • Established 2003 (largest ETS system)
    • Participating power plants, factories, etc. given set carbon credit/ allowance
    • If business exceeds allowance, it pays fine (thus increasing price) or buys unused credits
    from others (tradable allowance)
    • Those who do not use entire allowance can sell excess for profit
    • number/ size of credits is reduced over time
    • Criticized for issuing too many credits (limits effectiveness)

    Carbon offsets:
    • Mitigation strategy
    • Compensate for emission– causing activities by achieving emission savings elsewhere
    • Ex: plant a tree to offset plane/ long car trip
    • Companies offer offsetting services for price
    • Criticized for lack of accountability, small scale of influence on overall emissions

    Technology fixes and geo-engineering


    • Offers hope for future reduction of emissions & stock in atmosphere
    • Dangerous (?) – incentivizes continuing on as usual
    • Generally aim to do one of two things:
    • Remove CO2 from atmosphere (CDR)
    • Reflect more sunlight (SRM)

    Carbon capture and storage (CCS)


    • Capture and store new fossil fuel emissions underground
    • Process:
    1. CO2 separated from power plant’s emissions
    2. CO2 is compressed and transported
    3. CO2 is injected into porous rock layers
    • Major potential solution for coal power plant emissions (still a major source of energy)
    • Challenges: unproven technology; expensive; CO2 must remain trapped (tricky)
    Sunlight reflection methods (SRM)
    • Aim to reduce amount of solar radiation that reaches the surface
    • Examples:
    1. Orbital mirrors to reflect sunlight
    • Costs? Safety?
    2. Injecting reflective particles into upper-atmosphere (global dimming)
    • Disruption of natural weather patterns
    • Could cause international conflict
    • Contributes to ozone depletion
    3. Spraying seawater into clouds to make them whiter/ more reflective
    Civil society and corporate strategies to tackle climate change

    The need for action


    • Solutions cannot just come from governments
    • Need individuals, businesses, civil society organizations to contribute
    • Why so little action?
    • Complexity and long-term nature of problem
    • Financial priorities
    • Financial crisis in West – other priorities rank much higher
    • People in poverty more concerned with daily survival
    • Skepticism – not believing reports

    Examples of nongovernmental action

    You might also like

    pFad - Phonifier reborn

    Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

    Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


    Alternative Proxies:

    Alternative Proxy

    pFad Proxy

    pFad v3 Proxy

    pFad v4 Proxy