Term 3 - 6.3 Climate change - Mitigation and Adaptation

Net Zero (2)

Net Zero:

• Striking a balance between what we emit and what we remove

• Countries that aim Net Zero will have a lower ecological footprint

Limitations of Net Zero (1)

Limitations of Net Zero - finance, aviation, and foreign imports are not included in emission calculations

Carbon Neutrality (1)

Carbon neutral means balancing the carbon dioxide you release into the air with an equal amount removed or offset

Paris Agreement (8)

• In 2015, the COP meeting in Paris resulted in the Paris Agreement

• Set long term goal to keep temp below 1.5-2 degrees Celsius prediction

• Strength: was voluntary - gives countries more autonomy, more flexibility, more effective

• Encouraged nations to commit a total of 100 billion dollars a year to the Green Climate Fund, as a way for the wealthier countries to fund things like decarbonisation in lower-income countries

• Cooperation, collaboration - involved to be successful

• Decreasing environment injustice - HICs helping LICs - LICs put plans into place that benefits globally

• Limitation: no clear ways to report and enforce countries to contribute, only about 83 billion out of 100 billion - 17 billion dollar difference

• National sovereignty - the right of countries to govern themselves - HL ethics link

Kyoto Protocol (1997) (8)

• Kyoto Protocol - 1997

  • Limitation: legally binding for developed countries

  • China and India were large polluters but were still developing at the time

  • Legally committed to reducing GHG emissions by a set amount within specific time frames

  • Largely considered a failure

  • Limitation - Targets were not legally binding for developing countries - China and India had no obligation

  • US disagreed with this exclusion, and decided not to participate with the protocol

  • At the end of the commitment period, emissions were higher than ever

  • Without the US onboard, many people questioned the usefulness of the protocol

Montreal Protocol

• Adoption: Agreed upon on September 16, 1987, and entered into force on January 1, 1989

• Universal Ratification: It is one of the rare international treaties to achieve universal participation by all United Nations member states

• Core Targets: It legally binds countries to phase out nearly 100 man-made chemicals, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)

• The Kigali Amendment (2016): Expanded the protocol to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are powerful greenhouse gases used as replacements for ozone-depleting substances

• Success and Recovery: Due to sustained global compliance, scientific projections indicate the ozone layer is recovering and expected to return to 1980 levels between 2040 and 2066 depending on the region

Carbon Sinks

• Natural and artificial carbon sinks

• Carbon sinks are natural or artificial deposits that absorb carbon from the atmosphere

• Oceans and forests (wetlands, mangroves) are natural sinks, biological processes

• Oceans - 50% of carbon emitted (holds and locks in place)

• Forests - carbon sequestration through photosynthesis

• Artificial techniques - carbon capture and storage:

  • Enhance and accelerate the rate of carbon sequestration

  • Extract from atmosphere and store in the earth's crust

  • Not acquired efficiently, causes carbon leakage

• Carbon sinks are important help to combat climate change, but do not solve it

• Take CO2 out of atmosphere, but does not prevent making more CO2 - level 2 of pollution management

Carbon Capture Technology - Mitigation Strategy

• Two categories: biological (planting trees, changing farm practices - LICs), technological/chemical (direct air capture - require money, education - HICs)

• Direct air capture- targeting low carbon concentration in atmosphere

• Big fan pulls air through, reacts with chemical, captures 80% of CO2 from the air

• Can make products out of it - combine CO2 with hydrogen makes a fuel that’s essentially carbon neutral

Solar Geoengineering

• Volcanic explosion in Philippines lowered temp for four years

• Aerosols created thick black clouds, radiation couldn't get in - cooling effect, negative radiative forcing

• Plan to build a fleet of plants, up to 95 planes, 60k flights a year - sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere every year - cool by 0.3 degrees Celsius

• Used as an excuse or argument against emission cuts

• If one country were to do it alone, impacts are international/global, could create international tensions or unexpected consequences (affect weather patterns, country suffering from drought to have even less water)

• Politics of solar geoengineering are so complex it may never happen

Emissions Trading System - Mitatgation Strategy

• A mitigation strategy but does not solve the problem

• Certain amount of emissions allowed to produce each year, can sell unused budget to other countries

• Emissions trading

• Trading allowances for emissions - able to share allowances between EU countries

• EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS)

• Financial incentive for the biggest emitters to cut back

• Worked in EU bc EU countries are willing to switch

• But other countries, this wouldn't work

Land Use Zoning - Adaptation Strategy

• Land use zoning - demolishing houses, move away from the coast, rebuild - responding to sea level rise

• Limitations: time, costs, political and social acceptance

• Wetland restoration - are sinks but drainage areas

• Take away homes, put wetlands back in

• Coastal management - put dams, soil erosion, take sand from one place to another

Sponge City - Adaptation Strategy

• Rewilding (restore habitats, absorb water), afforestation

• Garden beds absorb excess moisture - sponge cities

• Nanchang, China, Thailand, Central Park in New York, Germany

• Sponge cities around China - Sponge City Pilot Program (2015) - 30 cities across the countries

• Supplementing existing grey infrastructure with natural solutions

• Sloping roofs allow water to runoff into garden beds to absorb it

• Exterior walls lined with flowers and trees

• Vegetation beds to purify rainwater - can reuse water

• Replace concreate roads and sidewalks with permeable pavement with vegetation

• Urban gardens were planted to absorb water

• Supports urban biodiversity

• Limitation: can only absorb water to a certain point (more rainfall than drainages), policies but not everyone complies (changing human behaviour), climate, hydrology, and socio-economics varies, ambitious designs are expensive and requires a lot of space which most cities don't have