Mitigating Climate Change:
Mitigating strategies = strategies that deal with the cause of the problem
○ Reduce or prevent greenhouse gases which cause climate change
○ Protect carbon sinks (eg/ forests, oceans)
Alternative energy production:
● Demand for energy increases as population grows
● Renewable energy resources offer a solution to reduce volume of greenhouse gases
○ Example of renewable energy source: solar energy
■ 14.9% of UK’s electricity generated by renewable energy sources
■ Photovoltaic solar energy generated 3.8%
● Light shining on solar panels creates an electrical field
● The stronger the sunshine , the more electricity produced
■ A typical home saves over a tonne of CO 2 → no greenhouse gas emissions
Carbon capture and storage:
● Technological advances can replicate the way Earth stores CO 2
● Process known as carbon capture and storage (CCS)
○ Can be used with existing and new power plants
○ Captures CO 2 from emission sources and safely stores it
○ Removes CO 2 from the open atmosphere
■ Converts into a liquid “supercritical CO 2 ”
■ Injected into sedimentary rock
■ Impermeable cap rock prevents it from escaping
● IPCC estimates that CCS could provide 10 – 55% of the world’s total carbon mitigation until 2100
● UK is a world leader in CCS
○ Could provide more than 20% of UK’s electricity by 2050
○ Could save UK over £30 billion a year in meeting climate targets
Planting trees:
● Deforestation is a major driver of climate change → occurs at a rate of 13 million hectares per year
● $40 billion investment in reforestation and conservation projects from 2010 to 2050
○ Could increase forest carbon storage by 28%
● UK has a £24.9 million project
○ Aims to:
■ Reduce deforestation
■ Increase forest and land restoration in Brazil
■ Tackle climate change
○ Reduces 10.71 million tonnes of CO 2 emissions over 20 years by recovering 41,560 hectares of forest
International agreements:
● UN negotiated a new climate change agreement at the 2015 Paris climate conference
● European Commission set the EU’s vision for a new agreement
○ Reduce emissions 40% below 2010 levels by 2030
○ Reduce emissions 60% below 2010 levels by 2050
● Challenge for countries to agree on targets
○ Some countries can afford to mitigate change more than others
○ Some countries are considered more responsible