Responses to Climate Change
- Climate change responses involve mitigation, which reduces the causes of climate change, and adaptation, which reduces its impacts.
- Responses operate at different scales, including individual, community, national, and global levels.
- Effective climate action requires cooperation between governments, industries, NGOs, communities, and individual consumers.
- Different responses vary in cost, speed, effectiveness, and political acceptance, so climate strategies must be compared across multiple factors.
Definition
Mitigation
Mitigation is any strategy that reduces or prevents greenhouse gas emissions, including transitioning to renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, and reducing industrial emissions.
- Mitigation is like turning off a running tap, while adaptation is like mopping up water already on the floor.
- Both are required to prevent flooding.
Economic Measures
1. Carbon Pricing and Market-Based Approaches
Definition
Carbon tax
A carbon tax is a financial charge placed on the carbon content of fuels, encouraging businesses and individuals to reduce their carbon footprint.
- Carbon pricing assigns a financial cost to emitting greenhouse gases, encouraging industries to switch to low-emission alternatives.
- Carbon taxes increase the price of fossil fuels based on their carbon content, which discourages carbon-intensive activities.
- Cap-and-trade systems set a maximum emissions limit and allow companies to buy or sell allowances within that limit.
- Market-based approaches stimulate innovation by rewarding companies that reduce emissions more efficiently than competitors.
Carbon pricing functions like raising the price of unhealthy food; as cost increases, consumption typically decreases.
ExampleSweden’s Carbon Tax
- Introduced in 1991, one of the earliest comprehensive carbon taxes.
- Led to a ~30% GHG reduction while supporting economic growth.
- Revenue funds renewable energy projects and energy-efficient heating systems.
2. Subsidies and Incentives for Renewable Energy
- Governments provide financial incentives for solar, wind, geothermal, and bioenergy technologies.
- Subsidies reduce upfront costs and accelerate adoption of cleaner energy sources.
- These incentives strengthen energy transition by making renewables as affordable as fossil fuels.
3. Tariffs and Border Adjustment Mechanisms
- Tariffs discourage import of carbon-intensive goods, protecting low-carbon domestic industries.
- Border carbon adjustments penalize products manufactured in countries with weak climate laws, reducing carbon leakage.
Carbon leakage occurs when companies relocate to countries with weaker regulations, undermining global mitigation efforts.
Legislative Measures for Climate Action
1. National Laws and Regulations
- Governments enforce fuel efficiency standards, renewable energy mandates, pollution limits, and building efficiency codes.
- Effective climate legislation establishes clear long-term targets and coordinates multiple sectors.
California’s Cap-and-Trade System (Legislative Response)
- Introduced in 2013 to regulate emissions in the U.S. state of California.
- Sets a statewide emissions cap that declines each year.
- Emissions decreased by 10 percent between 2013–2018.
- Funds support community climate programmes and low-carbon technologies.
2. Clean Energy Standards
- Require a specific percentage of electricity to come from renewable sources.
- Stimulate investment in wind, solar, and hydropower.
Early renewable standards led to Texas becoming a world leader in onshore wind energy.
3. National Adaptation Strategies and NAPAs
- National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) help low-income countries identify urgent and immediate adaptation needs.
- These plans focus on sectors like agriculture, water, health and coastal protection.
- NAPAs help direct international funding and guide national policy.
Egypt’s National Climate Strategy
- Egypt faces risks from sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, water scarcity and desertification.
- The National Climate Change Strategy 2050 sets targets to reduce emissions in:
- Electricity by about 33 percent.
- Oil and gas by around 65 percent.
- Transport by about 7 percent.
- Adaptation actions include:
- Encouraging heat tolerant crops, solar-powered equipment and drip irrigation.
- Expanding and electrifying public transport.
- Building sand dikes with vegetation to protect coasts in the Nile Delta.
Industry and Corporate Responses
1. Corporate Mitigation Strategies
- Industries contribute significantly to global emissions, especially energy, transport, manufacturing, construction, and agriculture.
- Many companies adopt mitigation strategies such as:
- Switching to renewable energy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
- Improving energy efficiency in buildings, transport, and production lines.
- Electrifying transport fleets.
- Reducing emissions through low-carbon technologies.
- Using carbon offsets such as reforestation or carbon capture and storage.
Definition
Carbon offsetting
Carbon offsetting is compensating for emissions by investing in activities that remove or reduce an equivalent amount of carbon elsewhere.
IKEA – Industry Response
- IKEA, a global furniture brand, has three major climate focus areas:
- Promoting healthy and sustainable living at home.
- Supporting fair and equal societies through human rights in the value chain.
- Becoming circular and climate positive, designing products that can be maintained, repaired and reused.
- Around 60 percent of IKEA’s products come from renewable materials and 10 percent contain recycled content.
- Climate goals include:
- Halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
- Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
- Using forestry and agriculture to remove and store more carbon than emitted.
Corporate Adaptation Strategies
- Businesses face climate risks such as supply chain disruption, extreme weather damage, and resource shortages.
- Corporate adaptation includes:
- Relocating production facilities away from hazard areas.
- Increasing supply chain resilience by diversifying suppliers.
- Designing climate-resistant infrastructure.
- Investing in insurance, risk assessments, and disaster planning.
Challenges for Industry
- Some industries resist climate policies due to economic costs, short-term profit motives, or fear of competitive disadvantage.
- Transitioning to renewable energy requires:
- High upfront investment.
- Workforce retraining.
- Technology replacement.
- Long-term planning beyond typical corporate timeframes.
- To what extent should individuals be held responsible for reducing emissions, given the significant role of governments and industries?
- How do cultural and economic differences shape responses to climate change?
NGO, Community & Civil Society Responses
Role of NGOs in Climate Governance
- NGOs raise awareness, conduct research, implement community projects, and influence global policies.
- They highlight gaps in government action and promote climate justice for vulnerable populations.
- NGOs can coordinate local adaptation projects including rainwater harvesting, reforestation, and community education.
- International NGOs such as Greenpeace, WWF, and Friends of the Earth advocate for stronger global commitments.
Definition
Climate justice
Climate justice emphasizes fairness, ensuring those who contribute the least to climate change are not the ones who suffer the most.
Community-Led Mitigation and Adaptation
- Communities respond through local renewable projects, sustainable agriculture, urban greening, and ecosystem restoration.
- Local adaptation strategies include raised housing, local flood defences, and community seed banks for climate-resilient crops.
- Indigenous communities contribute traditional ecological knowledge, improving resilience of ecosystems and farming systems.
- Community-scale responses are critical because climate impacts are experienced locally even when caused globally.
