2.3.2 Government Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies Notes

Policies to Address Emissions and Resilience

1. Climate change poses significant challenges, but global efforts, market-based solutions, and innovative technologies offer pathways to mitigate its impacts.
2. This section explores three key strategies:
   1. International agreements
   2. Carbon offsetting and trading
   3. Geo-engineering technologies

Geopolitical Attempts: the UN, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement

The United Nations: Assessing the Knowledge and Coordinating Global Policy Framework

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Science and Policy Guidance

1. In 1988 the United Nations established Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - body responsible for assessing the scientific knowledge about climate change, its impacts, and potential adaptation and mitigation strategies.
2. The IPCC key functions:
   1. Assessment Reports: Periodic reports that compile the latest scientific findings on climate change serving as a critical resource for governments and international organizations.
   2. Policy Guidance: While the IPCC does not set policy, its findings inform global climate negotiations and help shape international climate policy frameworks.
   3. Collaboration: The IPCC collaborates with researchers, governments, and other organizations to promote the understanding of climate science.

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change: Negotiations and Policy Making

1. In 1992 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - an international treaty - was signed.
2. The UNFCCC key features:
   1. Framework for Negotiations: The UNFCCC provides a structure for ongoing negotiations among countries, involving commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.
   2. Annual Conferences: Annual Conferences of the Parties (COP), where member nations convene to assess progress, and negotiate agreements, such as the Paris Agreement reached at COP21 in 2015.
   3. Support for Developing Countries: The UNFCCC emphasizes the importance of supporting developing countries in their efforts to address climate change, providing financial resources, technology transfer, and capacity-building initiatives.

Kyoto Protocol (1997): Binding Targets for Developed Nations

1. The Kyoto Protocol was the first international treaty to set legally binding emission reduction targets for developed countries.

Key Features

1. Emission Targets: Aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% below 1990 levels by 2012.
2. Flexible Mechanisms: Included carbon trading, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI).

Strengths and Challenges

1. Strengths:
   1. Established a legal framework for emission reductions.
   2. Pioneered market-based mechanisms.
2. Challenges:
   1. Excluded all MICs and LICs including major emitters like China and India.
   2. The U.S. did not ratify the treaty, Canada withdrew from it, Russia and Japan participated only partially, limiting its overall impact.

Paris Agreement (2015): A Universal Commitment

1. The Paris Agreement is a landmark international treaty adopted in 2015, aiming to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to cap it at 1.5°C.

Key Features

1. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs): Countries submit voluntary targets for reducing emissions.
2. Global Stocktake: Progress is reviewed every five years to enhance ambition.
3. Climate Finance: Developed countries pledged $100 billion annually to support developing nations in adaptation and mitigation.

Strengths and Challenges

1. Strengths:
   1. Broad participation (over 190 countries).
   2. Focus on both mitigation and adaptation.
2. Challenges:
   1. No binding enforcement mechanisms.
   2. The US withdrew, rejoined, and withdrew again from it, other countries (except for the EU) have consistently failed to meet targets.

Carbon Offsetting and Trading

What Is Carbon Offsetting?

1. Carbon offsetting allows individuals, companies, or countries to compensate for their emissions by investing in projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gases.
2. These investments usually take place in a different location.

Common Offset Projects

1. Reforestation: Planting trees to absorb $CO_2$.
2. Renewable Energy: Funding solar, wind, or hydroelectric projects.
3. Methane Capture: Reducing emissions from landfills or agriculture.

Carbon Trading: A Market-Based Solution

1. Carbon trading involves buying and selling permits to emit greenhouse gases, creating a financial incentive to reduce emissions.