Climate change mitigation entails decreasing emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere while simultaneously strengthening carbon sinks that remove them. This includes new technologies and renewable energies such as solar or wind power; making older equipment more energy-efficient; changing consumer behaviors; as well as conserving natural landscapes like forests or wetlands.
Demand-side mitigation solutions such as cutting back on long flights and shifting towards plant-based diets can be cost-effective and easy to implement, while restoring natural carbon sinks or cultivating drought-tolerant crops could also prove fruitful approaches.
Reduce our overall consumption
Climate change mitigation is within our grasp if we all do our part, whether by purchasing locally grown produce and installing energy-efficient appliances or purchasing secondhand clothing to reduce production of new plastics that emit greenhouse gasses during their manufacture and disposal.
Purchase of local produce, selecting low-carbon travel options such as walking or cycling, composting waste food and investing in businesses committed to environmental sustainability are among the many ways we can contribute. These investments may help shift our economy away from fossil fuels and deforestation towards renewables, clean technologies and sustainable agriculture – ultimately benefitting everyone involved.
Mitigation refers to efforts that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide or methane while strengthening natural sinks such as forests and wetlands that absorb them, with the ultimate aim being halting their build-up in the atmosphere altogether and beginning its reduction. One effective means is widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies and living a lower-carbon lifestyle; many changes also bring health advantages like better air quality or reduced mortality from traffic injuries.
Adapt to climate change
Many communities and ecosystems are already dealing with climate change impacts such as rising sea levels, more intense and frequent heat waves, droughts, flooding and changes to rainfall patterns. Climate action must be taken now in order to minimize risks and help us adapt to inevitable yet unavoidable impacts from a warming planet.
Effective adaptation action must be planned for, with forward thinking. Early warning systems can save lives in flood-related deaths by up to one-third, while cost-cutting measures such as blocking doors with sandbags or stockpiling food may yield benefits ten times their initial costs.
Some Adaptation Strategies Focus on Specific Climate Hazards such as Floods or Droughts while others Can Address Multiple Risk Factors such as Ocean Acidification and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods; Others Provide Multiple Benefits Such solutions are known as Nature-based solutions which offer both climate benefits and biodiversity conservation; For instance community projects in Djibouti restore coastal mangrove forests to protect from rising seas, while Tuvalu used high uplands sand as a barrier against the effects of climate change past 2100;
Restore natural carbon sinks
Natural ecosystems like forests, oceans and mangroves act as carbon sinks by absorbing and storing more CO2 than they emit; this process is known as carbon sequestration and necessary to combat human-caused climate change caused by fossil fuel consumption.
These carbon sinks are essential in regulating our planet’s temperature and mitigating climate change, yet deforestation and degradation threaten their capacity to absorb CO2. Thus, it is imperative that we protect and restore them.
Reducing deforestation, restoring forest biodiversity, cultivating carbon-storing crops and conserving and rewetting peatlands are some ways to do this. Furthermore, peatlands provide freshwater sources, flood protection, habitat for rare plants and animals and trap carbon emissions into humus deposits instead of into the atmosphere – these efforts help ensure sustainability and reduce carbon release into our atmosphere.
Help low- and middle-income countries
As the global community strives to reduce climate change impacts, low and middle-income countries (LMICs) cannot be left behind. Although LMICs contribute very little to global emissions, they could reap substantial advantages from mitigation measures – both short- and long-term. For instance, credible restrictions on carbon emissions would lead to oil price decreases which help lower fuel costs for LMICs that rely heavily on imports for economic development.
Adaptation strategies may also prove helpful in these countries, including increasing energy efficiency and ensuring sustainable food production. Furthermore, it’s in everyone’s best interests for these less developed nations to avoid falling into an environmental “poverty trap” caused by insufficient mitigation progress that stifles development while undermining human security.