Climate Change Mitigation

Climate Change Mitigation

Climate change mitigation entails using similar tactics. By stopping or significantly slowing the release of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, climate change mitigation seeks to plug that leak.

Mitigation efforts include both reducing emissions sources and strengthening “sinks” that absorb and store them – from high-tech subway systems to changing human behavior.

Energy Efficiency

Lowering energy use is an integral component of fighting climate change and meeting net zero goals. Reducing energy use through reduced costs for businesses and households alike is one of the key actions in the Energy Hierarchy, helping bring down expenses while heading in that direction.

Modern societies waste an incredible amount of energy due to ineffective machinery and buildings. New technologies and practices are helping combat this by decreasing energy consumption through better design and engineering practices.

Energy efficiency improvement is one of the fastest and least-costly ways to reduce carbon emissions, and plays an essential role in most GHG reduction pathways that aim to limit global warming to 1.5degC. Energy efficient practices can be found throughout all sectors in order to reduce energy use for illumination, heating and cooling, cooking, transport of people and goods as well as industrial processes; increasing existing building efficiencies as well as adding energy-efficient features into new ones can all help accelerate electrification as well as foster behavior change.

Buildings

Decisions architects make when constructing buildings have more of an effect than meets the eye; they also have a significant effect on our environment and can play an instrumental part in combatting climate change by employing sustainable building techniques. Architects can make an enormous difference by opting for green construction practices.

Buildings account for an enormous proportion of global energy use and carbon emissions. Emissions stem both from operational activities, like heating and cooling, but also manufacturing processes like cement production. Emitters that cannot be reduced with operational changes alone include these embodied emissions that pose greater difficulty to mitigate than standard emissions reduction strategies.

Governments can take steps to mitigate emissions through building codes that promote zero-emission buildings, support renewable energy use in powering them and promote sustainable practices during construction of new buildings. They may also encourage retrofitting of existing structures to lower energy consumption.

Homeowners can take measures to lessen the impact of climate change through their homes. Such steps might include building in less vulnerable locations, raising structures above flooding risks, or using noncombustible materials in construction.

Transportation

Human greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels in cars, buses, trains, trucks and airplanes – accounting for two fifths of total US emissions. Emissions from transportation surpassed electric power five years ago as their proportion increased substantially – accounting for two fifths of overall US emissions.

People can reduce transport-related emissions by driving less, carpooling and taking public transit instead of their own private vehicles. Cycling and walking also reduce carbon emissions to some degree; though their production also contributes.

Expanding public transport infrastructure and funding it are vital components of mitigating climate change, but they alone won’t do the trick. According to System Change Lab research, cities must expand rapid transit networks six times faster by 2030 in order to shift more trips away from cars – this should happen even in poorer cities; as poor households tend to suffer most from transport-related air pollution, providing them with alternative forms such as electric buses can help.

Agriculture

Agriculture is an indispensable industry, providing livelihoods and jobs to three-quarters of humanity living below poverty line. Yet agriculture also plays a part in climate change through land conversion and its associated use of nitrogen-based fertilizers; fossil fuel use for energy and transportation purposes; as well as methane emissions from livestock feed.

Regenerative farming practices offer hope in mitigating climate change by decreasing carbon dioxide emissions, improving soil health and sequestration rates, increasing water infiltration rates, cycling nutrients more efficiently and decreasing input costs. By minimising soil disturbance, increasing biodiversity presence of roots, using cover crops more strategically and forgoing excess nitrogen fertilizer use; Regenerative farmers can help increase food security while simultaneously decreasing their climate footprint.

But in order to limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius, agriculture and forestry sectors must reduce emissions by two-thirds between 2010-2050 – but current mitigation investment levels fall far short of requirements.