Climate change mitigation entails decreasing human contributions to global greenhouse effects by decreasing emissions of carbon dioxide and particles with warming effects, such as black carbon. Restoring and conserving forest ecosystems also help mitigate global warming by acting as carbon sinks.
Attaining our climate goals requires a radical transformation in development patterns. This will require everyone from individuals adopting sustainable habits to governments regulating and offering incentives to play their part.
1. Reduce the amount of plastic we use
Plastic pollution, an ever-present feature of our oceans, often remains underappreciated when it comes to climate change. But production and disposal of plastics contributes significantly to carbon pollution – not only carbon but also other greenhouse gases as well.
Future climate change will largely depend on society’s decisions regarding emissions. Reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases will result in less warming and consequently less severe consequences.
Reducing emissions requires shifting away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources like renewables and increasing efficiency improvements in energy generation, transport, buildings, industry and agriculture. Restoring and conserving land ecosystems like forests that act as carbon sinks helps mitigate emissions long-term while incentives, carbon pricing and limits are crucial tools in driving mitigation – behavioral change research also plays a crucial role.
2. Reduce the amount of energy we use
Every purchase we make – be it clothing or cars – has an effect on the planet. One way we can reduce this impact is to invest our savings with companies that are environmentally sustainable, using energy responsibly and not supporting fossil fuels or deforestation.
Increased energy efficiency in buildings, transport and electricity production as well as switching to renewable power sources are effective strategies for decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon storage in land ecosystems like forests is also necessary.
However, in order to address climate change impacts effectively and mitigate further climate change impacts effectively a dramatic shift is required in development trends and lifestyle changes must occur in order to have any meaningful effect. Such actions may become more feasible if accepted as equitable solutions that spread costs and risks equally among different stakeholders.
3. Reduce the amount of transport we use
Climate change mitigation entails taking measures that decrease human activities that contribute to global greenhouse effect, specifically by decreasing emissions of heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide, or particles like black soot, while increasing sinks’ uptake of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide through forests or other means.
Emissions can be reduced through various mechanisms, from switching to renewable energy sources and improving energy efficiency, to adopting regenerative agricultural practices, protecting forests and other critical ecosystems and adopting large scale changes that increase resilience. But for emissions to be reduced fast enough and sufficiently, significant scale change must occur at once.
Every individual and institution plays an integral part in climate change mitigation: from individuals advocating for change and taking actions themselves to governments establishing policies and providing incentives, companies innovating solutions to combat it, pension funds or investments that support businesses committed to cutting greenhouse gases and waste emissions and more.
4. Reduce the amount of food we eat
Climate-change crises are having a devastating impact on people, economies and ecosystems worldwide. Countries signed onto the Paris Agreement pledge to limit temperature rise well under 2degC or even 1.5degC by cutting emissions and taking action that prevent temperature increases above this threshold.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through switching to renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency and adopting regenerative agriculture practices can help mitigate future climate change impacts.
These actions can improve food security and support livelihoods, yet are insufficient unless we change development patterns drastically and make other adjustments (including changing lifestyles).
Growing evidence shows us that to effectively combat climate change we must reduce emissions quickly and significantly while simultaneously making significant reductions to future emissions. This requires significant cuts to human-caused heat trapping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas that remain there for hundreds of years, warming our planet while altering atmospheric concentrations and further warming it further.