Climate change mitigation includes measures such as limiting greenhouse gas emissions, restoring forests and critical ecosystems, adapting to heat waves and flooding as well as adapting to impacts like heat waves and flooding – these steps are key to keeping global warming below 1.5degC and avoiding irreversible climate changes.
Adaptation and mitigation efforts are increasingly being combined in projects, such as rewilding/reforestation initiatives, urban resilience planning strategies, prioritizing energy efficient buildings/public spaces design for energy savings purposes and developing renewable/resilient energy sources. UNDP supports these integrated approaches around the globe.
Carbon Reuse
Carbon dioxide captured from industrial processes can be utilized to make useful products such as plastics, building materials and chemicals that help mitigate climate change by decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels.
Biological conversion technologies like algae cultivation, microbial fermentation and photosynthetic systems use natural carbon cycles to turn CO2 into biofuels, proteins and biomass products that can then be integrated with industrial processes for more sustainable production systems.
Carbon dioxide can also be converted to low-carbon fuels by mixing it with hydrogen to produce methanol or synthetic gasoline, offering another option than fossil fuels for use in transportation industries such as aviation and shipping that have proven difficult to electrify.
Carbon Dioxide Removal
Renewable energy deployment, improved energy efficiency and deforestation avoidance are essential climate action strategies to curb greenhouse gas pollution; however, for temperature rise to be limited to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius without increasing climate impacts and more severe impacts, authoritative scientific bodies agree large-scale carbon removal will also be necessary.
Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) strategies aim to extract CO2 from the atmosphere and store it for years or centuries in plants, soils, underground geological features, ocean life or long-lived products such as concrete. There are various nature-based and engineered CDR technologies currently in use on smaller scales while others remain under development – some having yet to be fully assessed as to cost and feasibility considerations.
NOAA’s observational networks, research capabilities and ocean management experience place us in an ideal position to assess the viability of large-scale marine CDR methods to address global climate change directly. We can provide invaluable information about emerging carbon removal approaches which are safe, effective and economically affordable at global scale.
Carbon Storage
Carbon storage is one of the main ways we can lower greenhouse gas emissions. This technology involves collecting CO2 from industrial processes like steel and cement production, power plants or even the air itself and transporting it for permanent underground storage in geologic formations such as depleted oil or natural gas reservoirs.
Biophysical carbon storage strategies like planting trees and managing forests are one of the key approaches for mitigating climate change. Furthermore, these practices provide additional advantages like improving soil quality and water cycling.
In order to effectively combat global warming, we require various strategies that promote resilience among communities and ecosystems. These include adopting renewable energy sources, increasing energy efficiency, decreasing food waste, protecting forests and critical ecosystems as well as ending our dependence on fossil fuels by eliminating subsidies, as well as making an international commitment to limit global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Energy Efficiency
Reducing energy demand globally is one key way of combatting climate change, and one approach for accomplishing this goal can be improved efficiency. Unfortunately, our current energy system is highly ineffective with over half of its input being lost as waste energy.
Energy can be reduced through improved building materials, designs, and systems; more fuel-efficient vehicles; and cutting down production of products like light bulbs and refrigerators to lower overall consumption of energy. As an added benefit of energy-efficiency measures for consumers.
Conserving forests as carbon sinks is another effective strategy for mitigating emissions and providing other ecosystem benefits, including biodiversity preservation and improved water cycles. But global economy’s reliance on fossil fuels presents many obstacles to transitioning towards renewable sources – decisive action must be taken now if global warming is to be held below 1.5degC; emissions must be cut by 45 percent before 2030 with net zero achieved midcentury.