Climate change mitigation entails lowering heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions and stabilizing their levels in the atmosphere, by decreasing sources such as fossil fuel use or increasing sinks such as forests.
As part of climate change mitigation, everyone can play their part from individuals adopting sustainable habits to governments creating incentives and regulations. The most successful solutions combine adaptation and mitigation actions.
Reducing short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs)
Short-lived climate forcers such as black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have shorter atmospheric lifetimes than carbon dioxide but are the second-biggest contributor to human-caused global warming. Additionally, these pollutants pose serious threats to health, ecosystems and agricultural productivity.
SLCPs possess significantly more warming potential per molecule than carbon dioxide and thus exert a more immediate impact on global warming. Reducing these pollutants, in conjunction with aggressive reductions of long-lived greenhouse gases, could help keep global temperatures within 2 degrees Celsius of each other.
In addition to their direct effects on climate change, SLCPs also contribute to air pollutants that endanger people’s health: nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter. Reducing their presence could reduce exposure and save lives.
Reducing air pollution
Climate change mitigation entails decreasing emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere while improving carbon sinks that absorb them, and also involves reducing air pollutants that cause health damages like particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides, and black carbon produced from fossil fuel combustion, cooling processes and industrial activities.
Actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – such as switching to electric vehicles or improving energy efficiency – often simultaneously decrease air pollution as these same sources are major sources of PM, ozone precursors, and other pollutants.
By placing air pollution at the heart of strengthened National Climate Action Plans (NDCs), or “NDCs”, both climate and health goals can be advanced simultaneously. Research shows that curbing air pollution results in direct health benefits that more than outweigh costs associated with climate change mitigation.
Adapting to climate change
The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) was an integral component of the Paris Agreement, signaling its recognition of adaptation as an equal priority with mitigation efforts. Through adaptation measures we can reduce risks from harmful impacts such as sea-level rise, severe and frequent weather extremes or food insecurity while taking advantage of opportunities such as longer growing seasons.
Strategies to mitigate climate change-related emissions and harms include transitioning to renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency, decreasing deforestation and forest degradation rates and protecting critical ecosystems. Such efforts must be guided by an all-of-society approach including structural transformations as well as international cooperation.
Additionally, important steps include investing in adaptation solutions that reduce risk and build resilience – such as investing in insulation to lower cooling needs, creating more resilient infrastructure or creating protected areas for species migration – but a variety of barriers still prevent effective adaptation actions from being taken – this includes access to accurate climate information – particularly in developing nations – as well as systems supporting risk-informed planning and investments.
Investing in climate action
Global climate change mitigation efforts need to increase by six times if we’re to meet the Paris targets and avoid irreparable damage, yet current investment flows for climate action only reach around one-third of these estimated requirements; part of this may be because climate adaptation investments offer lower immediate financial returns despite their immense benefits.
Private investors and asset owners who control significant portions of global capital can play an essential role in driving climate-friendly investment activities. They can invest in sustainable infrastructure projects, support a low-carbon economy through corporate sustainability reports, conduct physical and transition risk analyses, align portfolio goals with climate investments, and more. A recent study led by Emil Moldovan ’24 MESc at Yale School of the Environment found that many investors are moving in this direction; however, perception risk and training in climate investing remain key obstacles – this work focuses on supporting these investments through training sessions at Yale School of the Environment.