Climate Change
Impacts and Responses
Topic 8:
Climate Change Mitigation
Topic outline
1.
Introduction
2.
Sources and sinks of
greenhouse gases
3.
Sector specific
mitigation
opportunities
4.
Sustainable
development and
mitigation
5.
Geoengineering
Image: UN Photo, Eskinder Debebe
Learning outcomes for this topic
 Define climate change
mitigation
 Name a range of options for
reducing emissions and
capturing carbon
 Discuss sector specific
technologies and identify
barriers and opportunities for
achieving them
 Define sustainable development
and explain its relationship to
mitigation
 Outline global policies and
initiatives for mitigation
Section 1:
Introduction
Outline:
Introduction

What is climate change mitigation?

Anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) revision

Major sources of anthropogenic GHGs

Total GHG emissions by country

Per capita GHG emissions by country
Climate change mitigation
“Human interventions to reduce the sources or enhance
the sinks of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Examples include using fossil fuels more efficiently for
industrial processes or electricity generation, switching to
solar energy or wind power, improving the insulation of
buildings, and expanding forests and other "sinks" to
remove greater amounts of carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere”
- UNFCCC
Anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions
IPCC AR5 WG3, 2014, SPM.1
UNFCC Article 2
The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to
achieve, “stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that
would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system. Such a level
should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient
to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate
change, to ensure that food production is not
threatened and to enable economic development
to proceed in a sustainable manner.”
(UNFCCC, 1992)
Greenhouse emissions by sectors
IPCC AR5 WG3, 2014, SPM.2
Drivers of increases in CO₂
IPCC 2014
Section 2:
Sources and sinks of greenhouse gases
Outline:
Sources and sinks of greenhouse gases

Sources of carbon dioxide

Sources of methane

Sources of nitrous oxide

Greenhouse gas sinks
Sources of greenhouse gases:
Carbon Dioxide
CARBON DIOXIDE
(CO₂)

Combustion of
fossil fuels

Deforestation
Image: UN, Nasim Fekrat
Sources of greenhouse gases:
Methane
METHANE (CH4)

Fossil fuel production

Animal husbandry

Paddy rice cultivation

Biomass burning

Waste management
Image: UN Photo, Kibae Park
Sources of greenhouse gases:
Nitrous Oxide
NITROUS OXIDE (N₂0)

Synthetic fertilizer
production and usage

Transport fuel
combustion

Livestock waste (urine
and manure)
Image: UN photo, Martine Perret
Carbon sinks:
Terrestrial vegetation and soils
 Soils
 Plant biomass
 Grasslands
 Peat bogs
 Forests
Carbon sequestration is the process
by which carbon is removed from the
atmosphere.
Image: UN Photo, Eskinder Debebe
Carbon sinks:
Ocean
 Largest active carbon sink on
Earth
 Capacity to absorb carbon by
the ocean depends on pH
and temperature
 Small fraction of carbon is
transported to the seafloor
and buried
 Coastal vegetation – very
effective carbon sink: ‘Blue
carbon’
Image: UN Photo, Martine Perret
Sinks for other greenhouse gases
Methane

Sinks in the troposphere

Humans cannot affect methane sink

Needs to be reduced at its source
Nitrous oxide

Sinks in the atmosphere

Difficult to control this sinks

Needs to be reduced at its source
Section 3:
Sector specific
mitigation opportunities
Outline:
Sector specific mitigation opportunities

Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)

Energy (renewable sources and bioenergy)

Transport

Waste
Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use
(AFOLU)
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
EIT: Economies in Transition
LAM: Latin America and Caribbean
MAF: Middle East and Africa
IPCC AR5 2014 (WGIII), Fig_11.17
AFOLU: REDD +
UN Secretary General meets Indonesian
communities affected by deforestation
REDD+: Reducing Emissions
from Deforestation and
forest Degradation.
UN REDD programme aims
to create financial value for
the carbon stored in forests
Image: UN Photo, Mark Garten
AFOLU: Agriculture
Three key mitigation
strategies:

Reduction of
emissions (better
management of
carbon and nitrogen
flows)

Enhancement of
sinks (enhancing soil
organic carbon
reserves or above
ground carbon
stocks)

Avoiding emissions
(using crops as fuel)
Songhai sustainable agriculture research and
training centre in Benin
Image: UN photo, Eskinder Debebe
Read more: Agriculture mitigation options

Cropland management: Improved crop varieties, perennial
crops, cover and catch crops, nitrogen fixing-legumes, reduced
or no-tillage systems, good water management, agroforestry

Grazing land and pasture management: Management of
grazing intensity, promotion of grassland productivity, careful
fire management, use of productive, deeper-rooting grass
species

Peaty soils: avoid further draining, raise water tables

Livestock and manure emissions: improved feeding practices,
dietary additives, manure management (aerobic rather than
anaerobic)

Biodiesel: production of bio-diesel or bio-ethanol to displace
fossil carbon usage
Energy supply sector
IPCC AR5 2014 (WGIII), Fig.7.4
Energy supply:
Resources and mitigation options
Energy resources:

Fossil fuels

Nuclear

Renewables
Mitigation options:

Carbon dioxide capture
and storage (CCS)

Nuclear energy

Renewable energy
technologies
UN Photo/Pasqual Gorri
Read more: Energy
Renewable energy sources
Renewable energy sources






Bioenergy: Large range of feedstocks.
Different conversion technologies at
different stages of development.
Solar energy: Photovoltaics produce
energy directly from sunlight. Modular
and scalable, but solar energy supplies
can vary.
Geothermal energy: Heat from Earth’s
interior can generate electricity as well
as providing heat. Supplies are typically
constant.
Hydropower: Dams and reservoirs,
rivers and streams.
Ocean energy: Kinetic energy from
currents, saline gradients and waves.
Wind energy: Onshore and offshore,
captured using turbines.
Hydro transmitting towers in
Korean republic
Image: UN Photo, Kibae Park
Transport
Image: UN photo, Kibae Park

Fastest GHG emissions
growth amongst sectors
with the majority from road
vehicles

World transport energy use
predicted to increase by 2%
per year
Read more: Transport types
Direct GHG emissions of the transport sector
 Road
 Rail
 Shipping
 Aviation
IPCC AR5 2014 (WGIII), Fig.8.1
Waste
Image: UN Photo, Kibae Park
Section 4:
Sustainable development
and mitigation
Outline:
Sustainable development and mitigation

Sustainable development and climate change

Development pathways and implications for mitigation

Impact of mitigation on sector specific development

Nationally appropriate mitigation actions
Sustainable development and
climate change
ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENTAL
DEVELOPMENT
Image: UN photo, Stuart
Price
To be in harmony with
sustainable development,
mitigation must consider:
•
•
•
•
•
Social justice
Rights to resources
Rights to security
Political rights
Rights to living
standards
Image: UN photo, Eva Fendiaspora
SOCIAL
Image: UN photo- Martin Perret
Development pathways and implications
for mitigation
Biogas plant for energy production from chicken
waste in Beijing, China
Image: UN photo, Mark Garten
Impacts of mitigation on sector specific
development
A hydroelectric project in Nicaragua
 Mitigation actions may have
some aspects of
sustainability, but they are not
necessarily classed as
sustainable development.
 Mitigation choices have:
Image: UN Photo, Yutaka Ngata
•
economic impacts
•
ecological impacts
•
social impacts
Impacts of mitigation on sector specific
development: trade-offs
Transporting sugar cane for bioethanol in Brazil
Image: UN Photo, Sebastiao Barbosa
Careful assessment of mitigation is required to
determine its value for sustainable development
Nationally Appropriate Mitigations
Actions (NAMAs)
 A policy, program or project
that shifts a technology or
sector into a low carbon
development pathway.
 First used at UNFCCC
climate conference in Bali
2007.
 NAMA facility launched in
2012, with funds of
approximately 70 million
Euros.
Mexican NAMA for Sustainable Housing
Read more: Funded NAMA projects
 Chile: self-supply and renewable
energy for decentralized renewable
energy systems in small and medium
enterprise infrastructure
Image: UN Photo, Marianne Rummery
 Colombia:
transit-oriented
development
to reduce
growth in car
traffic
 Costa Rica: low
carbon coffee
Image: UN Photo, Martine Perret
Image: UN Photo, J.C. McIlwaine
 Indonesia: sustainable urban transport
program to build transport capacity in
selected Indonesian cities
Section 5:
Geoengineering
Outline:
Geoengineering
 What is geoengineering?
 Is geoengineering mitigation?
 Solar radiation management (SRM)
 Carbon dioxide removal (CDR)
 Critiques of geoengineering
What is geoengineering?
Is geoengineering mitigation?
IPCC 2012: Expert meeting on geoengineering
Solar radiation management
Stratospheric particle injection
for climate engineering
Modifying the Earth’s shortwave
radiative budget to reduce
climate change.
Possible mechanisms include:
• Stratospheric sulphur
aerosol injections
• Cloud reflectivity
modifications
Most projects are currently
purely theoretical.
Potentially fast acting and
relatively low-cost.
Image: Hughhunt
Carbon dioxide removal
 Bioenergy with
carbon capture
and storage
(BECCS)
 Biochar
 Direct air capture
 Ocean fertilization
 Enhanced
weathering
Image: NASA Earth Observatory
Critiques of geoengineering
 Overall, geoengineering may remove incentives to curb
greenhouse gas emissions and is likely to have unintended
consequences.
 Strategies for solar radiation management on a grand scale will
have environmental and ecological implications and produce nonuniform effects on weather
 Carbon dioxide removal will be a lengthy process. There are also
concerns about impacts on biodiversity, and adverse
environmental impacts.
Summary

Avoid climate change by reducing GHGs and enhancing sinks

Undertake mitigation in all sectors

Think about sustainable development

Pursue NAMAs

Explore geoengineering
References
IPCC (2007). Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the
Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [B.Metz,
O.R. Davidson, P.R. Bosch, R. Dave, L.A. Meyer (eds)]. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
IPCC (2012). Meeting Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Expert
Meeting on Geoengineering [O. Edenhofer, R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, C. Field, V.
Barros, T.F. Stocker, Q. Dahe, J. Minx, K. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S. Schlömer, G. Hansen, M.
Mastrandrea (eds.)]. IPCC Working Group III Technical Support Unit, Potsdam Institute
for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany, pp. 99.
IPCC (2014). Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of climate change. Contribution of
Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change. [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K.
Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S.
Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
Metz, B. (2010). Controlling Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
UK.
http://www.thebluecarbonproject.com/
End of Topic 8:
Climate Change Mitigation
Next Topic:
Climate Change Policy and
Regulation
Image: UN Photo, Eskindar Debebe