What this lesson teaches
I can evaluate mitigation and adaptation as responses to climate change.
Syllabus 8834, Topic 1.2, 3. Responses to Climate Change. How can we respond to contemporary climate change?
Make a guess
A company plants a forest and claims it cancels all its fossil fuel emissions. What is the main weakness?
- Planting trees increases emissions.
- There is no weakness; trees cancel the emissions it claims.
- The forest may not store the carbon for long.
- Forests absorb little carbon.
Show the answer
The forest may not store the carbon for long.
Fire, drought or clearing can release the carbon again. A sink of uncertain lifespan cannot replace cutting fossil-fuel emissions.
Mitigation cuts greenhouse gas emissions or boosts their removal, so judge each strategy's net effect, how long it lasts and its trade-offs.
Mitigation means cutting greenhouse gas emissions or strengthening carbon sinks. Adaptation, by contrast, copes with climate effects. Switching from fossil fuels to clean electricity cuts a major source of carbon dioxide. Efficient buildings, public transport and using fewer materials cut energy demand. Switching to electric power cuts more emissions when the electricity itself is clean, so compare lifecycle emissions, including making and building things.
Other gases matter too. Fixing gas leaks, managing waste and changing farming can cut methane. Carbon capture can trap some industrial emissions, but it is costly, uses energy and does not catch everything. Capture rates, energy costs, safe storage and the emissions still not captured all matter.
Protecting forests and peat stops stored carbon escaping. Restoring ecosystems strengthens sinks by taking in more carbon. But this takes time, land and water. Fire, drought or clearing can undo it. Badly placed plantations can harm wildlife or livelihoods.
Carbon pricing makes emissions cost more. Standards and public investment change the choices available. Information alone may achieve little where people lack affordable alternatives. Savings from efficiency can also be partly lost if lower costs encourage more use, called the rebound effect.
Check two things. Additionality asks whether the cut would have happened anyway. Leakage asks whether emissions just moved elsewhere. For carbon removals, check how long they last and how well they are measured. A land sink of uncertain lifespan cannot replace cutting fossil-fuel emissions.
- Mitigation
- Cut emissions or strengthen sinks.
- Additionality
- Would the cut have happened anyway?
- Leakage
- Did emissions just move elsewhere?
Step by step
Cut a source
Show which fuel or activity emits less.
Strengthen a sink
Show how extra carbon is removed and kept.
Check the net result
Include leakage, reversal risk and social costs.
Real examples to use
EU Emissions Trading System
Since 2005, EU power stations and factories must buy permits for each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit, and the number of permits falls over time.
Singapore's carbon tax
Introduced in 2019 at S$5 per tonne, it rose to S$25 in 2024 and is planned to rise further.
Worked example: Singapore's carbon tax
Singapore uses a carbon tax, as part of a wider plan, to push firms to cut emissions. NCCS says the revenue supports the shift to cleaner energy. The tax is a price signal. Its success depends on firms' real options and actual emission cuts.
Watch out for this
One planted tree permanently cancels any amount of fossil fuel emissions.
Trees absorb carbon slowly and in limited amounts, and it can be released again.
Check your understanding
Which evidence best supports a credible forest carbon claim?
- The number of seedlings bought and planted in the first year.
- A signed promise from the company that the trees will stay.
- Extra uptake, long-term protection and monitoring for losses.
Show the answer
Extra uptake, long-term protection and monitoring for losses.
Yes. It shows real, lasting removal.
Check your understanding
What does 'additionality' ask about a claimed emissions cut?
- Whether emissions moved to another place instead.
- How long the carbon sink will last before release.
- Whether the cut would have happened anyway.
Show the answer
Whether the cut would have happened anyway.
Only extra cuts count.