Global Management Strategies Flashcards
Introduction
Name all strategies
State they all contribute to the mitigation of carbon leakage from anthropogenic activities
Differentiate from local and international approaches
from wetlands accounting for 35% of the terrestrial carbon pool to the Paris climate convention (2015) international agreement which set targets for lower carbon emissions
Reducing emissions
State to what extent
Effective in china - launched an environmental defence fund programme (2017) involving 2,600 companies
Similar projects implemented in the EU and California - reduction in carbon emissions in the EU by 26%
Over 4 years - decrease of 8.8 % in greenhouse gas emissions with no economic impact
Vital in curbing air pollution, alongside the introduction of carbon credits as incentives for countries to have lower emissions than the set quota which are set by international bodies
Promotes other strategies such as providing carbon offsets for carbon sequestration schemes eg. Afforestation
However, strategy is arguably easy to exploit and can increase the cost of energy which is not sustainable and therefore lowers the effectiveness of reducing emissions as a strategy of protecting the carbon cycle.
Improving agricultural practices
Intensive livestock production generates 100 million tonnes of methane each year = driving innovations for improving agricultural practices.
These include Biogas implementations which is a ultra-low carbon process whilst reducing uncontrolled methane emissions.
Needed as methane is 21 x more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas
Biogas is produced in anaerobic conditions all over the globe but locally in Bedfordia Farms, Bedford, they also use the digestate - left over after the biogas is removed - as a natural fertiliser to maximise crop yields
Zero tillage has increased the organic content by 20-30% in Cambridge due to a minimised carbon release through ploughing.
Crop varieties can enhance the soils organic matter with new strains of rice being able to grow in drier conditions and therefore producing less methane. Aided by the use of ammonium sulphate inhibiting microbial activity and reducing methane releases, which helps to fix more carbon and increase the effectiveness of this technique in protecting the carbon cycle.
Wetland restoration
However, another strategy that can be just as effective is wetland restoration
Return of physical, chemical and biological characteristics of wetlands to their natural functions through reestablishment and rehabilitation reduces 1 tonne of carbon for every hectare which is being released into the atmospheric store and reduces the overall net loss of wetlands which is currently occurring due to the 80 acres of wetlands being lost everyday in Canada due to the drainage required for suitable farmland and the presence of invasive species , which releases 150 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere every year.
Significantly effective strategy for the peatland system in peninsular, Malaysia being one of the most carbon dense ecosystems in the world with 3000 tonnes of carbon per hectare.
However restoring wetlands can take years to have a valued impact on protecting the carbon cycle due to growth time and managing carbon flux can be challenging due to the vast area.
Afforestation
Absorbs 1/3 of anthropogenic emissions and is an important carbon sink.
China aims to afforestation 400,000km2 by 2050 ( area an area the size of Spain) with 0.93 tonnes of carbon sequestered of carbon each year in forests.
UN have launched REDD schemes to help developing nations such as Nigeria and Myanmar to protect their forests and receive results based payments.
These forests should have a balanced carbon release from decomposition to absorbance by by organic matter.
However, Howard Odum suggested fossil fuels have disrupted the balance and the extra carbon has increased tree grow.
This has benefits of more carbon sequestered but may place a strain on soil fertility due to the requirement for more nutrients.
Conclusion
Local scale - wetland restoration and afforestation schemes such as REDD are most effective due to preventing further net loss of organic matter and removing invasive species
Alternatively, shared best practice of improved agricultural techniques and reducing carbon leakage by more stringent legislation can be effective at protecting the carbon cycle on a global scale.
Innovations such as congestion charges in London and quotas can be applied to any region of development to mitigate the increased release of carbon to the atmosphere when sources of carbon sinks are are being removed.
For the future, reducing emissions will bring manageable and realistic targets for lowering greenhouse gas emissions due to the increased awareness of the importance of the carbon cycle through the media and climate change debates encouraging the reduction in emissions to protect the carbon cycle.
