UK Policy Flashcards
What is mitigation?
Doing something to actually change the climate situation e.g dealing with the extra carbon we’re putting in the atmosphere by reducing emissions, sequestering carbon etc.
What is adaptation?
Modifying our lives and economy to cope better with the impacts of change.
What are the three main areas of climate policy?
Impacts- Impacts policy focuses on measuring, modelling and predicting impacts (government and institutions). Identify what the problems are going to be in the future.
Adaptation- actions taken to address the consequences of climate change.
Mitigation- actions taken to minimise the causes of climate change.
What does adaptation policy address?
Reducing vulnerability, building adaptive capacity, disaster risk management and creating social transformation.
What does mitigation policy address?
i) Efficient use of energy
ii) Use of renewable energy
iii) Carbon sequestration through sinks
iv) Reduced sources of emissions through land use management
Example of a meteorologically record breaking event and its impact/cost.
2003- Central Europe
Hottest summer in at least 500 years
Death toll exceeded 70,000
What are the four key elements of adaptation?
- Reduce vulnerability
- Build adaptive capacity
- Climate risk management
- Build climate resilience
Example of reducing vulnerability
Introduce air cooling into over heating elderly care homes
Building adaptive capacity
Top down
Research and modelling
Teach about climate change, and how to adapt
Example of climate risk management
Have flood risk plan for home, or buy flood insurance
Example of building climate resilience
Replant coastal wetlands to reduce coastal flood risk
Define resilience
Social and ecological systems that are able to absorb shocks and recover from them.
Limits to adaptation
- Social and individual characteristics (incooperation)
- Limits may relate to the goal that are set
- Loss of place and culture- experienced, but also subjective limits to adaptation.
- Uncertainty about the future.
UK Climate Impact Programme
Works with regional climate models and adaptation planning- communities, institutions, businesses through the generation, exchange and application of knowledge.
What is the The Climate Change Act 2008?
An Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Act makes it the duty of the Secretary of State to ensure that the net UK carbon account for all six Kyoto greenhouse gases for the year 2050 is at least 80% lower than the 1990 baseline, toward avoiding dangerous climate change.
Examples of UK mitigation policies
Support:
- Carbon trust (business and private sector)
- Energy savings trust (individuals) e.g. providing grants
for cavity wall insulation
Examples of UK mitigation policies
Transport:
- Bus lanes to facilitate public transport movement in
cities - Cycle lanes to encourage more cyclists
Examples of UK mitigation policies
Technology:
- Trialling carbon capture and storage technologies
- Trialling cloud seeding (discontinued)
Summary—UK mitigation
– UK is an early actor on impacts, mitigation and
adaptation and has led the way globally
Investments in science – through monitoring and
databases e.g. Hadley Centre, IPCC DDC, and research
e.g. Tyndall Centre (2000)
Political and financial resources committed, e.g. national
commitment to emissions reductions through policy and
Acts of Parliament, creation of UKCIP, Carbon Trust etc..
Local policy likely to be a mix of adaptation and mitigation
Case study for the limits of adaptation depends on the goals of adaptation
Thames barrier 2100 is designed to be responsive to flood risk in London to 2100.
The goal changes depending on recent science, e.g to prepare for 50 cm SLR, then for 79cm…
The ultimate objective of article 2 of the UNFCCC
Stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system…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.”
UK climate change programme (2000) (mitigation)
Boost renewables by providing incentives.
Housing and community grants
Business and public sector emissions reduction support (Carbon trust)
Nottingham declaration: emissions reduction plan for local authorities.
