Tragedy of mitigation and the alternatives.

**This blog is inspired by the above video by the IPCC, summarising the many pillars of climate mitigation**

Human action in the past century has had an obvious effect on the planet, in wanting to understand whether there is any way in which we can reverse the impacts that we have borne on the planet, we have to seriously consider, in an aim to implement, mitigation and adaptation strategies. Mitigation refers to the reduction of severity in the effects of climate change and adaptation refers to the ability to change for the better in response to the changes in the climate.

It is obvious that the way that where we currently are at in terms of climate needs to change, this belief is prevalent in the various political, scientific and social realms (although there are those that vehemently deny even the possibility of climate change). In considering ways to change the impacts that are effecting the planet, climate mitigations and adaptation are very ever present in the discussion. Alternative energy sources that move away from non-renewables of oil, gas and coal is a principal alternative in conditioning and moving away from the current stream of climate change. This is principally important because countries of emerging economies which produce energy intensive goods for consuming countries are those nations emitting a vast amount of emissions. Key in this is that these nations are still developing, meaning that development can be diverting away from the business as usual mentality and move towards an energy dependency on renewables and away from GHG’s.

Considering economic efficiency is also of importance in seeking to make a success of alternatives to GHG’s and a move away from business as usual. This is important as there needs to be funding and investment into renewable forms of energy to the extent that emissions are down completely to 0.

What is also important is behavioural mitigation in moving away from the business as usual approach to development – this is important as the decisions made today are important in the environmental, developmental and economic trajectory of the planet, all three factors are intricately tied. It is important to start mitigating the effects of climate change – a better late than never approach cannot be applied to climate change mitigation; it is vital to start mitigating as soon as possible. As the video highlights, emission trajectories are vastly better when mitigation is started before 2030 rather than after, especially so because if we delay mitigation, change to mitigate climate will be more difficult. But what is important is that it can be done, we are already seeing changes in the car industry towards electric car production – there is also a greater presence of climate change in the political arena. Change is imminent.

The video vaguely mentions ‘The Tragedy of Commons’, this theory suggests that if we pursue individual interests will eventually lead to the ultimate depletion of the common good, which in the context of climate change is the environment and the intricate global system. The title of this blog is a play on the term ‘tragedy of the common’ in terms of what we face. Mitigation and adaptation is something we need yet we cannot strain to achieve – the ultimate difference is that strive to achieve mitigation and adaptation is not individual.

Why do we need to react to climate change?

‘We are the…last generation that can take steps to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, so we [must] address climate change.’

Ban Ki-moon (Secretary-General United Nations)

Climate change is at the forefront, whether overtly or covertly, of every action that is taken or that is ‘claimed’ to be taken. We’ve seen this time and time again in the form of politics, business and perhaps more visible at the personal level – we as humans make decisions every day – decisions on whether to turn the TV off or place on standby or drive to work or use public transport?

The above statement given by Ban Ki-moon is like one of many that have addressed climate change. This particular statement, however, stuck with me, it got me thinking: why of course, if we as humanity have had the ability to initiate such a great change in the climate to the extent that we delayed the glacial onset, we can surely mitigate the effects of climate change and reverse it?

The continuous use of the earth’s resources has led to many changes in the environment where almost a third to a half of the earth’s surface has been altered by human action (Vitousek et al 1997).  We as human beings rely entirely on the earth system that provides the means of human survival. Without it, actions which are deemed to be in the periphery and come naturally to all humans, like breathing is intricately woven into the earth system through the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Slight changes in the temperature of the earth can have catastrophic impacts on the way of life, namely the release of freshwater from glacial stores and thus the inevitable rise in sea level – which is already affecting some areas like Bangladesh and the Maldives. These intense changes in the climate can affect the ability to grow crops as well as the ability to attain freshwater easily, changes to in the biodiversity of the planet is of concern.

It is inevitable that humans will modify the environment, the variability lies in the extent to which it is modified. It is therefore inevitable that we need to modify the form in which we change the planet, like Ban Ki-moon says we must address climate change – however, whilst I remain optimistic that something can be done to reverse the damage that has been inflicted I am somewhat concerned and conflicted over whether this can realistically be achieved due to the extent of damage borne on the earth.

The question remains: why do we need to react to climate change? To answer this question, the new proposed epoch by Crutzen and Streomer, the Anthropocene provides a few answers. The term itself, ‘anthro’ implying human action highlights the importance of identifying the serious impacts of human activity. There have been many key changes that have led to the changes in the trajectory of the climatic condition of the earth system – rise of the industrial revolution and technological advances are the commonly hailed attributes to identify the onset of human induced climatic changes. The burning of fossil fuels has led to a continued heavy reliance on this source of fuel, even with ideas of renewable energy on the horizon – there is a much reluctance and hesitance to divert away from carbon intensive fossil fuels and invest in renewables. There are of course other options, mitigation and adaptation along the lines of geoengineering and finding alternatives for food sources are prominent yet remain hotly debated. Action has to be taken, it is just now a case of which route and whether it will prove to be fruitful.