In the last Article saw how climate change can pose great risk to humanity and the ecosystem. Four approaches to managing climate risk were introduced. One approach is mitigation. Mitigation refers to efforts to reduce or prevent emissions. It involves the reducing of emissions and absorbing of greenhouse gases [GHGs] through provision of sinks to take in GHGs.
The Intergovernmental Penal on Climate Change [IPCC] which is a UN body to advance scientific knowledge on climate change estimates that human activities have caused approximately one degree centigrade increase above the pre-industrial level. This is likely to reach 1.5 degree between 2030 and 2052. Furthermore, the IPCC calculated 840 Giga Tons as the maximum amount of carbon emissions that the world can emit while still having a likely chance of limiting the average global temperature rise to 2 degrees above the pre-industrial level. This maximum amount defines what is referred to as a “Carbon Budget” which can be used as a yardstick to limit global rise in temperature. Humanity has so far emitted 531 GT representing over 60% of the “Budget”, with a balance of 309 GT. With an emission rate of 10 GT per annum, humanity has just 30 years to reach the maximum acceptable limit.
In order to tackle the challenge posed by emissions, the UN Climate Change Conference was held in Paris in 2015. The conference made a breakthrough in international climate change policy when 195 states committed to protecting the climate and reducing emissions. The Paris Agreement only provided conditions and a framework. For effective implementation there is need for balancing interests and cooperation. The individual states need leadership and creativity.
Let’s examine selected sectors approaches to managing climate risk by mitigation. These are the construction, agriculture, waste management and transport. We shall examine these in turns.
The construction sector: The sector consumes lots of energy by use of heavy equipment in road and building construction. The solutions include designing smart roads to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists; design to accommodate renewable energy like solar; recommend only energy saving equipment in buildings; re-manufacturing older equipment to make them more efficient; and provide for building designs that maximize natural lighting and cooling;
The Agriculture sector: The sector encroaches on the natural environment for production of crops and livestock. Livestock especially Cattle contribute to GHG emissions by releasing methane and mechanical tilling of Land releases carbon dioxide from the soil. The solutions include intensive usage of available acreage for mixed crop and livestock to reduce on opening virgin Land; planting fast-growing indigenous Trees around boundaries to absorb carbon; use of renewable energy like solar or wind for irrigation; leveraging advanced technology like precision irrigation to save water and precision plant nutrition targeting roots; reducing post-harvest wastage through provision of safe and quality storage; promoting Plant based proteins over Animal based to reduce consumer carbon footprint;
Waste Management: This is still largely linear where waste is dispose-off instead of reused in a circular economy approach. Solutions include biodegrading organic waste to regenerate the same acreage of Land and avoid opening virgin Land; locating food processing in vicinity of poultry farm to benefit from food residue flow; designing longer life plastic containers; retaining value in equipment for longer periods through remanufacturing; and recycling as the last option.
Transport sector: All internal combustion Engines using Road, Railway, Water or Air use fossil fuels that emit GHGs. A lot is being done to reduce emissions through more efficient automobiles. The solutions include production of more affordable electric motor vehicles; research and investment in more efficient vehicle batteries; investment in battery charging infrastructure; designing more efficient connection routes in the aviation sub-sector; and promotion of integrated supply chain at regional level to reduce on long haulage.
Reducing emissions does not mean economic growth will slow down. According to the World Resource Institute Report 2017, many countries are reporting reduction in emissions while at the same time registering economic growth. For instance, in the period 2000 to 2014, Denmark managed to reduce emissions by 30 percent while registering an 8 percent growth in GDP. Similarly, the UK reduced emissions by 20 percent while realizing a growth of 27 percent GDP. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘Decoupling” implying emissions are not twinned or increase with economic growth. “Coupling” happens when an increase in economic growth means an increase in emissions.
Francis Nakomolo Ojambo
Executive Director, Action for Safe Livelihood
fnakomolo@yahoo.com
