Lesson video

Hello, geographers.

My name's Mrs. Hormigo, and I'm going to be teaching you today.

I'm really looking forward to it.

I hope you're going to enjoy the lesson and learn lots.

Let's get started.

Today's lesson looks at managing climate change to mitigation strategies, strategies that aim to reduce or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases.

By the end of the lesson, you will understand how climate change can be managed through mitigation strategies.

There are three key words for today's lesson.

Mitigation, actions to reduce or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases.

Renewable energy, energy from natural sources that are constantly replenished like wind and solar, and the Paris Agreement, an international treaty for climate change, aiming to limit global warming.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

What's our climate change mitigation strategies and how can international agreements help? Let's get started on the first one.

In 2015, the Paris Agreement set up a global goal that was to limit the rise in temperatures to well below two degrees Celsius from 1990 levels, aiming for one and a half degrees Celsius if possible.

This graph shows annual CO2 emissions and we can see it is on an upward trend.

If we can slow down this rising greenhouse gases, we can slow down the pace of climate change and avoid its very worst consequences.

However, present data is telling us that we will exceed one and a half degrees Celsius rise in temperature by 2035 and possibly face a two and a half degrees Celsius warming by 2100.

Climate change mitigation is about reducing or preventing the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, as well as reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere.

It aims to cut down the amount of climate change that will occur in the future.

Check for you now then.

What is the main goal of climate change mitigation strategies? Is it A, to adapt to the impacts of climate change? Is it B, to encourage the use of non-renewable energy, or is it C, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Pause the video and come back when you're ready.

Hopefully you said C.

The main aim is to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

These are the climate change mitigation strategies that we are going to look at during today's lesson.

International agreements, renewable energy, carbon capture and storage, and afforestation.

Fossil fuels are the biggest source of CO2 emissions, and we can see here the contribution that they make to CO2 emissions.

Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy reduces CO2 emissions significantly.

Alternative energy production generates energy from renewable and sustainable sources, which helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Solar power captures sunlight using solar panels to generate power.

Nuclear power uses uranium to generate power, but it doesn't produce CO2 in doing so, and wind energy, which converts wind energy into electricity using turbines.

These are just three examples.

There are many others.

In Denmark, wind energy provides almost 58% of total energy production, which is a fantastic proportion.

Afforestation is planting trees on land that didn't have forests already.

Forests acts as carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide and reducing the overall concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The government in Denmark is planning to replace 2,500 kilometres squared of farmland with a new forest to help to mitigate climate change.

Check for you now.

Identify these three sources of alternative energy production, renewable and sustainable energy sources.

Pause the video and come back when you have an answer.

Did you identify them correctly? A, is solar power, B, is nuclear power, and C, is wind power, well done.

Carbon capture and storage uses technology to reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere from industry.

And the Norcem Cement Plant in Norway captures CO2 emissions during cement production.

This is an image of the factory in Norway.

So how does it work? CO2 is captured directly from power plants or industrial facilities before it's released into the atmosphere.

We can see there on the diagram where number one is.

This captured CO2 is then compressed and transported by pipelines as we can see on number two to a storage site.

After that, the CO2 is injected deep underground into rock formations, for example, aquifers, where it can be stored permanently, and that's shown as number three on the diagram.

We can also look at individual climate mitigation strategies that people can adopt to reduce their carbon footprint.

We could switch to energy-efficient appliances.

We could choose renewable energy providers.

We could reduce, reuse, and recycle.

You could use sustainable transport, for example, walking and cycling rather than driving, and you can support sustainable agriculture, for example, eating more plant-based food.

These are all changes that we can make as individuals that will add up and help to combat climate change.

Check for you now.

Decide which of these climate mitigation strategies are suitable for individuals.

So what could you do? You've got affforestation, using energy-efficient appliances, investing in carbon capture and storage, using renewable energy to generate power, buying secondhand clothing and using public transport.

Pause the video and make your decision.

Hopefully you picked out these three.

Using energy-efficient appliances, buying secondhand clothing and using public transport.

Those are all things that you could do to help to mitigate climate change.

A task for now.

Can you list three examples of climate change mitigation strategies, and then explain how each of them reduces greenhouse gas emissions? Think back to what we've been talking about in this learning cycle, pause the video and come back when you have an answer.

Your answers might have looked something like this.

Solar panels, these generate energy without emitting CO2.

Unlike energy generated by burning fossil fuels.

Afforestation, trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and store it.

Carbon capture and storage, captures CO2 released by industry and stores it underground, stopping it reaching the atmosphere.

Well done if you had a good go at that question.

Moving on to the second part of our lesson now.

How can international agreements help? International agreements play an important role in climate change mitigation.

They encourage international cooperation to tackle a global problem, and they set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the international treaty that aims to address climate change, and it's been in place since 1992.

The countries that signed the treaty are referred to as parties.

These countries meet annually at the conference of the parties, otherwise known as COP.

The COP brings together world leaders, policy makers, scientists, activists, and other stakeholders.

The main objectives of the COP are to: negotiate and agree on actions to reduce global emissions, increase global cooperation and climate action, and provide financial and technological support for climate mitigation strategies in lower income countries.

Checkpoint now.

What are the main aims of the conference of the parties or COP? A, to force higher income countries to reduce CO2 emissions.

B, to agree on actions to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, or C, to support lower income countries with climate change mitigation.

Pause the video and decide on your answer.

Did you say B and C? To agree on actions to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, and C, to support lower income countries with climate change mitigation.

If so, well done.

The Paris Agreement was a landmark international treaty adopted in 2015 at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP21.

The agreement was significant because it was adopted by 195 countries, the first time that nearly every nation had agreed to a common approach on tackling climate change.

Its goal was to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below two degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and pursue efforts to limit that temperature increase to one and a half degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

By having this global climate goal, it ensures international cooperation.

It sets a clear target, makes countries ambitious, and it promotes innovation.

A check for you now.

Why was the Paris Agreement so important? A, it was adopted by 195 countries.

B, it set a clear global goal, or C, it led to an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Pause the video and come back when you're ready.

Did you say A and B? If so, well done.

The Paris Agreement saw countries set Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs.

An NDC is a voluntary pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a certain amount.

Each country updates in its NDC every five years increasing its ambition each time.

So this gives countries ownership and responsibility.

They can set targets that suit them and help them to reduce emissions, and it also enables progress to be tracked and for actions to be increased if necessary.

India's first NDC included increasing non-fossil fuel energy to 40% and increasing forest cover.

The Paris Agreement provides financial and technological support to help countries to mitigate climate change.

Those lower and middle income countries may need the support if they're going to be able to reduce emissions.

By providing this help, Paris Agreement tries to ensure that all nations can contribute to as well as benefiting from global climate goals.

Indonesia, an MIC has received support for renewable projects, reducing fossil fuel reliance, cutting emissions, and boosting clean energy access.

And we can see there, there's a project involving solar panels to support local communities.

However, international agreements will face many challenges.

So the current climate commitments are not strong enough to meet critical targets, such as the goal set limiting global warming to one and a half degrees Celsius.

Climate agreements like the Paris Agreement rely on voluntary pledges, if you remember NDCs, and therefore that can reduce overall effectiveness.

National interests, economic concerns, political stability that are happening in different countries may affect whether or not they can fully commit to the necessary climate actions.

Lower income countries may struggle to access funds and technology and the support needed in order to mitigate climate change.

There may be tensions in climate talks, for example, higher income countries have contributed the most of the emissions, but there has been disagreement over how much the HICs should pay in compensation for this.

True or false then.

One challenge for the Paris Agreement is that strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in NDCs can be unpopular.

True or false? True, but why.

Can you think of a reason why these strategies may have been unpopular? You may have said something like, strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can be unpopular because they often raise economic concerns.

They make things more expensive for people.

So it's thinking about those challenges that they face.

Task for you now.

Number one, explain one way in which the Paris Agreement significantly helps to mitigate climate change.

And number two, explain one challenge that is making it difficult for the Paris Agreement to achieve its aims. So think carefully back through this learning cycle.

Alex says, "I remember that the Paris agreement, the 2015 aimed to limit the global temperature increase to well below two degrees Celsius, aiming for one and a half degrees Celsius, if possible." Pause the video and come back when you have your answers.

Your answer might have looked something like this for question number one.

International agreements encourage global cooperation, which is essential for tackling the global problem of climate change.

The Paris Agreement was adopted by 195 countries, which means that nearly every country in the world agreed to its framework of Nationally Determined Contribution for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

Without a global agreement like this, it might be impossible to get countries to work together to mitigate climate change.

And for question number two, your answer might have looked something like this.

The NDCs that countries sign up to in the Paris Agreement are voluntary pledges.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions can become difficult for countries, for example, because of economic concerns.

And so countries often reduce their targets.

That means that greenhouse gas emissions are not lowered enough to meet critical targets in time.

As a result, holding the global temperature rise to one and a half degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels as set by the Paris Agreement in 2015, now looks unachievable.

Two and a half degrees Celsius, warming by 2100 is expected.

If your answers were similar to this, well done.

There's lots to think about there.

We've got to the end of the lesson now.

So let's have a little look at the summary.

Climate change mitigation involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions in order to cut down the amount of climate change that will occur in the future.

Renewable energy, afforestation, and carbon capture and storage technologies are examples of mitigation strategies.

International agreements encourage the global cooperation and global targets that are essential for mitigation to succeed.

And individual actions such as improved energy efficiency and using public transport can also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

So I hope you'll go away and think about your own individual actions.

Well done, we've covered a lot today looking at managing climate change through mitigation.

I look forward to seeing you again soon.