Global management strategies to protect the carbon cycle

Paris Summit
1. At a Paris climate conference in December 2015, 195 countries pledged to reduce global GGE to 60% below 1990 levels by 2050 and the keep global warming below 2C
2. ADVANTAGES
  1. the agreement requires that the more developed countries will help poorer countries with the costs of going green and the costs of coping with the effects of climate change
    1. this is the first time that LIDCS and EDCs have been included in the global agreement on global warming
3. DISADVANTAGES
  1. each country sets their own GGE target - so it is not legally binding and voluntary so there will be no fines if you don't meet the target
  2. the collective reduction in GGE based on voluntary pledges implies the mean global temperatures are to possibly rise by 2.7 degrees
  3. The money that the developed nations give to LIDCs is written non-legally binding so it could be ignored without facing any fines or penalties .
    1. there is no specific amount of money to be given to the less developed countries so could range each time
Cap and trade
1. 'cap' links to the government setting annual limits on carbon emissions
  1. 'Trade' refers to the buying and selling of carbon credits on an international carbon trading market
    1. LIMIATIONS
      1. Carbon market has been flooded by carbon credits so the surplus supply of carbon credits has reduced the cost of them - loophole
      2. allows polluters to carry on polluting rather than invest in cleaner technologies which would cut carbon emissions
  2. SUCCESSES
    1. provides a mechanism by which countries can cut their carbon emissions
    2. Uses carbon credits as a cash reward but also a financial penalty
UN REDD scheme
1. mitigate global climate change, by creating incentives for countries to reduce GGE caused by deforestation and forest degradation
2. BENEFITS
  1. UNREDD is cheaper than other mitigation strageties
  2. doesn't rely on the production of new technologies
  3. provides an economic incentives for the forest conservation
3. WEAKNESSES
  1. industrialised countries can use the REDD scheme to buy their way out of exceeded the annual quota
  2. wide availability also reduces the price that countries pay so less incentives to invest in new technologies
Afforestation
1. Afforestation involves planting trees in deforested areas, or in areas that have never been forested
2. DISADVANTAGES
  1. the high cost of afforestation mean that it is often completed on a small scale
  2. The extent of the success of afforestation will depend on the scale of the management and the length of time it is continued
3. ADVANTAGES
  1. Plantations can grow relatively fast, so will absorb CO2 at higher speeds than a natural forest and can continue to absorb carbon for 20-50 years
  2. Trees are carbon sinks so they absorb more carbon than it releases so the afforestation could sequester around 1.6Gt of CO2 per year
Wetland restoration
1. is any land area that is saturated of flooded with water, either seasonally or permanently forming peat bogs which consumes carbon
  1. SUCCESSES
    1. Wetlands are the only habitat which can sequester carbon over a millenia
    2. International agreements are needed as many wetlands extend across national boundaries
  2. LIMITATIONS
    1. not all are effective as carbon sinks and some are slow sources due to slow decomposition of organic matter in anaerobic conditions which releases methane into the atmosphere
    2. wetland restoration schemes would have to be on a greater scale and more globally undertaken to make a difference but hard to occur due to the population increase
Improving agricultural practices
1. sustainable agricultural practices are mulching, zero tillage, agroforestry, livestock management
  1. LIMITATIONS
    1. Would be needed to be on a greater scale and more globally undertaken to make significant difference
      1. the number of farmers using improved agricultural practices to cut GGE by 21-40% which is not enough to prevent a mean global temperature rise of 2 degrees
  2. SUCCESSES
    1. improved agricultural practices show that the carbon emissions can be reduced without compromising food production
    2. it can also reduces soil erosion which could prevent 50 to 100 GT of global carbon losses from the soil to the atmosphere
Kyoto Protocol
1. In 1997, 175 countries signed a treaty to reduce carbon emissions. Agreed to reduce mean annual GHG emissions to 5% below 1990 levels by 2021.
2. ADVANTAGES
  1. it was the first time that participating countries had agreed to keep their GGE to set targets.
    1. It also raised public awareness of the need to reduce GGE and tackle climate change
  2. The countries collective emission was reduced by 2Gt of CO2 pa - exceeding their target of 1 Gt of CO2 pa. attributed from the carbon trading scheme
3. DISADVANTAGES
  1. LIDCs and EDCs such as India and China were exempt from the international agreement but their economies were growing rapidly and so was their GGe
  2. The USA - the biggest greenhouse gas polluter- refused to ratify the treaty because they thought it would slow down their economic growth

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Global management strategies to protect the carbon cycle

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	Created by Lydia Barlow over 3 years ago