INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
Climate Change and Environmental Management (ICE0417)
An assignment submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the BA Degree in Environmental Management System
Student details
Name: Purity Nanyangwe
SIN: 2104301360
Lecturer’s Name: Mr. Njobvu
Year: 3rd Year (Firth semester)
Due Date: 18 Th November, 2023
INTRODUCTION
Mitigation
Mitigation refers to human intervention to reduce or prevent the sources and enhance the sinks of
greenhouse gases (GHGs). Mitigation can mean using new technologies and renewable energies,
making older equipment more energy efficient, or changing management practices or consumer
behavior. It can be as complex as a plan for a new city; or as a simple as improvements to a cook
stove design. Protecting natural carbon sinks like forests and other urban ecosystems or creating
new sinks through creating new public green space, for example, are also elements of mitigation.
Various examples of mitigation actions that are relevant in the Asia Pacific region are provided
in the Climate Change Issues to Actions tool (Bruckner et al (2014).
Adaptation
Following a definition of Thornton and Comberti (2013), adaptation consists of set of processes
unfolding in response to a host of social and environmental forces operating over local, regional,
national, international and planetary scales. Based on this, adaptive capacity is the ability for
human groups to successfully adjust to actual or expected environmental changes (especially
climate change impacts) and their effects (Ensor, 2009).
Adaption is often used in connection with the concept of resilience, as resilient systems often
have larger adaptive capacity. In other words, a resilient energy system could be adaptable to
changes in water availability and changes in demand and availability of biogenic resources.
Essentially, being adaptive requires the capacity to be proactive and able to steer a development
path in anticipation of resource constraints, while resilience is tied to a reactive position of being
able to withstand or cope with shocks. This study focuses on adaptation in terms of adjustment in
natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects,
which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities (Huq et al, 2003).
DISCUSSION
The two options are implemented on the same local or regional scale, and may be motivated by
local and regional priorities and interests, as well as global concerns. Mitigation has global
benefits (ancillary benefits might be realized at the local/regional level), although effective
mitigation needs to involve a sufficient number of major greenhouse-gas emitters to foreclose
leakage while Adaptation typically works on the scale of an impacted system, which is regional
at best, but mostly local (although some adaptation might result in spill-overs across national
boundaries, for example by changing international commodity prices in agricultural or forest-
product markets). Expressed as CO2-equivalents, emissions reductions achieved by different
mitigation actions can be compared and if the costs of implementing the actions are known, their
cost-effectiveness can be determined and compared. The benefits of adaptation are more difficult
to express in a single metric, impeding comparisons between adaptation efforts. Moreover, as a
result of the predominantly local or regional effect of adaptation, benefits of adaptation will be
valued differently depending on the social, economic and political contexts within which they
occur (Sarkodie et al, 2022).
However, Klein et al (2007) describe the examples of Adaptation below.
1. Infrastructure improvement: One example of adaptation is the construction of seawalls and
other coastal defenses to protect communities from rising sea levels and storm surges. This type
of infrastructure improvement can help reduce the risks associated with climate change impacts.
2. Crop diversification: Farmers can adapt to changing climate conditions by diversifying their
crops. By planting a variety of crops with different climate requirements, farmers can hedge
against the risks of extreme weather events and shifting growing seasons.
3. Water management: Many regions are facing water scarcity due to changing precipitation
patterns. Adaptation strategies for managing water resources include the implementation of
water-efficient irrigation systems, rainwater harvesting, and the construction of reservoirs and
water storage facilities.
4. Ecosystem restoration: Restoring and preserving natural ecosystems can help increase their
resilience to climate change impacts. For example, reforestation efforts can help mitigate the
effects of climate change by sequestering carbon and reducing erosion and flooding.
5. Urban planning and design: Urban areas can adapt to climate change by implementing green
infrastructure such as green roofs, permeable pavements, and urban green spaces. These
measures can help mitigate heat island effects and reduce the risks of flooding in urban areas.
Furthermore, the IPCC (2022) describes the examples of Mitigation.
1. One of the most effective methods for mitigating climate change is to transition from fossil
fuel-based energy sources to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric
power. This transition reduces greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to a more sustainable
energy system.
2. Improving energy efficiency in buildings, transportation, and industry can significantly
reduce energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Examples include the
adoption of LED lighting, energy-efficient appliances, and fuel-efficient vehicles.
3. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies can capture CO2 emissions from industrial
processes and power plants and store them underground, preventing them from entering the
atmosphere and contributing to global warming.
4. Planting trees and restoring forests can help sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,
mitigating the effects of climate change. This can be achieved through reforestation of degraded
lands and afforestation of unused or underutilized areas.
5. Adopting sustainable agricultural practices such as conservation tillage, agroforestry, and
organic farming can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural activities and
improve soil carbon sequestration.
The benefits of mitigation carried out today will be evidenced in several decades because of the
long residence time of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (ancillary benefits such as reduced air
pollution are possible in the near term), whereas many adaptation measures would be effective
immediately and yield benefits by reducing vulnerability to climate variability. As climate
change continues, the benefits of adaptation (i.e., avoided damage) will increase over time. Thus
there is a delay between incurring the costs of mitigation and realising its benefits from smaller
climate change, while the time span between expenditures and returns of adaptation is usually
much shorter. This difference is augmented in analyses adopting positive discount rates. These
asymmetries have led to a situation whereby the initiative for mitigation has tended to stem from
international agreements and ensuing national public policies (sometimes supplemented by
community-based or private-sector initiatives), whereas the bulk of adaptation actions have
historically been motivated by the self-interest of affected private actors and communities,
possibly facilitated by public policies (UNEP, 2021).
CONCLUSION
Goklany (2005) concludes from the definitions below that mitigation reduces all impacts
(positive and negative) of climate change and thus reduces the adaptation challenge, whereas
adaptation is selective; it can take advantage of positive impacts and reduce negative ones.
Mitigation: An anthropogenic intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of
greenhouse gases.
Adaptation: Adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected
climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial
opportunities.
REFERENCES
Bruckner T et al (2014). Energy Systems. In: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate
Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Thornton, T. F & C. Comberti (2013). Synergies and trade-offs between adaptation, mitigation
and development. Climatic Change, Special Issue on “Climate Change Mitigation and
Adaptation with Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples”
Ensor, J., & Berger, R. (2009). Understanding climate change adaptation. Practical Action
Publishing, Rugby, UK.
Huq, S., A. Rahman, M. Konate, Y. Sokona and H. Reid (2003). Mainstreaming Adaptation to
Climate Change in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). IIED, London.
Sarkodie, Samuel Asumadu; Ahmed, Maruf Yakubu; Owusu, Phebe Asantewaa (2022). "Global
adaptation readiness and income mitigate sectoral climate change vulnerabilities". Humanities
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Klein, R.J.T., S. Huq, F. Denton, T.E. Downing, R.G. Richels, J.B. Robinson, F.L. Toth (2007).
Inter-relationships between adaptation and mitigation. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.
Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
IPCC (2022) Summary for policy makers in Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate
Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the
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UNEP (2021). "Adaptation Gap Report 2020". UNEP - UN Environment Programme.
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