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Climate-change mitigation encompasses policies and activities intended to reduce the greenhouse gas forcing of the climate system. Key intervention points include: the reduction of greenhouse gas sources, for example by reducing deforestation; emissions, for instance low carbon energy generation; and enhancing greenhouse gas sinks, for example by changes in land use.
The greenhouse gas abatement costs for two forest restoration methods — natural regeneration and plantations — are estimated by integrating observations on the costs of reforestation projects with other biophysical and economic data. This analysis reveals that a mix of reforestation methods offers greater potential to mitigate climate change at low cost than previously estimated.
The rural land covers that surround a city can mitigate the urban heat island effect for the entire city. In addition, specific rural locations and proposed landscape design strategies can maximize the potential for urban heat mitigation.
Biomass wastes can reduce carbon emissions in Indonesia without deforestation, but feedstock use and supply constraints limit abatement potential, especially in eastern provinces with growing coal capacity, according to a supply-demand combustion-cycle analysis of seasonal and spatial waste availability.
Trencher and colleagues investigate the twenty companies making the largest purchases of offsets from the voluntary carbon market from 2020 to 2023. They find that 87% of the purchased offsets carry a high risk of not providing real and additional emissions reductions. Further, most offsets do not meet industry standards regarding age and country of implementation. The findings reinforce concerns that the voluntary carbon market is failing to support effective climate mitigation.
Sustainability is increasingly integrated into national food-based dietary guidelines, but how and to what effect requires investigation. This study analyses the costs and environmental impact of the 2023 Mexican Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Guidelines (HSDG) relative to current diets and the Mexican-adapted EAT healthy reference diet.
Scientists play a crucial role in addressing climate change. Using a large-scale international survey, this study explores scientists’ beliefs about climate change and their perceived barriers to climate change engagement.
From a scientific standpoint, the causes of current ongoing climate change are well established. But in the context of rapid change, and real-world consequences, there is still room — and need — for scientific discussion in climate change fields.
Continuing to produce nature-based credits using dubious accounting methodologies will yield limited carbon and biodiversity gains. Establishing scientific credibility unlocks the potential of credits to meaningfully contribute to targets of the Paris and Kunming-Montreal agreements.
The greenhouse gas abatement costs for two forest restoration methods — natural regeneration and plantations — are estimated by integrating observations on the costs of reforestation projects with other biophysical and economic data. This analysis reveals that a mix of reforestation methods offers greater potential to mitigate climate change at low cost than previously estimated.
Achieving the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement relies on every actor maximising their effort to reduce emissions. Generic targets claiming a basis in science have been used to justify inequitable efforts that insufficiently stretch the ambition of the best-resourced countries and companies.