How much do you know about climate change?

Climate Change: Causes, Impacts, and Responses

• Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns caused by natural and human activities.
• Two types of climate change are natural (e.g., plate tectonics, the sun, the earth's orbit) and caused by greenhouse gases emitted by human activities (e.g., burning fossil fuels).
• The location of continents and the formation of ice sheets and ocean circulation significantly affect global climate.
• The sun's energy balance is changing due to increasing levels of greenhouse gases, which trap heat and increase internal energy.
• Climate change can have negative impacts on health, food production, housing, and work, especially for vulnerable populations.
• Emissions of greenhouse gases are determined by technology, population, and affluence, and the amount of GDP consumed by a society.
• Responses to climate change include adaptation, mitigation, and geoengineering.
• Mitigation policies aim to prevent climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while adaptation policies aim to respond to its negative impacts.
• Renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, biomass, and hydroelectricity, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions but have pros and cons.
• Nuclear energy and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) are options to reduce emissions but are controversial due to safety and waste disposal issues.
• Carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management are experimental approaches to removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but have potential risks and uncertainties.
• Overall, climate change is a complex issue that requires a combination of policies and technologies to address its causes and impacts.

Climate Change Adaptation: History, Challenges, and Strategies

• UNFCCC was created in 1992 to enact measures on climate change adaptation.
• Research on adaptation was driven by vulnerability and impacts, and later focused on ways for vulnerable populations to adapt.
• Adaptations were rarely recognized by UNFCCC as they assumed a reduction in GHG emissions would be enough to control problems.
• The Adaptation Fund was launched by the UNFCCC in 2007, which became operational in 2009.
• In 2015, a global goal for adaptation was established at the Paris agreement.
• The number of chapters on adaptation in IPCC reports gradually increased since 2001, and sustainability is now being incorporated.
• Mitigation is not enough because climate change is already occurring, and we continue to rely on fossil fuels.
• Adaptation must be addressed with the same priority as mitigation, according to the UNFCCC conference in Mexico in 2010.
• There are three types of adaptation: incremental, transitional, and transformational.
• Ideal characteristics of adaptation include being complementary to mitigation, decreasing vulnerability, avoiding maladaptation, promoting innovation, being interdisciplinary, proactive, and sustainable.
• Climate finance is a challenge for adaptation, with estimates ranging from $49-171 billion per year by 2030 needed to adapt to climate change.
• Common adaptation priorities include agriculture, freshwater supplies, health, energy, fisheries, and local livelihoods. Developing countries have prepared climate change strategies and action plans, but financing and capacity are challenges.

Understanding the Valuation of Ecosystem Services

• The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) 2000 found that human actions have led to ecosystem degradation, with gains in human well-being and economic development coming at a growing cost.

• The MA was the largest assessment of Earth's ecosystem health, with 1360 experts from 95 countries and review comments from 850 experts and governments.

• The MA provided authoritative information on the current state of knowledge concerning the consequences of ecosystem changes for human well-being, and identified response options and priorities.

• The MA framework helped to incorporate the environmental dimension into sustainable development policy and planning, and provided planning and management tools.

• The MA findings have been used for decision-making, assessment, capacity building, and research.

• Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems, including provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services.

• The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity (TEEB) 2007 was founded on the MA's concept of ecosystem services, and focused on the underlying economic drivers of ecosystem decline.

• Valuing ecosystem services can generate better information, identify true costs, improve decision-making, provide a basis for policy formation, and set incentives and regulations.

• Total Economic Value (TEV) is a framework concerned with the impacts of ecosystem changes on human well-being, and presents categories of ecosystem benefits that fit into a standard economic frame of reference.

• The TEV categories of value include direct use value, indirect use value, option use value, and non-use value.

• The Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) 2013 recognizes the main categories of ecosystem outputs as provisioning, regulating, and cultural services, and classifies biotic and abiotic ecosystem outputs.

• Valuing ecosystem services/disservices can help raise awareness, account for national income and well-being contributions, provide detailed policy analyses, and contribute to alleviating poverty. However, there are moral/ethical, technical, and systemic challenges to ecosystem valuation.Valuation Methods for Ecosystem Services: Types, Applications, and Limitations

• Two main types of valuation methods for ecosystem services: market-based and non-market-based

• Market-based methods include hedonic pricing and travel cost methods, which estimate the value of a good based on its characteristics and the cost of traveling to access it

• Hedonic pricing can be complex and requires large amounts of data, while travel cost methods are sensitive to statistical methods

• Non-market-based methods include state preference approaches, such as contingent valuation and choice modeling, which elicit values through surveys and hypothetical markets

• Contingent valuation is sensitive to biases in survey design and implementation, while choice modeling can be complex and burdensome for respondents

• Ecological valuation assesses the functional integrity and health of an ecosystem, often through biophysical indicators

• Socio-cultural valuation focuses on the non-monetary value of ecosystem services and considers value as a social construction from cultural contexts

• Sociocultural valuation can inform decision-makers and the public about varying perceptions of ecosystem services and can be used for priority setting and instrument development

• The priority risk areas for climate change risk assessment include flooding and coastal change, health and wellbeing, water shortages, risks to natural capital, food production and trade, and pests, diseases, and invasive non-native species

• The zonal travel cost model estimates the annual recreational value of islands at approximately US$17.9 million and predicts a 20% loss of value resulting from a proposed port expansion larger than the expanded port’s projected annual revenue of US$3.1 million

• Hedonic pricing models have been used to estimate the disamenity costs of landfill sites in the UK, which were found to be between £1.52 and £2.18 per tonne of waste

• State preference approaches have been used to inform landfill tax levels and planning decisions, and to estimate willingness to pay for mangrove protection and preservation efforts for forests and biodiversity.

Understanding the Valuation of Ecosystem Services

• The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) 2000 found that human actions have led to ecosystem degradation, with gains in human well-being and economic development coming at a growing cost.

• The MA was the largest assessment of Earth's ecosystem health, with 1360 experts from 95 countries and review comments from 850 experts and governments.

• The MA provided authoritative information on the current state of knowledge concerning the consequences of ecosystem changes for human well-being, and identified response options and priorities.

• The MA framework helped to incorporate the environmental dimension into sustainable development policy and planning, and provided planning and management tools.

• The MA findings have been used for decision-making, assessment, capacity building, and research.

• Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems, including provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services.

• The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity (TEEB) 2007 was founded on the MA's concept of ecosystem services, and focused on the underlying economic drivers of ecosystem decline.

• Valuing ecosystem services can generate better information, identify true costs, improve decision-making, provide a basis for policy formation, and set incentives and regulations.

• Total Economic Value (TEV) is a framework concerned with the impacts of ecosystem changes on human well-being, and presents categories of ecosystem benefits that fit into a standard economic frame of reference.

• The TEV categories of value include direct use value, indirect use value, option use value, and non-use value.

• The Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) 2013 recognizes the main categories of ecosystem outputs as provisioning, regulating, and cultural services, and classifies biotic and abiotic ecosystem outputs.

• Valuing ecosystem services/disservices can help raise awareness, account for national income and well-being contributions, provide detailed policy analyses, and contribute to alleviating poverty. However, there are moral/ethical, technical, and systemic challenges to ecosystem valuation.Valuation Methods for Ecosystem Services: Types, Applications, and Limitations

• Two main types of valuation methods for ecosystem services: market-based and non-market-based

• Market-based methods include hedonic pricing and travel cost methods, which estimate the value of a good based on its characteristics and the cost of traveling to access it

• Hedonic pricing can be complex and requires large amounts of data, while travel cost methods are sensitive to statistical methods

• Non-market-based methods include state preference approaches, such as contingent valuation and choice modeling, which elicit values through surveys and hypothetical markets

• Contingent valuation is sensitive to biases in survey design and implementation, while choice modeling can be complex and burdensome for respondents

• Ecological valuation assesses the functional integrity and health of an ecosystem, often through biophysical indicators

• Socio-cultural valuation focuses on the non-monetary value of ecosystem services and considers value as a social construction from cultural contexts

• Sociocultural valuation can inform decision-makers and the public about varying perceptions of ecosystem services and can be used for priority setting and instrument development

• The priority risk areas for climate change risk assessment include flooding and coastal change, health and wellbeing, water shortages, risks to natural capital, food production and trade, and pests, diseases, and invasive non-native species

• The zonal travel cost model estimates the annual recreational value of islands at approximately US$17.9 million and predicts a 20% loss of value resulting from a proposed port expansion larger than the expanded port’s projected annual revenue of US$3.1 million

• Hedonic pricing models have been used to estimate the disamenity costs of landfill sites in the UK, which were found to be between £1.52 and £2.18 per tonne of waste

• State preference approaches have been used to inform landfill tax levels and planning decisions, and to estimate willingness to pay for mangrove protection and preservation efforts for forests and biodiversity.

Climate Change and Sustainable Living in the National Forest

• The National Forest in the Midlands was once coal mines but has been transformed into a sustainable living and working area against climate change.
• The forest has planted 9 million trees in 30 years, increasing tree cover from 6% to 22%.
• Tree planting mechanisms include working with local authorities, land acquisition, and grant aid to landowners.
• The forest has seen an increase in species abundance and richness, including small mammals, bats, birds, and butterflies.
• The forest stores 450,000 tonnes of carbon, but ash dieback could reduce this by 50,000.
• Restoring Resilient Ecosystems aims to unpick and examine the essential elements required for ecosystem restoration, focusing on UK woodlands and grasslands.
• Ecological restoration is seen as an important tool in halting and reversing biodiversity loss and climate change.
• Carbon removal beyond tree planting includes peatland restoration, enhanced rock weathering, afforestation, bioenergy crops, and biochar.
• Sustainable low carbon tourism, forest accommodation, and sustainable design principles are used to reduce carbon emissions.
• The National Forest has seen a 35.5% increase in visitor numbers, 36.3% increase in visitor spending, and 36.5% increase in tourism jobs.
• The forest is used for learning, with funding for infrastructure development, Forest School training, and an outdoor learning network for schools.
• The forest is also used for green social prescribing to improve mental health and wellbeing, with national cross-governmental 'Test and Learn' pilots.