Global commitments to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050 and the targets set by the Paris Agreement have driven climate actions across the globe. Climate actions are commonly divided into two main categories, including mitigation and adaptation. While each has distinct characteristics and can be applied in different situations, both play an important role in building a sustainable future.
What is mitigation?
According to the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, climate change mitigation refers to activities aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity and increasing greenhouse gas removal.
Some examples of climate change mitigation include using renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, shifting to low-emission transportation, or forest planting and preservation.
What is adaptation?
On the other hand, climate change adaptation activities aim to build resilience for natural systems and communities to minimize the negative impacts of climate change and capture untapped opportunities.
Adaptation measures include fortifying houses against floods, switching to more climate-resilient crops, improving insulation in buildings, and many more.
The relationship between mitigation and adaptation efforts
Mitigation actions are often given high priority in battling climate change as they can tackle the root cause of the problem and prevent undesirable consequences. When effectively implemented to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation efforts can slow climate change, limit long-term harms, and thereby relieve the pressure faced by adaptation measures.
Climate change mitigation, however, cannot address the ongoing impact of climate change. The urgent situation today demands that adaptation efforts are implemented to minimize the detrimental effects of climate change on the environment, communities, and the economy. Climate change adaptation measures provide practical solutions to build resilience and adaptability to climate fluctuations, especially when mitigation measures have not achieved the desired effects or have not reached the needed scale.
Mitigation and adaptation actions need to be integrated into climate strategies to deliver comprehensive and concrete results. Certain measures can have simultaneous mitigation and adaptation effects. For example, forest protection and preservation efforts can simultaneously remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere and build resilience for the surrounding area against climate change.
To implement strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation, mobilizing financial resources and overcoming technological constraints and resource extraction limitations are extremely crucial. Simultaneously, prioritizing knowledge sharing, experiences, and the use of robust supportive policies is essential to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of these measures globally.
