Climate Change

Climate change refers to a large-scale, long-term shift in the planet's weather patterns and average temperatures. Since the mid-1800s, humans have contributed to the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air. This causes global temperatures to rise, resulting in long-term changes to the climate.

Evidence has shown that high levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the leading cause of increasing global temperatures and it is estimated that one-quarter of human-made greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels for electricity and heat production. Once in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide form a 'blanket' around the planet which traps the heat from the sun and causes the earth to heat up.

In their most recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that human activity is unequivocally the cause of climate change (IPCC 2023).  Human-induced climate change has caused widespread adverse impacts to nature and people, which goes beyond natural climate variability. Some development and adaptation efforts have reduced vulnerability, however the increase of weather and climate extremes has led to some irreversible impacts as natural and human systems are pushed beyond their ability to adapt.

Green House Gas (GHG) A greenhouse gas is any gas in the atmosphere which absorbs and re-emits heat, keeping the planet’s atmosphere warmer than it would be. Carbon emissions For simplicity we refer to all greenhouse gas emissions in this action plan as ‘carbon emissions’. However, it is good to be reminded that ‘carbon’ and ‘GHG’ are a lot more than just carbon dioxide (CO2). Other gases include methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). CO2e, or carbon dioxide equivalent, is a term used to describe all greenhouse gases as a standard unit. For any type or quantity of greenhouse gas, it represents the amount of CO2 that would create the same amount of global warming. CO2 is used as this is the most common greenhouse gas emitted by human activities.

Net zero carbon (also known as carbon neutral) is the point at which carbon emissions in the atmosphere are balanced with carbon removal from the atmosphere. Achieving net zero carbon means reducing carbon emissions to almost zero and then safely removing the equivalent amount of remaining emissions from the atmosphere, for example by rewilding or planting trees. Balancing the remaining amount of emissions is called offsetting. The process by which soil, trees, grasses, plants and areas of saltmarsh and wetland store carbon is known as carbon sequestration. Natural capital has an important role to play in mitigating climate change. Net zero carbon is different to “zero carbon” which requires an activity to produce no carbon.

Since 2015 countries around the world signed the Paris Agreement (an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - UNFCCC) with the aim of cutting carbon emissions to keep global warming below 2 °C, while pursuing efforts to keep it below 1.5 °C.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a special report advising that global temperatures could increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels as soon as 2030 and would have a catastrophic impact on life on earth.

The IPCC report found that for global warming to be limited to 1.5 °C, "Global net human-caused emissions of CO2 would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero around 2050." In a year that saw the end of the warmest decade ever recorded, global climate protests gained momentum in 2019 calling for governments and decision makers to take more action. The UK government also became the first major global economy to set a net zero carbon target for 2050. In November 2021, the UK will be hosting and chairing the United Nations annual Climate Change Conference, COP26. COP stands for Conference of Parties and is the decision-making body of the UNFCCC. Representatives from across the world are expected to attend to both address what has and hasn’t been achieved since 2015 and to agree new tougher, plans to reach the Paris Agreement targets. The scale of the challenge is immense and urgent action is needed in the short term if we stand a chance of avoiding a 1.5 °C rise.

The recent IPCC report of 2021 declared at ‘code red for humanity’

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