Hi, thanks for this. May I ask a question though, you say afforestation and restoring wetlands are adaptation to climate change and explain how these strategies sequester lots of carbon, is that not mitigating then?
Hello Rachel. I'm pleased you find my posts useful. I think people can easily become confused about mitigation v. adaptation, and it is true that one person's adaptation could be another person's mitigation. In the essay answer I tabled, I stated that afforestation and wetland restoration were part of a programme of land-use change in response to climate change already taking place. So, in both cases the countries concerned could be deemed to be adapting to climate change i.e having to change their land uses. For example, New Zealand has done this a lot recently - huge afforestation schemes are taking place, often on land previously used for sheep farming. They are doing it in response to the climate change built into the system already. Yes, it is also mitigating global climate change, but it is adapting to what has already happened locally...... in my view. In short, mitigation and adaptation are not mutually exclusive. Hope this helps.
Yes, thank-you and thanks for the quick reply. Looking forward to reading more of your articles.
Hi, thanks for this. May I ask a question though, you say afforestation and restoring wetlands are adaptation to climate change and explain how these strategies sequester lots of carbon, is that not mitigating then?
Hello Rachel. I'm pleased you find my posts useful. I think people can easily become confused about mitigation v. adaptation, and it is true that one person's adaptation could be another person's mitigation. In the essay answer I tabled, I stated that afforestation and wetland restoration were part of a programme of land-use change in response to climate change already taking place. So, in both cases the countries concerned could be deemed to be adapting to climate change i.e having to change their land uses. For example, New Zealand has done this a lot recently - huge afforestation schemes are taking place, often on land previously used for sheep farming. They are doing it in response to the climate change built into the system already. Yes, it is also mitigating global climate change, but it is adapting to what has already happened locally...... in my view. In short, mitigation and adaptation are not mutually exclusive. Hope this helps.