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"Editorial introduction" [2015] ELECD 181; in Van Calster, Geert; Vandenberghe, Wim; Reins, Leonie (eds), "Research Handbook on Climate Change Mitigation Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015) xxiii

Book Title: Research Handbook on Climate Change Mitigation Law

Editor(s): Van Calster, Geert; Vandenberghe, Wim; Reins, Leonie

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849803809

Section Title: Editorial introduction

Number of pages: 4

Extract:

Editorial introduction


While some of the debate in the popular press still questions whether
global warming is slowing down or is even a reality to begin with, and
whether human activities are a significant contributing cause of that
warming or not, most governmental, corporate and scholarly discussion
has firmly moved on to the question of how best to respond to the problem
of global warming.
There are essentially two responses to climate change: mitigation and
adaptation. Mitigation addresses the root causes by reducing greenhouse
gas emissions (GHGs), especially carbon dioxide, and by lowering the
concentrations of those gases in the atmosphere, through for example
energy efficiency, renewable power, and cleaner vehicles.1 Adaptation
seeks to lower the risks posed by the consequences of climatic changes like
water stress, coastal flooding, community health issues, or supply chain
disruptions, through for example climate-proofed infrastructure, flood
protection, shifting farming practices.2
From the offset there has been a split between advocates of mitigation
strategies versus those who endorsed adaptation. It is fair to say that most
efforts ­ both at international and national level ­ centred around install-
ing mitigation regimes. However, in recent years, adaptation has stepped
up, not least because of the so-called committed warming which is climate
change that occurs regardless of mitigation measures as a result of the
already accumulated GHGs in the atmosphere.3 The consensus nowadays



1
The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
describes mitigation as: `Technological change and substitution that reduce
resource inputs ...