Subject guide

Government-led adaptation and mitigation strategies for global climate change:
  • global geopolitical efforts, recognizing that the source/s of greenhouse gas emissions may be spatially distant from the countries most impacted
  • carbon emissions offsetting and trading
  • technology, including geo-engineering
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1. What the papers say...TOK Link

Form a group of four. Each person should read one article below and be ready to feedback to the other members of your group:
  1. What is the message of the article? What was the agenda of the writer?
  2. What first order and second order knowledge questions does it suggest to you?
  3. Explore these knowledge questions briefly with your group members.

Watch the video. How could this work as a RLS? What knowledge questions could be explored?


2. Climate treaties and agreements

Group investigation (with thanks to Geographypods: www.ibgeographypods.org/c-responding-to-global-climate-change.html)

Person 1 - The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 1992
Person 2 - The Kyoto Protocol 1997
Person 3 - The Paris Agreement 2015

Use the website below and your textbook to create a Google Slides presentation which includes all of the following:
Slide 1 - Publicity photo from the event with leaders involved 
Slide 2 - Objectives 
Slide 3 - Who signed up? Who didn't? 
Slide 4 - Successes & Failures (for the Paris agreement you should mention recent developments from Trump/USA)

3. Technology including geo-engineering
Video challenge
Your individual task is to create a short video clip (no more than 2 minutes in length) which will explain your allocated technological solution to climate change. Although your voice may be part of the video, it must not include your face! Your video must include the following:
  • The name of the approach
  • An outline of how the approach would work and which aspect of climate change it would tackle and how
  • The possible costs and benefits of the approach
  • Your considered opinion on the potential usefulness of the approach and of geoengineering in general as an approach to tackling climate change
  • Visuals which support what you say - this might include annotated photos, diagrams.
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technological_approaches_resources.pdf
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File Type: pdf
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A. Carbon dioxide removal

a) Afforestation/reafforestation
b) Biochar
c) Geosequestration
d) Artificial trees
e) Desert Greening
f) GM crop use
g) Algae coated buildings 
h) Ocean fertilisation

B. Solar reflection

a) Micro-bubbles in sea water
b) Brightening clouds
c) Stratospheric aerosols/sulphur dioxide
d) Orbiting solar mirrors
e) Increasing albedo

C. Reactive geoengineering approaches

a) Sea walls (including the creation of coral seawalls in low lying atolls)
 b) Raising land levels in areas threatened by sea level rise and floating islands

4. Carbon emissions off-setting and trading
Use the materials above to answer the following questions:
  1. What is carbon trading and what is carbon offsetting? What is the difference between them?
  2. What are the possible benefits and problems of each?
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3. The source/s of greenhouse gas emissions may be spatially distant from the countries most impacted



b) Watch the video on the right carefully. It is an interview with the Nicaraguan negotiator at the Paris Climate talks. 
  1. Why does he say that the targets set are unfair on countries like Nicaragua?
  2. What points does he make about power?
  3. To what extent do you agree with him? How would you advise world leaders to proceed?

a) Before moving on, examine the graph on the left. How would you evaluate the success of the international climate treaties you have studied? 

Identify the years in which Rio, Kyoto, Copenhagen and Paris occurred - can you see any transformations/changes in the graph of global emissions?




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 c) Now read the article on the left.
  1. Summarise the seven points made in no more than 250 words.
  2. Define social justice. To what extent is climate change an issue of social justice?