Carbon Management

Despite decades of international negotiations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the gap between planned reductions and the effort required to avoid dangerous climate change remains. Based on declared Government emission reduction pledges the UNEP projects 2.5-2.9oC warming, far above the thresholds deemed dangerous by the IPCC (UNEP, 2023). The urgency of mitigation is growing, yet historic inaction challenges the delivery of net zero, with increasing heatwaves, drought, floods, and wildfires. Not only do these weather events interact with the performance of a range of net zero solutions but the measures to adapt to these hazards can be carbon intensive. There is a growing need for the combined analysis of mitigation AND adaptation to develop net zero solutions that are also resilient to climate impacts.

Without considering the implications of climate impacts on mitigation, we risk maladapting to climate change through the use of mitigation solutions which exacerbate exposure or vulnerability to climate hazards or embed reliance upon highly carbon or energy intensive adaption solutions. This interaction has been recognized by the IPCC who highlight the dangers posed by climate hazards on the successful delivery of net zero. While the delivery of net zero remains paramount, the articles will focus on how to integrate climate resilience into mitigation.

This Article Collection will focus on the interactions between climate hazards, adaptation and the delivery of net zero, encompassing articles that address the following sub-topics:
- Evaluation of the impacts of climate change on the technical performance of a key mitigation technology, e.g. the impacts of future wind speeds on wind power outputs.
- Evaluation of the impacts of climate change on social acceptance, uptake or use of low carbon solutions, e.g. the impacts of heatwaves and floods on active travel.
- Studies which assess the embodied or whole life carbon of alternative adaptation solutions, e.g. the relative carbon within different flood barriers or in alternative household cooling measures.
- Studies which assess system level risks and interactions to better inform the successful delivery of net zero, e.g. changes in the resilience of society to power cuts where energy services are increasingly electrified.
- Studies that consider the implications of both climate impacts and net zero on businesses and finance

For the preparation of your manuscript, please refer to the journal's author guidelines. Please ensure to select this Article Collection from the drop-down menu when submitting your manuscript.

Please contact Pamela Hohl ([email protected]) with any queries regarding this Article Collection.

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article