Carbon neutrality as a strategy responding to climate change

Title : Carbon neutrality as a strategy responding to climate change

Abstract:

Climate change is one of the most serious environmental problems impacting on nature and humans at a global level. Various action plans responding to climate change are being launched by the government, enterprises and civil organizations, etc.

This paper is for explaining carbon neutrality as a strategy for responding to climate change by government, and for establishing what we have to do really for responding to climate change. In order to these objectives, this paper will be composed of four themes as below.

Firstly, this paper will review some debates on climate change for a better understanding of climate change strategies being launched by the government and the United Nations at a national or global level, respectively.

Secondly, there are three similar terminologies. They are low-carbon, carbon-neutrality, and carbon-free (or carbon-zero). The three terminologies are similar in that their concepts are in the process of continuous scale but different in their conceptual meaning. In this context, the concept of the three terminologies will be defined, and then their implications will be examined in terms of their contributions to mitigating the status of current climate change.

Thirdly, this paper will introduce the practices of carbon neutrality as a strategy for responding to climate change by the United Nations at a global level, examine critically the United Nations framework, and then establish a desirable framework for the carbon-neutrality to be more efficient and effective as a strategy responding to climate change.

Fourthly, most strategies require a wide range of conditions in their process being launched such as finance and advanced technologies, etc. In this context, this paper will examine what capacities should be built as the prerequisites for implementing a carbon-neutrality strategy.

Audience Take Away:

• The hot issues being debated in relation to climate change
• A conceptual difference in the three similar terminologies (low-carbon, carbon-neutrality and carbon-free) and their different contribution to mitigating climate change
• The United Nations framework of carbon-neutrality strategy with a critical point of view, a critical point of view on the United Nations’ framework, and a new desirable framework
• Capacity building of government for carbon-neutrality strategy being more efficient and effective

Biography:

Dr. Dai-Yeun Jeong is presently the Director of Asia Climate Change Education Center and an Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sociology at Jeju National University (South Korea). He received BA and MA Degree in Sociology from Korea University, and PhD in Environmental Sociology from University of Queensland (Australia). He was a Professor of environmental sociology at Jeju National University (South Korea) from 1981 to 2012. His past major professional activities include a Teaching Professor at University of Sheffield in UK, the President of Asia-Pacific Sociological Association, a Delegate of South Korean Government to UNFCCC and OECD Environmental Meeting, etc. He has published 13 books including Environmental Sociology.