Global Action on Energy Conservation and Climate Change

What Global Action on Energy Conservation and Climate Change covers

Global Action on Energy Conservation and Climate Change is examined in Unit AS 1, The Earth's Capacity to Support Human Activity, a written examination. It covers sustainable development and climate agreements, emissions and energy efficiency targets for 2020, renewable energy and demand reduction in policy and nuclear power as an alternative.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Sustainable development and climate agreementsThe Brundtland definition, fairness between generations, the Rio Earth Summit, common but differentiated responsibilities, the Kyoto Protocol and its flexible mechanisms, the Paris Agreement, Glasgow and COP28.Open →
• Emissions and energy efficiency targets for 2020The EU 20-20-20 targets, the UK's 2020 renewables and emissions targets, the Climate Change Act 2008 and carbon budgets, Northern Ireland's 2020 targets and results, worked target calculations and net zero.Open →
• Renewable energy and demand reduction in policyWhy renewables and demand reduction both matter, the energy hierarchy, conservation against efficiency, the rebound effect, the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation, Contracts for Difference and heat and transport.Open →
• Nuclear power as an alternativeFission and the chain reaction, moderators and control rods, energy density calculations, lifecycle emissions compared with gas, baseload supply, radioactive waste, Chernobyl and Fukushima, cost and small modular reactors.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Global Action on Energy Conservation and Climate Change further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Kyoto Protocol vs Paris Agreement

  Kyoto Protocol: the 1997 treaty that set binding emission cuts for developed countries only. Paris Agreement: the 2015 accord in which every country sets its own nationally determined pledges.

• Mitigation vs Adaptation

  Mitigation: action that cuts greenhouse gas emissions to limit future warming. Adaptation: action that adjusts society to cope with warming already under way.

• Nuclear fission vs Nuclear fusion

  Nuclear fission: the splitting of a heavy atomic core into two smaller parts. Nuclear fusion: the joining of two light atomic cores into a heavier one.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Which body produced the Brundtland definition of sustainable development, and in which report?

   Model answer

   The World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, produced the definition. The Brundtland definition appeared in the 1987 report Our Common Future.

2. 2

   How does the Brundtland definition of sustainable development apply to the burning of fossil fuels?

   Model answer

   The Brundtland Commission (1987) called for development that meets present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their own. Fossil fuel burning fails the Brundtland test, because it depletes finite stocks and leaves a changed climate to future generations.

3. 3

   Why does climate change raise a question of fairness between generations?

   Model answer

   The benefits of burning fossil fuels are enjoyed now, but most of the warming they cause is felt later. Future generations inherit costs they had no part in choosing.

4. 4

   What was agreed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992?

   Model answer

   The 1992 Rio Earth Summit opened the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for signature. The Convention aims to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that avoids dangerous interference with the climate.

5. 5

   What is the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities?

   Model answer

   The principle holds that every country must act on climate change, but not equally. Wealthy industrialised countries emitted most historic carbon dioxide, so they should lead.

6. 6

   What is a Conference of the Parties (COP)?

   Model answer

   A Conference of the Parties is the annual meeting of the countries that have signed the UNFCCC. COP meetings negotiate and review global climate agreements.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Global Action on Energy Conservation and Climate Change revision questions

What does Global Action on Energy Conservation and Climate Change cover in CCEA A-Level Environmental Technology?

4 subtopics: sustainable development and climate agreements, emissions and energy efficiency targets for 2020, renewable energy and demand reduction in policy and nuclear power as an alternative. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Global Action on Energy Conservation and Climate Change organised?

By the CCEA 3930 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.