Responding to Threats » Climate Responses in a Developed Country
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: 7.3 The responses to desertification, deforestation and climate change (c)
- What mitigation and adaptation mean
- How individuals in the United Kingdom (UK) respond to climate change
- What organisations and the UK government do
- How to write a clear answer using a named developed country
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Unlock This CourseResponding to climate change in the UK
You have seen what causes global warming and what its impacts are. This lesson is about the response. The spec asks for different responses from individuals, organisations and governments in a named developed country. Our named country is the United Kingdom. It is a developed country with a rich economy, and it burned a lot of coal and oil during its history, so it has both the means and the reason to act.
Key terms:
- Mitigation: actions that reduce the amount of greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere, so that climate change is slowed down.
- Adaptation: actions that help people cope with the effects of climate change that are already happening or will happen.
- Net zero: a balance where the greenhouse gases a country adds to the atmosphere are matched by the amount taken out.
- Carbon footprint: the total greenhouse gases produced by a person, group or product.
Three levels of response
🚴 Individuals
People can change how they live: using less energy at home, travelling in greener ways and wasting less. Each person has a small effect, but millions of people together make a real difference.
🏢 Organisations
Businesses, charities and pressure groups act in groups. Businesses can cut their own emissions. Charities and campaign groups can push the government and the public to act.
🏛 Governments
Governments can pass laws, set targets, tax pollution and pay for new technology. Only a government can change the rules for a whole country.
Individuals in the UK
Many people in the UK make choices that cut their carbon footprint. These are mostly mitigation.
- Saving energy at home: fitting loft insulation, turning heating down, using LED light bulbs and switching off devices. Less energy used means less fuel burned at power stations.
- Greener transport: walking, cycling or using trains and buses instead of the car, and buying an electric car. Cars that burn petrol and diesel give out carbon dioxide.
- Reducing waste: recycling, wasting less food and buying fewer new things. Making and moving goods uses energy.
- Home renewable energy: some households fit solar panels or heat pumps.
Individuals can also take adaptation steps, for example choosing flood-resistant fittings or planting trees for shade in a hot summer. A limit is cost. Many people cannot afford insulation or an electric car, and one person's actions are tiny compared with a whole country's emissions.
Organisations in the UK
- Businesses: many UK companies set targets to cut their emissions. They fit energy-efficient lighting, use renewable electricity, and make delivery lorries and warehouses more efficient. Some do this to save money and to attract customers who care about the environment.
- Pressure groups and charities: groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace campaign, lobby the government and inform the public. Friends of the Earth ran a campaign called The Big Ask, which helped lead to the Climate Change Act in 2008.
- Independent advice: the Climate Change Committee is an official body that advises the government and reports on whether the UK is on track to meet its targets.
A strength is that organisations can reach many people and make large changes quickly. A limit is that they cannot make laws, and companies may act only if it pays.
The UK government
The government has the most power to act. Its responses include:
- Laws and targets: the Climate Change Act (2008) was the first law of its kind in the world to set a legally binding target to cut emissions. In 2019 the UK changed the target to net zero by 2050.
- Ending coal power: the UK used to make much of its electricity from coal. Coal power stations have been closed, and the last one closed in 2024.
- Growing renewable energy: the UK has built many large offshore wind farms in the North Sea and other seas around the coast. This replaces electricity from burning fossil fuels.
- Helping people change: the government has given grants and rules to encourage home insulation, electric cars and charging points.
- International action: the UK helped agree the Paris Agreement in 2015 and hosted the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021.
Worked example
Question: Describe one response to climate change by the government of a named developed country. Answer: In the UK, the government passed the Climate Change Act in 2008 (1). It sets a legal target for the country to cut its emissions, now net zero by 2050 (1). This is mitigation because it aims to reduce the greenhouse gases that cause global warming (1).
Governments also have limits. Plans can be expensive, and people may object to new wind farms or to higher costs. Targets only work if they are followed up with action.
Comparing the responses
The three levels work best together. Individuals use less energy, organisations push for change and offer greener products, and the government sets the rules that make it all easier. When you answer, name the level, give the UK action, and say whether it is mitigation or adaptation.
Common mistakes
Common mistakes
- Writing about causes or impacts of climate change. This lesson is about the responses.
- Saying "the UK is helping" without a detail. Name an action, such as the Climate Change Act or offshore wind farms.
- Mixing up mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation cuts emissions; adaptation helps people cope.
- Mixing up the three levels. Insulating a house is an individual response; a law is a government response.
- Writing about a developing country. The named country here must be developed.
Exam-style question
(a) Describe one response to climate change by individuals in a named developed country. [2 marks]
(b) Explain how the government of a named developed country is trying to reduce climate change. [4 marks]
Model answer
(a) In the UK, many households fit loft insulation to keep their homes warm (1). This means less fuel is burned for heating, so fewer greenhouse gases are released (1).
(b) The UK government passed the Climate Change Act in 2008, which sets a legally binding target to cut emissions (1), and the target is now net zero by 2050 (1). It has closed coal power stations (1) and encouraged offshore wind farms, which make electricity without burning fossil fuels, so less carbon dioxide goes into the atmosphere (1).
Exam tip
Always name the country and give a specific action. "The UK built offshore wind farms" earns marks; "the government is doing things" does not.