6.3.3—Mitigation strategies
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Objective
- 6.3.3
- Level
- HL
Classify Mitigation by the Part It Changes
Mitigation can change the warming process, reduce greenhouse-gas production, or remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
| Category | At least two examples | Main evaluation boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Reduce the warming process | household surface/energy changes; large-scale solar-radiation geoengineering | symptom versus cause, side effects and governance |
| Reduce GHG production | energy efficiency and renewables; food/agriculture change or carbon tax | lifecycle emissions, rebound, affordability and leakage |
| Remove atmospheric CO2 | rewilding or afforestation; carbon capture and storage | permanence, saturation, land/energy demand and monitoring |
Replacing coal with renewable electricity reduces a source; restoring forest removes and stores carbon but that store can be reversed by fire or clearance.
Prefer source reduction where feasible, then evaluate complementary process changes and removals without double counting.
A mitigation label does not prove net benefit; apply a complete lifecycle, permanence and equity boundary.