International cooperation on climate issues dates back to 1992, and its major landmarks have been the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and the Paris Agreement (2015). The Paris Agreement has a challenging goal of keeping the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius, and to attempt to limit it to 1.5 degrees. Yet despite these agreements, and a total of 27 climate conferences, carbon concentrations in the atmosphere have grown from a pre-industrial level of about 280 parts per million (ppm) to 422 ppm and continue to rise. Science is now saying that greenhouse gas emissions need to peak by 2025 to avoid disastrous climate change.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the big greenhouse gas to tackle, generated by the burning of fossil fuels for electricity generation and transport, and from agriculture, deforestation and industry. Other important gases include:
Methane (25 times the global warming potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide) from agriculture, landfills and gas and coal production. One way to avoid generating it is by keeping waste food out of landfill.
Nitrous oxide (GWP 296) from agriculture, fossil fuels and industry. Synthetic fertiliser use is a significant source.
Fluorocarbons (GWP 164–14,600), frequently used as refrigerants. A more environmentally sound
