This unit explains the carbon budget, as a way of showing clearly how much we can continue to emit to stay within the temperature limits laid out in the Paris Agreement.
Learning objectives:
- Understand the importance of carbon budgets within the context of greenhouse gas emissions limits.
- Be able to distinguish different ways to count and measure greenhouse gas emissions for a country and understand why their differences are important.
GreenComp alignment:
- Futures literacy
- Political agency
This unit could be used in politics, science or geography classes. We recommend that your students have a good base understanding of climate change. Otherwise, you can use our unit titled Climate Change 101.
Unit project:
Students should write a pitch for a story they want to produce on their country’s contributions to global emissions. This will have students research their country’s emissions-heavy sectors, to practice being curious about different aspects of a broad topic, and to write a pitch – a useful skill beyond journalism.
Time frame:
We recommend spending two or three classes on this unit. The first one to two classes should be focused on the text, allowing students to discuss and comprehend sections. The second to third class should be focused on research and the pitch.
Here are the slides to accompany the pdf.
Extra resources for further reading
Carbon Brief
- UK-based website covering the latest developments in climate science, climate policy and energy policy, through clear data-driven articles, videos and visuals.
https://www.carbonbrief.org - Specifically on carbon budget explainers and news. https://www.carbonbrief.org/search/?_sf_s=carbon%20budget
Global Carbon Project
- Up-to-date carbon budget estimates and data sets.
