Commentary on Mitigation or Adaptation: Which is a much-expected procedure to tending Zambian Urban Climate Change challenges?

Public concern about climate change is rising. The number and impacts of climate-driven disasters in Zambian urban places is increasing and spreading annually. Cities are already facing exaggerated urban heat island effects due to extreme temperatures, property damage and outbreaks of diseases due to water flooding in the unplanned settlement.

It is a rear scenario to talk about Climate Change without encountering these two words: Mitigation and Adaptation, for these are the fundamental response strategies to addressing climate change (UN, 1992). While mitigation tries to prevent or gradual down the increase of GHG concentration in the atmosphere by means of restricting current and future emissions and improving capacity sinks for GHG (NPCC, 2016), adaptation seeks to adjust Natural or human systems in reaction to real or expected stimuli or their outcomes, which moderates harm or make the most beneficial possibilities (IPCC, 2001). An example of a mitigation measure is mind-set-change from our overly dependence on fossil fuels for energy use (cooking) in homes to renewable forms of energy which achieves a no net carbon emissions. In Zambia, much of the energy is sourced from charcoal and wood (NPCC, 2016) and there seem to be a well collaborated complicity between the rural charcoal producers and the urban charcoal consumers in challenging the whole effort of dramatically cutting down emissions.  Adaptation, on the other hand, has to do with understanding that from now on, we are living in a changed environment and therefore we need to change our way of living. In other words, adaptation refers to modifications in techniques, practices, or systems to moderate or offset ability damages or to take gain of opportunities related to changes in weather.