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Businesses can create incentives and mechanisms for employees to telecommute and carpool.
Governments can set fuel efficiency standards for vehicles.

At the individual level, we can save energy by driving less: carpooling, combining errands into fewer
trips, and walking, biking, or taking public transportation instead of cars. We can also choose to buy
products that involve less transportation, such as buying locally- or regionally-grown produce instead
of imported fruits and vegetables. When we do drive, we can use less energy by not idling, driving at
lower speeds on the highway, keeping tires properly inflated, and doing regular maintenance. We
can choose to buy more fuel-efficient cars. Sometimes we can choose to live in neighbourhoods
where employers, services, and activities are close by and require less driving. Sometimes some of us
can choose to work from home.

Buildings

Buildings are one of the sectors with the biggest potential for energy savings. Buildings use energy
for heating, cooling, lighting, and other electrical systems.

There are many ways to increase the energy efficiency of buildings, including installing more efficient
lighting and better insulation. Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by making power on-site
with renewables and other climate-friendly energy resources. Examples include rooftop solar panels,
solar water heating, small-scale wind generation, fuel cells powered by natural gas or renewable
hydrogen, and geothermal energy.
The use of green infrastructure is a mitigation strategy for buildings and communities because green
infrastructure helps to reduce energy use. Green infrastructure refers to structures that use plants,
soil, and other natural features to perform functions such as providing shade, absorbing heat,
blocking wind, or absorbing stormwater.
Carbon sequestration

Plants and soils sequester (hold) carbon when left untouched by large-scale human activity. Plants
take in carbon through photosynthesis, release some to the atmosphere through respiration and
some to the soil through their roots, and store the remainder in their tissues. A tree’s dry weight is
almost half from carbon. The soil takes in carbon when plants die and decompose.

When people burn forests or till the soil, carbon is released into the atmosphere. The practices used
in managing forests and land can have a big impact on carbon emissions.

Some forestry options to reduce carbon release and increase carbon sequestration are afforestation,
reforestation, reducing deforestation, and planting forests that grow rapidly.

Agriculture

The large contribution to greenhouse gas emissions comes from food production. Emissions come
from crop agriculture, such as rice or corn, and livestock. Emissions can be reduced by changing the
way crops and livestock are grown and managed:

 reducing the use of heavy chemicals and petroleum-based fertilizers
 sustainable use of fertilisers
 reducing the dependence on livestock as food and improving feeding management as
livestock (especially cows) emit large amounts of methane

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the
views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the

information contained therein.