Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)
The following 6 greenhouse gases (GHGs) contribute to climate change. The global warming potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide is the base unit to measure the relative effect of other gases (reference: IPCC Second Assessment Report, 1995, www.tfsgreen.com):
Greenhouse Gas Chemical Symbol Global Warming Potential (Ref: IPCC)
Carbon Dioxide CO2 1
Methane CH4 23
Nitrous Oxide N20 310
Hydrofluorocarbons HFC 140 - 11,700
Perflurorocarbons PFC 6,500 - 9,200
Sulphur Hexafluoride SF6 23,900
Industrialized countries are required to compile a national inventory of these greenhouse gases in order to assess their progress towards reducing emissions. Projects which generate carbon credits for sale promote displacement or reduction of GHGs.
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) validates and measures carbon offset projects to ensure they produce authentic benefits and are genuinely "additional" activities that would not otherwise have been undertaken. Organizations that are unable to meet their emissions quota can offset their emissions by buying CDM-approved Certified Emissions Reductions (reference: Wikipedia).
Impacts on the Global Economy
Climate change (also known as global warming) is one of the most serious challenges the world faces. Greenhouse gases from human activities like power generation, manufacturing, transportation and land-use change are accumulating in the atmosphere, where they act like a heat-trapping blanket that is warming the Earth’s climate.
Global warming creates physical impacts that have serious economic consequences. For example, warming oceans threaten fisheries, and warmer winters lead to insect infestations in forests resulting in severe economic losses. Future risks include sea-level rise and shoreline erosion in coastal areas, and severe storms damaging property and infrastructure.