Policy Making in an Era of Global Environmental Change

' ... is extremely well written, easy to understand, and amasses an amazingly large volume of information. I heartily recommend 9it for those who desire a broad overview of the entire range of issues relating to global change.' Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 78:6 (1997)

• 1. Global Change: Both a Scientific and a Political Issue.- Introduction: what is global change?.- Examples of some recent ‘global’ trends.- Global change in the 21st century.- What are the consequent critical issues for science and for society?.- 2. The Main International Environmental Research Programmes.- IGBP and WCRP.- Other relevant research programmes.- 3. Understanding the Earth System.- Introduction: cycles and systems.- ‘Nothing is permanent except change’, Heraclitus, c. 500 BC.- Trapped in the ice.- The carbon connection.- Hydrological drivers.- Up in the air.- Bringing it all together.- Epilogue.- 4. Understanding the Climate System.- — the climate system.- The natural greenhouse effect.- Temporal and spatial scales of variability.- History of earth’s climate — natural variability and its impacts.- Human intervention — the enhanced greenhouse effect.- Climate research — international coordination — national efforts.- Prospects for climate prediction.- The IPCC scenarios for future climate.- Potential impacts of global warming.- Climate change research in service to society.- Summary.- 5. Policy Responses to Global Environmental Issues: an Introductory Overview.- New approaches: new partnerships.- Sustainable development.- The Brundtland report.- Economic considerations.- Long-term environmental management.- Involving the public.- 6. Intergovernmental Policy Responses to Global Environmental Issues.- The changing role of science in global policy.- The need for international assessments of global environmental issues.- An example: the climate change issue.- Using scientific information to establish global environmental policy.- Strategies for dealing with global environmental change.- Future prospects.- 7. Examples of GovernmentalResponses.- Range of strategies available to national governments to deal with global change.- Knowledge-building strategies.- Relations between national and international global change research programmes.- Examples of some national and regional global change research programmes.- Capacity-building strategies.- Concluding remarks.- 8. Examples of Responses by Business and Industry.- Introductory remarks.- The business ecosystem.- Earth System research: opportunities for business.- The science/business interface.- Interviews with six senior members of the business and government communities in the Netherlands.- 9. Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (ENGOs).- Legitimacy of ENGOs; their place in society.- Environmental advocacy.- Relationships between business and ENGOs.- Appendices.- A1. Contact Addresses and Further Information on Authors, Supporting and Sponsoring Organizations.- Addresses of contributors to this monograph.- Addresses of the main bodies active in the field of global environmental change.- Addresses of an international fund for global change research.- Addresses and information on 14 Dutch businesses that assisted financially in the 1992 symposium and the preparation of this book.- A2. List of Acronyms.- A3. Methods for Assessing Effects of Global Change on the Biosphere and Society.- Methods available.- Sectoral impacts of global change.- Integrated assessments.- The use of historical analogues.- The Mackenzie River basin study: an integrated assessment based on scenarios.- Socio-economic impact of sea level rise in the Netherlands.- Applying some modern ideas on ecosystem integrity to global change assessments.- Concluding remarks.- A4. Instruments for Facilitating the Application of Global Change Research Results to Policy-making.- Consensus-building.- Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and cumulative environmental assessment (CEA).- Establishing long-term environmental priorities.- A5. Inventory of Adaptation Strategies Relating to Climate Change: A Canadian Example.