Climate Change and Global Warming may change our way of life completely unless they are addressed and solutions found within a relatively short period of time. There is certainty it is happening but multiple thoughts regarding exactly how quickly and what has to be done. These pages attempt to provide you with data which will help you understand the problem, major figures in Australia and overseas, what options are available and how you can do something personally.

Related topics such as Environment can be accessed via the Science Introduction page.

This page provides information about evidence, national and international agencies & organisations, specific programs from around the world, other groups, Reports & Protocols.

The Second Page provides information about alternate forms of energy, research & research groups and blogs and podcasts related to climate and climate change.

The Third Page looks at information covering Emissions Trading, global warming, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, media presentations, personal options, weather impacts and other information.

For ways to reduce your ecological footprint, find advice, calculators and other information on the Living Green - Reducing My Footprint page.

The News and Newspapers pages may provide breaking news, conference information and more in this area.

National & International Organisations

National & International Agencies & Actions

Government & non-government agencies, community interest & nation-specific groups, emphasising those in which Australia is involved.

• AP6
  Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. ‘Brings together Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, the United States of America to address the challenges of climate change, energy security, air pollution in a way that encourages economic development and reduces poverty’.
• A-Z of Government Initiatives
  Annotated listing of links to the full range of programs related to Climate Change which are being implemented by the Federal Government in Australia.
• Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum
  ‘International climate change initiative focused on development of improved cost-effective technologies for the separation and capture of carbon dioxide for its transport and long-term safe storage. The purpose of the CSLF is to make these technologies available internationally; to identify and address wider issues relating to carbon capture and storage’.
• Climate Action
  Assisting Business Towards Carbon Neutrality. ‘International communication platform that aims to assist businesses towards carbon neutrality. Sustainable Development International, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme’. News, climate leaders, industry & regional focuses, resources, more.
• Climate Change
  US Environmental Protection Authority. Quicklinks, Science, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health & Environmental Effects, What You Can Do, Other Resources, US Climate Policy.
  Worth visiting.
• Climate Institute
  ‘A non-partisan, independent research organisation that works with community, business, government to drive innovative and effective climate change solutions. We research. We educate. We communicate’.
• Department of Climate Change [Australia]
  Commonwealth Department. Covers from the science to Emissions Trading.
• European Commission - Environment
  Steps they are taking [and have taken]. Links to areas including breaking news, Q & A, picture book for children. In different languages. PDF file.
• Global Methane Initiative
  ‘Advances cost-effective, near-term methane recovery and use as a clean energy source. The goal is to reduce global methane emissions in order to enhance economic growth, strengthen energy security, improve air quality, improve industrial safety, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases’.
  Previously listed as Methane to Markets Partnership.
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
  ‘Established by WMO and UNEP to assess scientific, technical, socio-economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts, options for adaptation and mitigation’. Their Links Page takes you to most major world and national players.
• International Forest Carbon Initiative
  ‘Australia is working through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC] to secure a global outcome that comprehensively addresses emissions from deforestation, making forests part of the solution and no longer part of the problem’. The Action Reports can be downloaded here in PDF format.
• International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy
  ‘Committed to accelerate the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies to improve their energy security, environmental security, economic security’.
• Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnerships
  ‘Accelerate the global market for sustainable energy by acting as an international and regional enabler, multiplier, catalyst to change, develop sustainable energy systems’.

Specific Examples from around the World

Examples from multiple areas of the world, from cities to regions.

• The Austin Climate Protection Program
  ‘Through innovative programs and bold initiatives, the Climate Protection Program works to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the City government and the community at large. The Program was created in 2007 when Austin City Council passed a resolution directing the City to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions’. Download a copy of this extensive and well thought out plan.Get a copy of The Program here, or check out their carbon footprint calculator here.
• C40 Cities
  ‘A group of the world’s largest cities committed to tackling climate change. Find news and updates on current C40 programmes, information about each city involved, links to useful documents’. Melbourne and Sydney are part of this.
• Cape Gateway [SA]
  Strategy document. Provides information on use of green energy, reducing the carbon footprint, efficiency improvements, other processes.
• Earth Hour
  ‘In 2009, Earth Hour was taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people casting their vote for Earth. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from’.

• The Global Climate Observing System
  ‘Ensures the observations and information needed to address climate-related issues are obtained and made available to all potential users. GCOS addresses the total climate system including physical, chemical and biological properties, atmospheric, oceanic, terrestrial hydrologic, cryospheric components’.
• United Nations Environment Programme
  The Bali meeting and what may come from it, multimedia presentations [podcasts, webcast, …], publications, online eBook [300 pages] called Climate Action, posters, more.
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
  Covers the background, documentation, the Kyoto Protocol [including text of the protocol in downloadable format/languages], national reports, data, methods, the science, adaptation, more.

Societies, Groups & Organisations

Major climate change organisations & groups. Government & non-government groups.

• Climate Change Organisations
  74 groups are listed. Sub-directories with other links, e.g. Greenpeace, Defunct Climate Change Organisations. From Wikipedia.
• David Suzuki Foundation
  There are sections on Solving Global Warming and other areas with relationship to this.
• Stop Climate Change [Greenpeace]
  Information, proposed actions in the 6 sub-sections on this part of the Greenpeace site.
• The Climate Action Network
  ‘Network of over 340 Non-Governmental Organisations working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels’. An Australian office.
• World Bank Group - Climate Change
  News, activities in which the World Bank is involved.
• World Directory of Environmental Organisations Online
  ‘Over 350 Web pages with thousands of entries, links. Detailed subject and geographic sections, background pages, cross-references’.
• World Meteorological Organisation
  ‘Specialised Agency of the United Nations. The UN system’s authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces, the resulting distribution of water resources’.
• World Wildlife Fund
  What the World Wildlife Fund is doing in the area of Global Warming.

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Research, Reports, Protocols, …

Protocols, Agreements and Policies

Includes major agreements, meetings, etc., that effect directions to be followed.

Cancún and COP16/CMP6

Information about, and from, the most recent Climate Change Conference, held in Cancún, Mexico, December 2010

• 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference
  Background, Expectations, Tarawa Climate Change Conference, Outcome, references, links, more. From Wikipedia.
• BBC News Report
  Report from the BBC indicating an agreement. Also has a range of links to climate change information.
• Cancún Climate Conference 2010
  Participants, program, Documents, background information, news, video, more.
• Draft Decision - CP.16
  Note that this is an advance unedited version.
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
  ‘Welcome to the official website of the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún COP 16/ CMP 6, 29 November to 10 December 2010’. Program, Documents, Statements, Side Events & Exhibits, Media, Virtual Participation and more.

Durban

The most recent conference regarding Climate Change. Held in November/December 2011. An historic agreement was reached at this conference.

• COP17 / CMP7
  ‘The 17th Conference of the Parties [COP17] to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC] and the 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties [CMP7] to the Kyoto Protocol’.
• COP17 Durban Platform
  Read a version online.
• Durban Climate Change Conference 2011
  ‘The United Nations Climate Change Conference, Durban 2011, delivered a breakthrough on the international community’s response to climate change’.
• Global Climate Change Treaty in Sight After Durban Breakthrough [The Guardian]
  Report from The Guardian in the UK. Also has a link to Durban Platform [see above]. Also has short, embedded video.

Copenhagen

One of the most recent conference regarding Climate Change. Held in December 2009.

• Australia@Copenhagen
  Information on our involvement can be found here.
• United Nations Climate Change Conference
  About the conference, calendar, news, climate consortium, facts, blogs, webcasts, links to sites on Twitter, Facebook, more.
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
  Conference program, documents [PDF format], speeches, side events, exhibits, media, background information, more.

• Durban Declaration on Carbon Trading
  ‘Representatives came together in Durban, South Africa in October 2004 to discuss realistic avenues for addressing climate change. The group emerged from the meeting with this call for a global grassroots movement against climate change’.
• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol
  ‘The most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, manage greenhouse gas emissions’. Programs, tools, calculators, standards, newsletter, more.
• Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition
  Policies, targets, strategic roadmap, downloadable documents, policies & measures, glossary, links. A ‘coalition of Governments committed to achieving the commitments on renewable energy made at the World Summit for Sustainable Development which took place at Johannesburg in 2002’.
• The Kyoto Protocol
  Background, mechanisms, registry systems, reporting, compliance, text versions in multiple languages, country specific information regarding ratification.
• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
  ‘Signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. An intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources’. Information up to the present date on this site.
• United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali
  ‘Culminated in the adoption of the Bali roadmap, which charts the course for a new negotiating process to be concluded by 2009 that will ultimately lead to a post-2012 international agreement on climate change. Ground-breaking decisions were taken which form core elements of the roadmap. They include the launch of the Adaptation Fund, decisions on technology transfer and on reducing emissions from deforestation’. Multiple downloads in PDF format. Information on the Bali Road Map can be found here.
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
  Get background, documentation, national reports, science, Kyoto mechanisms, more.

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Reports

Major reports that will impact on what we do in the future. Some Australian, others affect wider areas while having an impact in Australia.

• Climate Change in Australia Report
  ‘Provides the latest information on observed climate change over Australia and its likely causes, updated projections of changes in temperature, rainfall, other aspects of climate that can be expected over coming decades as a result of continued global emissions of greenhouse gases’. Available by section in PDF format. Supplementary material.
• Garnaut Climate Change Review
  Australia. ‘Learn about the Review, its activities, more’.

• The Garnaut Climate Change Review Interim Report - February 2008 can be downloaded here. Scientist’s Responses to the Draft Report [July 2008] are found here. The Final Report can be downloaded in PDF Format here, in total or in parts.
• Final Garnaut Report 2011
  From this site you can download the Summary, the Whole Report or individual sections and chapters.

• IPCC Assessment Reports
  Online, details of where hard copies may be obtained. Links to information about Special Reports, Technical Reports, Methodology Reports, supporting materials, non-core language presentations. The chapter on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability [Australia and New Zealand], is available here.

Recent Reports

• Climate Change, A Report of the Académie des Sciences
  French report from their national body, October 26, 2010.
• Expert Credibility in Climate Change
  A review of concensus among scientists regarding climate change.
• Global Climate Change Indicators
  From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US.
• Global Emissions Surge Back After GFC
  ‘A recent spike in worldwide carbon emissions growth was caused by the rebound from the global financial crisis [GFC] and is likely to be a one-off, according to a new study from The Australian National University. The study has been published in the journal Nature Climate Change’.
• Global Warming, Frequently Asked Questions
  Questions with answers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US.
• Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [SREX]
  ‘Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. This Special Report explores the social as well as physical dimensions of weather- and climate-related disasters, considering opportunities for managing risks at local to international scales’. IPCC. You can download a Summary for Policymakers, the Full SREX Report and even a Fact Sheet. You can also access a report from the University of Sydney here, entitled Catastrophic Climate Risks and The Role of Disaster Law about this report.
• State of the Climate 2012
  ‘This State of the Climate is the second paper produced by CSIRO and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. It provides a summary of observations of Australia’s climate and analysis of the factors that influence it. The previous State of the Climate, released in March 2010 highlighted a multi-decadal warming trend over Australia’s land and oceans, an increase in record hot days and decrease in record cold days across the country, …’.
• The Science of Climate Change : Questions and Answers
  Australian Academy of Science. Looks at major scientific questions needing to be answered, what is needed to find solutions and the science involved.

• The Discovery of Global Warming
  ‘A hypertext history of how scientists came to [partly] understand what people are doing to cause climate change’. Online and with the ability to download a range of PDF files.

The Stern Review

• At-a-glance : The Stern Review
  ‘A report compiled by Sir Nicholas Stern for the UK government. Here are the key points of the review written by the former chief economist of the World Bank’.
• Stern Review On the Economics of Climate Change
  Access the Final Report, background, summaries, supporting research, additional papers, more from HM Treasury, UK.
• The Stern Gang
  Part of a blog. ‘There are many useful resources about the Stern Review. What is needed is a linked index so others may enjoy the fulminous debate. This should be regarded as a work in progress’.
• The Stern Review
  Background, positive critical responses, unfavourable critical responses, discounting [procedure], references, links. From Wikipedia.

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