Human-induced climate change poses enormous risks to our environment, economies and societies. Nations have come together under the auspices of the United Nations to debate what needs to be done to manage these risks. They have agreed that it is prudent to attempt to limit the increase in the global mean temperature to 2°C or less and have recognised that that entails sharp reductions in annual global emissions of greenhouse gases over the next few decades. But how is that to be achieved?

The global climate is changing, and will continue to do so even if greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically curbed. Economies are therefore faced with the challenge of adapting to climate change. This challenge is particularly important in developing countries, which, due to a combination of unfortunate geography and high sensitivity, are most vulnerable to climate change. From a macro-economic point of view, there remains much to learn about the characteristics of optimal adaptation.

The Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are contemplating a range of goals for
limiting the rise in global average temperature that is resulting from
rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Whatever temperature goal is eventually agreed by the Parties, its
achievement will depend on the extent to which global emissions
of greenho

The impact of climate change on agriculture depends on the environmental and socio-economic contexts in which the changes occur. However, current tools to anticipate climate change impacts focus almost entirely on biological and environmental processes.

This paper sets out an assessment of the latest targets and intended actions for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, which have been submitted by countries to the Appendices of the Copenhagen Accord.

This paper uses the EPO/OECD World Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT) to provide a quantitative description of the geographic distribution of inventions in thirteen climate mitigation technologies since 1978 and their international

This paper considers how environmental policies should respond to macroeconomic downturns. It first explores the implications of the global economic downturn of 2008-09 for environmental policies, focusing in particular on the example of action against climate change.

The commitments made by countries to cut carbon emissions have put the world on the threshold of hitting the target of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees C.

Using patent data from 66 countries for the period 1990

This policy brief examines how much global emissions of
greenhouse gases will have to fall from present levels to create a reasonable chance (i.e. a 50 per cent probability) of avoiding a rise in global average temperature of more than 2