ABSTRACT
The threat o f climate change has becom e a major econom ic and political
issue, symbolic o f growing concerns that humans are making irreversible and
potentially calamitous interventions in life-support systems. Climatologists
and other scientists have warned that the accum ulation o f carbon dioxide (C 0 2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) is likely to lead to global warming and other significant climatic changes over the next century. Many scientific bodies, along with a growing chorus o f environmentalists and governments, are calling for severe curbs on the emissions o f greenhouse gases, as for example the reports o f the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPPC (1990)] and the Second World Climate Conference (October
1990). Governments have recently approved a ‘framework treaty’ on climate change to monitor trends and national efforts, and this treaty form ed the
centerpiece o f the ‘Earth Summit’ held in Rio in June 1992.
