ABSTRACT
In recent years, there has been growing international acceptance that climate change (both human-induced and natural) poses a serious threat to human well-being and ecological stability. The urgent need for a societal response to climate change has been reinforced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) assessment of the most up-to-date science on climate change, stating that climate warming is ‘unequivocal’ (IPCC, 2007b). Governments, businesses and other organizations are beginning to respond to the dual challenge of mitigating climate change – through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change to which we are already committed.
