ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the poor countries of the South that are most vulnerable to the devastating effects predicted due to climate change. It is important to understand the science of climate change due to its highly complex and controversial nature. The chapter discusses the economics of the problem of climate change. Commitments towards addressing the problem of climate change may, then, be based on the science of the environmental problem. Science plays an important role in understanding how countries respond to any commitments recommended by the international climate change convention. The costs and benefits of climate change are crucial indicators of whether or not countries will participate in the climate change convention. While the costs of curbing climate change are more easily calculable in monetary amounts, the benefits of a climate change convention are not as clear or immediate.
