Major international, interdisciplinary research programmes are now
underway to increase our understanding of how the Earth System operates
and how it is changing through the effects of human activities. Although
understanding and predictive capacity are still limited, scientists
already agree that significant global changes must be expected in the
next 50 years that will affect the capacity of the Earth to sustain
life.
Governments, business and industry have, therefore, come to recognize
that scientific knowledge about the changing global environment - as yet
incomplete but rapidly evolving - is becoming indispensable for wise
long-term policy making, the goal being to design preventive, adaptive
and remedial measures.
Thus global change science and policy making are engaged in a process of
forming a new partnership that is taking shape as further insights
evolve. Effective continuous interactions between the partners requires
mutual understanding: decision-makers need to understand the unique
potential but also the limitations of the results of scientific research
in progress while scientists must take into account the priorities and
constraints of policy-makers in designing and implementing policies that
will promote long-term sustainability of life on this planet.
This book contributes in a unique manner to this mutual understanding:
It gives an overview of the ongoing relevant research focusing on the
two major international programmes, the International
Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and the World Climate Research Programme.
These are described in terms understandable to the interested lay
reader. The results of the latest review of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) are included. This is followed by an analysis
of the response process that is in progress with respect to
governments - singly and multilaterally - by business and industry and
by public interest groups. This process is leading to interactive
structures, assessment procedures and legislation, nationally and
internationally. Business and industry are changing from mere
watchfulness to recognition of new opportunities for products and
processes. Six interviews with prominent figures from business and
government circles in the Netherlands provide a vivid illustration of
the questions at issue. The appendices provide overviews of methods for
incorporating the results of global change science into policy-making
and development of long lasting projects. Adaptation to climate change
serves as an example. Thus, for the first time, one book describes both
ongoing research work in global change and the response processes that
the research results are evoking. It is of interest to all stake-holders
in the scientific community as well as to decision-makers in industry,
business and government.
