Addressing the Challenges of Climate Change

The European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), which is formed by the National Science Academies of the European Union (EU) Member States, urges world leaders, meeting in Durban in December 2011, to press ahead with the process of international agreement on an effective response to climate change.

The science of climate change reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment (2007) has been evaluated by numerous national academies including the Royal Society, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, National Research Council of the National Academies of the USA, Institut de France Académie des Sciences, and by International bodies such as the InterAcademy Council (IAC) and InterAcademy Medical Panel (IAMP). Advances in science and technology have increased our knowledge of how to mitigate climate change, identifi ed uncertainties, revealed co-benefits of mitigation to health and pointed to new business opportunities. EASAC is concerned, however, that turning the evidence base into an international policy response, notwithstanding the uncertainties, has so far failed to match the full magnitude and urgency of the problem.