Climate change: International action
Climate change is the greatest challenge facing the world today. It’s a global issue that demands a global response. All countries must be part of the solution.
The UK plays a leading role on climate change at the international level. We are working through the European Union, G8 and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) processes to find ways to reach global agreement on action to avert dangerous climate change.
The UK Government’s goal on climate change is to stabilise the levels of greenhouse gases so that we avoid dangerous climate change, and to adapt to unavoidable climate change. The UK Government and the EU consider that global warming must be limited to no more than 2°C temperature rise above pre-industrial times to avoid dangerous climate change.
Crucial to achieving this goal is securing a global agreement to a realistic, robust, durable and fair framework for the post-2012 period, when the first set of targets under the Kyoto Protocol expire.
Latest news
- Success at Bali talks (News release) (15 December 2007)
- UK-China clean coal initiative launched (20 November 2007)
- PM calls for global action on climate change (20 November 2007)
- IPCC final conclusions confirm need for urgent global climate action (news release) - see our IPCC summary (17 November 2007)
- PM hails G8 climate change agreement (7 June 2007)
The evidence
Our activities on mitigating and adapting to climate change must be underpinned by robust scientific and economic evidence, which we are working to improve.
On the science, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) makes clear the need for urgent action to tackle climate change and provides a sound basis for developing the national and international response.
- See our IPCC pages
In October 2006, Sir Nicholas Stern presented a report to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Economics of Climate Change that shows that taking action to reduce green house gas emissions is an economic imperative. We are integrating the report’s recommendations about international climate change into our international climate change policy.
More information:
- The UN and the Kyoto Protocol
- Working with developing countries
- European Union proposals on fluorinated greenhouse gases
- The G8 and the Gleneagles Dialogue
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Page last modified: 14 April 2008
Page published: 01 December 2005