About this Book

"Introduction: Overview of the issues explored in this Book The global climate crisis is one of the most significant issues of our times. Although climate change itself is not a novel phenomenon, the rate at which the Earth's temperature is changing is unprecedented. This is in large part due to anthropogenic causes - most notably elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, among other greenhouse gases (GHG)2. To limit and ultimately reverse the impacts of anthropogenic climate change, immediate action is essential. At the international level, the most recent step forward is the Paris Agreement (PA),3 an international and legally binding treaty that has been ratified by 189 signatories,4 and was adopted under the umbrella of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).5 The PA commits its signatories to "[h]olding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 ÀC above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 ÀC above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change" (article 2)6, with a view to achieving a "balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks" of GHG emissions in the second half of the century (article 4.1)"--