Controlling Climate Change

Bert Metz

Dec 2009 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

An unbiased and comprehensive overview, based on the findings of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Using no jargon, it looks at tackling and adapting to man-made climate change, and works through the often confusing potential solutions. Bert Metz is the former co-chair of the IPCC, at the center of international climate change negotiations. His insider expertise provides a cutting edge assessment of issues at the top of the political agenda. He leads the reader succinctly through ambitious mitigation scenarios, in combination with adapting our future societies to different climate conditions and the potential costs of these measures. Illustrations and extensive boxed examples motivate students to engage with this essential global debate, and questions for each chapter are available online for course instructors. Minimal technical language also makes this book valuable to anyone with an interest in action to combat climate change.

About the author

Bert Metz has vast experience in the field of climate change policy. He served as the co-ordinator of climate policy at the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment and chief negotiator for the Netherlands and the European Union in the international climate change negotiations from 1992–1998. He was elected co-chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group on climate change mitigation for the IPCC Third Assessment Report (1997–2002) and re-elected for the Fourth Assessment report (2002–2008; in which period the IPCC received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize). At the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency from 1998–2005, he led the group on climate change and global sustainability, publishing a large series of national and international policy analyses on climate change and sustainability. Since retiring, he is serving as advisor to the European Climate Foundation and other organisations. In 2009 he received the European Practitioner Achievement Award in applying environmental economics from the European Association for Environmental and Resource Economists.