Climate change is not just an environmental challenge, but is a threat to the global economy and to global security. The projected rise in the global average temperature will have catastrophic effects, increasing the frequency of extreme weather events (floods, cyclones and hurricanes).

Tackling climate change requires a sustained global effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases through cleaner energy, transport and changes in technology and behaviour.

There is now a global body of evidence that supports the fact that human activity is contributing to global warming. Climate change is no longer solely an environmental issue but also an humanitarian one and impacts on economies, national security, foreign policy and international development.

The UK is acting now to adapt to climate change and to reduce the risk by reducing its contribution to the causes. This website and related links explain what climate change means for the UK and what the UK is doing about it,both nationally and internationally.

Since the industrial revolution, human activities have compounded natural climate change by increasing carbon emissions in the atmosphere. This legacy has produced an unprecedented rise in average global temperature. Rising temperatures will bring changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather.

The effects will be felt here in the UK and, internationally, there may be severe problems for people in regions that are particularly vulnerable to changing weather patterns.

There is a need both for mitigation to help reduce carbon emissions and also for adaptation to prepare for the unavoidable impacts already stored up in the climate system.  Below we look at how UK institutions and citizens are dealing with this challenge:

How is the UK Government adapting to the challenges of climate change?

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) runs the 2006 Climate Change Programme, the UK’s key strategy for tackling climate change. It sets out the policies and measures which the UK is using to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.

DEFRA also published the Government's draft Climate Change Bill in 2007. As part of the Government's Act on CO² campaign, DEFRA has also recently produced a personal online CO² calculator which enables people to work out their carbon footprint using government-recognised data and calculations.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office concentrates on energy security and climate change, while the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) leads on energy and energy supply and published an Energy White Paper in May 2007.

The UK Government set up the Energy Saving Trust in 1993 to address the damaging effects of climate change. It is a non-profit organisation, funded both by government and the private sector. Its aim is to cut CO² emissions by promoting the sustainable and efficient use of energy. It works with households, business and the public sector in the areas of energy efficiency, road transport and renewable energy. Its member companies include BP, BG Group, Centrica, Johnson Matthey Catalysts, National Grid Transco, Northern Ireland Electricity, Powergen and Scottish and Southern Energy.

The British Council, which promotes UK education, culture and science overseas and is part-funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has an environmental section on its website which is a guide to research, funding, policy and practice in the UK. It also runs ZeroCarbonCity, part of its global campaign on climate change and the environmental impact of city living and urban industry.

British citizens are doing a variety of things to reduce their carbon emissions - or carbon footprint as it has become popularly known. People can:

• wash clothes at 30°C
• use energy saving light bulbs
• install loft and other home insulation
• buy food which hasn't travelled from the other side of the world
• recycle paper, bottles, tins, newspapers etc
• install solar panels
• buy locally-sourced food and other products.

The Climate Group, which is described above, has recently started a campaign called We're in it Together which aims to help shoppers reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. A number of big companies have signed up and the site has details of various things people can do to reduce the impact of climate change around the world.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) recently issued a report on climate change.  The CBI represents some 240,000 UK firms, and the firms that make up the CBI’s Climate Change Task Force employ some two million people worldwide.  The report recommends more be done to tackle climate change.