This report reviews the terrestrial Essential Climate Variables (ECVs), which are endorsed by the UNFCCC and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Details are provided on why these observations are needed to understand the causes of climate change, analyse the potential impacts, evaluate the adaptation options and enable characterization of extreme events such as floods, droughts and heat waves.

This edition of Environment Matters arrives just as the international community embarks on a two-year process to secure a new global framework to limit the amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) entering the atmosphere and devise ways to help developing countries adapt to and prepare themselves for the effects of climate change.

International treaties and national policies seek to enhance global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. While it is important to continue to strive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation alone is not enough and will not be felt before the second half of the century. Global warming is already underway and adaptation strategies are now a matter of urgency, especially for the most vulnerable poor countries, which are even now being disproportionately affected.

This report shows that climate change is indeed already affecting Japan, for example its agriculture and fishing industry, its ecosystems and biodiversity, and its cultural heritage and identity. Changes range from symbolic examples like the early flowering of the iconic cherry trees to the life-threatening and cost-intensive impacts of sea-level rise and extreme weather events. An altering climate forces irreversible change on the residents of Japan, today and increasingly in the future according to the science synthesized for this report

The historic development pathway of Europe and the US is clearly not sustainable in developing Asia, with its larger population, constrained by resource limitations, and now facing the global challenges of climate change. So far, however, Asia has not framed an alternative future that simultaneously provides for an escape from poverty, improves standards of living, and responds to the need for a low carbon, climate resilient sustainable development pathway.

Impacts of climate change include increasing water scarcity and flood risk, along with decline in water quality. This study explores which ecosystems will be most impacted and analyses how the effects of climate change act as causes of additional emissions, thereby reinforcing global warming in a positive feedback loop. In the study, ecologic contributed an assessment of potential changes in the water regime and their associated impact on land and soil resources. Furthermore, it provided insight into the interaction between deforestation, climate change and water availability.

This book shows how various levels of society can work towards climate neutrality. Written and reviewed by experts from many disciplines and various countries, the book is aimed at a broad audience, with solutions for individuals, small and large businesses, NGOs, international organizations, cities and countries.