"Preface and acknowledgments" [2013] ELECD 861; in Verschuuren, Jonathan (ed), "Research Handbook on Climate Change Adaptation Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) xii

Book Title: Research Handbook on Climate Change Adaptation Law

Editor(s): Verschuuren, Jonathan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781000076

Section Title: Preface and acknowledgments

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

Preface and acknowledgements


Climate change is here to stay, at least for the time being. If we stopped
all greenhouse gas emissions today (which, of course, is highly unlikely),
we would only see marginal improvements in 30 to 40 years. So we have
to adapt to changing climate. The Working Group II report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that
adaptation will be necessary to address impacts resulting from warming
of the Earth's atmosphere, which is already unavoidable due to past
emissions. Around the world, adaptation policies are still in their infancy.
It appears to be much more difficult to devise and implement adaptation
policies than it is to devise and implement mitigation policies. It requires
an immense, coordinated effort to adapt all the policies and laws in the
many fields of governance involved in such a way that society at large
will be prepared for the impact of climatic change events and the
associated extreme weather incidences that we will experience in the
course of the twenty-first century. We cannot simply apply existing laws.
A whole new approach is to be pursued in many fields of law.
What are the legal challenges and barriers to climate change adaptation
and how can they be overcome? That is the main question that we
address in this book. The book discusses all the fields of law that are
faced with challenges brought about by the need to adapt to the changing
climate and to severe weather conditions, ...