Climate Change- A Global Issue

RUNNING HEAD: Climate Change- A Global Issue
Climate Change- A Global Issue
Keywords: Climate Change, sustainable development, stakeholder groups, principles of sustainability,
key approaches for climate change, implications of climate change for business

Climate Change- A Global Issue 1
Contents
The Concept of Climate Change......................................................................................................2
Relationship between Climate Change and Sustainable Development...........................................3
Key Approaches in relation to Climate Change..............................................................................4
Principles of Sustainability in relation to Climate Change..............................................................5
Debates on Climate Change.............................................................................................................5
Critical Analysis of the implications of Climate Change................................................................6
Value Systems.................................................................................................................................7
Stakeholder Groups related with Climate Change...........................................................................8
Background Commitments to Politics and Commitments...............................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................11

Climate Change- A Global Issue 2
The Concept of Climate Change
Change in climate can be explained as the change in the statistical distribution of weather pattern
when such change persists for a prolonged time period (i.e. decades to millions of years). It is
often referred to as a change in the time difference of weather or in the average weather
conditions within the context of long term average conditions. A variety of factors leads to
climate change such as plate tectonics, biotic processes, volcanic eruptions and deviations in the
solar radiation received by earth. The primary causes of climate change also include certain
human activities which are often referred to as global warming (Crate & Nuttall, 2016).
The climate and the equilibrium temperature of the earth are determined by the degree at what
energy is obtained from sun and the degree at which it is lost to space. The climates of various
regions are affected by the energy distribution around the globe by ocean currents, winds and
other mechanisms (Johnson & Jones, 2017). Climate forcing are the factors which are
responsible for shaping climate. This includes various processes such as variations in the orbit of
the earth, solar radiation, atmosphere, oceans, albedo variations or reflectivity of continents,
changes in greenhouse gas effect and continental drift. Climate Forcing can be either external or
internal. External climate forcing can be anthropogenic (for example, rise in greenhouse gas
emissions and dust) or natural (for instance, variation in the orbit of the earth, solar outputs and
volcano eruptions). Whereas the natural processes that exist within the climate system are known
as internal forcing mechanisms (for example, thermohaline circulation). The short and long term
deviations in the solar intensity also affect the global climate. One of the indicators of climate
change includes glaciers which are retreated with the warming up of temperatures.
Nowadays, the concept of climate change is considered to be one of biggest challenges which
add substantial stress to the environment and the societies. Climate changes impacts the entire
globe from shifting patterns of weather due to which food production is threatened to the
increased sea levels that subsequently result in the increased risk of catastrophic flooding. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided scientific information regarding
climate change by releasing its Fifth Assessment Report. The report held human activities as the
main cause of climate change. The report provided the exhaustive assessment of the increased
sea levels along with its causes over the past decade (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Climate Change- A Global Issue 3
Change, 2015). The cumulative CO2 emissions were also estimated by the report and provided a
CO2 budget for future emissions for the purpose of limiting the warming to less than 2 °C.
According to the report, the increase in the average global temperature amounted to 0.85 °C from
the year 1880 to 2012. Moreover, the amounts of ice and snow have started to diminish along
with the warming of the oceans and rising of the sea levels (Gosling & Arnell, 2016). From the
year 1901 to 2010, there is an estimated increase of 19 cm in global average sea level due to the
expansion of oceans as a result of warming and ice melting. Furthermore, on the basis of existing
concentrations and ongoing emissions of greenhouse gases it is predicted that there will be
approximately 1–2° C increase in the temperature by the end of this century. Ice melting and
warming of the oceans across the world will continue. It is also predicted that the average sea
level will rise by 24- 30 cm by the year 2065 and 40- 63 cm by the year 2100 in relation to the
time period of 1986- 2005. The factors of climate change are expected to persist for many
centuries even when steps are taken for the purpose of controlling the emissions (United Nations,
2018).
Relationship between Climate Change and Sustainable Development
Sustainable development can be defined as the development that is sufficient enough to meet the
requirements of present generation without negotiating with the capability of future generations
to fulfil their own requirements (Sachs, 2015). There is a strong relationship between sustainable
development and change in climate. Change in climate is considered as the restriction to
development and sustainable development is considered as the key to adaptation and mitigation
(Field & Barros, 2014). The strategies followed for the objective of dealing with the climate
change and sustainable development has various elements in common which have the capability
of creating synergies in case they are applied together. Dealing with the climate change has to be
factored into the development agenda as it could be very expensive (Elasha, 2018). Developing
countries are most adversely affected as a result of climate change due to inability to cope with
the anticipated shocks to their natural, social and economic systems. In the year 1992, the Rio
Earth Summit marked the beginning of international political response towards climate change
with the adoption of UN Framework in Climate Change (UNFCCC). The framework for action
was set in this convention which targeted on the stabilization of concentrations of greenhouse
gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. This is for the purpose of avoiding hazardous anthropogenic