In the history of science there have been only a few issues which have mobilized the attention of scientists and policy-makers alike as the issue of climate change currently does. The release of the 4th Assessment produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the summer of 2007 has put the reality of human-induced global warming beyond any doubt. In addition, the high-level event on Climate Change held at the UN Headquarters, New York (24 September 2007), the thirteenth United Nations Climate Change Conference held on the island of Bali (Indonesia) on 3-14 December 2007 and the various strategies and actions plans which are being prepared and implemented all over the world, indicate that the emphasis to this topic will continue to dominate the scientific agenda for decades to come.
Although the subject matter of climate change is regarded as a critical issue and sound scientific knowledge is needed in order to address the problem in a holistic way, there is a paucity of academic publications specifically focusing on the different aspects of climate change. The book will address this need. It will report, document and disseminate experiences, projects and practical, inter-disciplinary initiatives related to climate change performed by research centres, non-government bodies, international organisations, practitioners and universities both in the industrialised and developing nations. By means of cases studies and project descriptions, it will offer a picture of the state-of-the art in the field across the world and demonstrate how much can be achieved by means of interdisciplinary efforts focusing on matters related to climate change.
It is envisaged that around 30 papers will be documented in the book (about 400 pages). This authoritative publication will offer a one-stop information source on leading, interdisciplinary initiatives on climate change mitigation and remediation, and it is hoped to both support on-going efforts and stimulate new ones. It will also address a long-perceived need for a source of reference for top quality materials dedicated to interdisciplinary efforts to deal with the problems posed by climate change. This book will also be a further contribution to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The book will be organized around four main categories of papers:
Moreover, the book will pay a special emphasis to research linking climate change with one or more of the Millennium Development Goals categories: poverty and hunger; universal primary education; gender equality and women's empowerment; child mortality; maternal health; HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; as well as environmental sustainability.