United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC)
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) has been established in 1992 as the international framework to agree strategies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in relation to their impact on global climate. The key agreement of the Convention is the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (a summary and the full text is available here), signed in 1997. The Kyoto Protocol has established a timetable for reductions in the emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, CFCs and other radiatively active gases, as well as a framework for increasing the sequestration of carbon by vegetation including forests and agricultural land. See also: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The expected effects of climate have been modeled in the MONARCH Project, commissioned by the conservation agencies in the UK and Ireland - Climate Change and Nature Conservation in Britain and Ireland: Modelling natural resource responses to climate change.
References:
Cannell M.G.R., Palutikof J.P. and Sparks T.H. (1999): Indicators of climate change in the UK. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Grubb M., Vrolijk C. and Brack D. (1999): The Kyoto Protocol: A guide and assessment. London, Royal Institute of International Affairs.
Hill M.O., Downing T.E., Berry P.M., Coppins B.J., Hammond P.S., Marquiss M., Roy D.B., Telfer M.G. and Welch D. (1998a): Climate change and Scotland's Natural Heritage - An environmental audit. (SNH Research, Survey & Monitoring Report 132). Battleby, Scottish Natural Heritage.
Hill M.O., Ashenden T.W., Buse A., Elmes G.W., Goss-Custard J.D. and Thomas J.A. (1998b): Impacts of global change on UK species and communities. Scientific Report of the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology 1997-1998, 98-103.
For more information on the main sources of greenhouse gases and impacts of climate change see: Overview on Climate change and also see the Official UN FCCC web site at http://www.unfccc.de/
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