The past two decades have seen a remarkable broadening of interest in global warming from a research concern on the part of a limited number of scientists to a political problem on a worldwide scale. The nature of this transformation would itself be a fruitful study for a mixed team of social scientists and natural scientists. It would be valuable to assess the differing nature of the staging posts along this road: the First World Climate Conference in 1979, which was a meeting of scientists talking to scientists; the Villach Assessment of 1985, which was a meeting of scientists whose report was given attention by the policy advisers of a number of governments; the Second World Climate Conference of 1990, which consisted of a scientific meeting followed by a Ministerial Meeting; and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 signed by 158 countries at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992. The present publication is a welcome contribution of the followup to UNCED. By focusing on a specific problem, it avoids the pitfall of undue generalization and provides the basis for fruitful discussion between natural scientists, social scientists, and policymakers. To choose as the area of concentration a particular scale also helped to produce meaningful discussion likely to lead to action.

I: Executive Summary

I: Executive Summary
II: Summary of Discussion Sessions
II: Summary of Discussion Sessions
III: Discussion Papers
Background on the Climate Change Issue
The regionalization of climate-related environmental problems
The role of regional organizations in addressing climate change and other complex environment and development issues
The climate change issue: Scientific aspects
The climate change issue: Policy aspects
Transnational regional responses to global climate change: Options, obstacles, opportunities
An environmental security dimension of global climate change
Water Resources
Climate change and water resources
Regional organizations and climate-related changes in the water regime
Climate change and international water problems: Issues related to the formation and transformation of regional organizations
Regional organization for water utilization in the Middle East
Transboundary water resources on the Iberian Peninsula
Marine Resources
Some aspects of regional cooperation in the marine sciences
The potential role of regional organizations related to the marine environment in the context of global climate change
Scarcity, property allocation, and climate change
Regional Organizations
The Organization of American States (OAS) and issues of environment and development
Regional organizations and environmental change: An East African example
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and climate change
The roles of IGOs in international environmental management: Arena or actor
Role of regional organizations in the context of climate change
IV: Appendix
Biographical Statements of Participants
Item 4, Provisional Agenda, Working Group III
List of Participants
Suggested Bibliography
Glossary of Acronyms.