World economic activity is a cause of climate change and climate change has an impact on economic activity. Adaptation to climate change can occur locally, but action to reduce the extent of climate change requires global cooperation or at least coordination. Covering all aspects of the problem, this collection contains both classic and recent key published articles on this burning issue. The first section explores global trends in emissions and their drivers as well as the most important forecasts of global greenhouse gas emissions. The second section covers mitigation policy at the international level reviewing costs, benefits, and analysis of policy instruments. The final section focuses on adaptation and the roles of risk and uncertainty in responses to climate change. The extensive, authoritative introduction provided by the editors puts these contributions into context. This volume will be of interest and value to researchers and policy professionals in the areas of climate policy and environmental economics. 40 articles, dating from 1956 to 2012 Contributors include: N.P. Gleditsch, R. Mendelsohn, N. Nakicenovic, W. Nordhaus, G.Peters, B. Smit, S. Smith, N. Stern, R. Tol , M. Weitzman.