Glossary

Climate change refers to any change in the climate over time that can be identified by a change in the mean value or in the variation range of its properties (e.g. with the aid of statistical tests) and which continues over an extended period of decades or longer. Climate change can result from natural internal variations, from external forcing, or from ongoing anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. It should be noted that, in Article 1, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climate change as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.” As such, the UNFCCC distinguishes between climate change, which results from changes in the composition of the atmosphere due to human activities on the one hand; and naturally occurring climate variability on the other.