The main activity of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is to publish regular reports on the state of knowledge about climate change.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, "determined to protect the climate system for present and future generations," acknowledged that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by greenhouse gases and human activity. Climate Change Research Links highlights resources about effects of climate change on international issues, and includes news, databases, statistics, conventions, and treaties.

Michael Levi and Jason Bordoff commend President Obama's new plan to mitigate climate change, but they warn that Congressional inaction poses a threat to future progress.

President Obama spoke at Georgetown University, before the release of his Climate Change Plan, on June 25, 2013. The plan focuses on cutting carbon pollution, preparing for the impact of climate change, and leading international ifforts to address global climate change.

Determining the "most urgent" global environmental issue is somewhat subjective; many would argue that carbon emissions and climate change is the most pressing issue. Others are just as passionate about deforestation, water scarcity, groundwater contamination, loss of biodiversity, landfills, ocean acidification, air quality… the list goes on.

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) released this report on June 10, 2013. It explains current and future energy and climate policies and the importance of the energy sector's help to meet international targets on greenhouse gas limits.

Peter Orszag writes that making cities more resilient to the challenges of stormwater runoff is a wise investment to minimize climate change-related damage.

In this response to Charles C. Mann's Atlantic Monthly cover story on abundant fossil fuels, Michael Levi looks at a current resource, coal, and what it means for dangerous climate change.

Many observers have noted that the loss of Arctic ice is already leading to stepped-up human activity in the high north, particularly in the form of increasing commercial traffic and development. This trend has brought forth a range of issues on the geopolitical front, from environmental protection to search-and-rescue capabilities to the delineation of national boundaries—which will determine access to natural resources. These concerns are being addressed cooperatively in both bilateral and multilateral fashion, especially under the aegis of the Arctic Council and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

According to Michael Levi in this serial of The Power Surge, decreasing demand "is the only real path to confronting the climate consequences of abundant oil."

The global economic crisis and the subsequent attention to economic and budgetary issues have monopolized the political debate. With the aftermath of the crisis still being felt, there is not much political will for policies that may create short-term economic pain for long-term benefits. These include policies to combat or adapt to climate change.

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The Arctic region is undergoing unprecedented and disruptive change. Its climate is changing more rapidly than anywhere else on earth. Rising temperatures are causing a retreat of sea ice and changes to seasonal length, weather patterns and ecosystems. These changes have prompted a reassessment of economic and development potential in the Arctic and are giving rise to a set of far-reaching political developments.

Climate change has both direct and indirect health consequences. Direct consequences include those resulting from high temperatures and severe weather events; while indirect ones arise from changing air and water quality and ecological shifts that favor tropical diseases and parasites.

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Since 1988, Brazilians have cleared more than 153,000 square miles of Amazonian rain forest, devastating the environment and driving global climate change forward ever faster. Recently, however, Brazil has changed its course, reducing the rate of deforestation by 83 percent since 2004. At the same time, it has become a test case for a controversial international climate-change prevention strategy that places a monetary value on the carbon stored in forests.

Michael A. Levi, CFR's David M. Rubenstein senior fellow for energy and the environment, and director of the program on energy security and climate change, leads a conversation on President Obama's climate change policies.

In this paper in Climatic Change, Michael A. Levi constructs and models climate stabilization scenarios that feature natural gas as a bridge fuel.

While California may not be getting much attention at this year's UN climate talks in Doha, "California's new cap-and-trade system is perhaps the biggest good news climate story this year, and delegates in Doha should be celebrating it," says Michael A. Levi.

The UN climate meeting could show progress on outstanding issues from previous rounds, but negotiators are focused on modest steps forward rather than major breakthroughs, says CFR's Michael Levi.

With the UN climate meeting in Doha under way, five experts discuss what needs to happen to advance a comprehensive global climate policy.

Michael A. Levi examines methane leakage rates during oil and gas production, providing new estimates in response to a study published previously in the Journal of Geophysical Research—Atmospheres.