What is being done?

Governments at all levels are working to better understand climate change and its social, economic and environmental impacts.

Globally, a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change regularly assesses the consequences of climate change for ecological systems, socio-economic sectors and human health.

Federally, Health Canada is investigating the health impacts of climate change. Natural Resources Canada's Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program also studies the health, environmental and socio-economic issues of climate change. The program's latest report ? From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate 2007? is now available.

Provincial governments (in particular British Columbia and Ontario) are also studying the links between GHG emissions, air quality and health.

At the local level, a group of Canadian municipalities and regional governments are working together to reduce GHG emissions produced in their communities, to mitigate the potential adverse impacts of climate change. The Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program is a partnership between the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) – Local Governments for Sustainability. ICLEI is the Canadian component of an international network that comprises more than 800 communities world-wide making the same effort.