ABSTRACT
Every day media reports tell us that global climate change is becoming an increasing threat to our and the planet’s well-being. As we listen to the likes of former US Vice President Al Gore, we are made to feel that the human race is responsible for global climate change. As Beck points out in his 1998 paper, we substitute our anxieties from what nature can do to us, to what we have done to nature. Thus, we appear to be the villains in the global climate change debate. Yet even some of the scientists who have advocated that the climate is changing are questioning their positions. Professor Phil Jones is one who has withdrawn his advocacy for global climate change citing poor personal organizational skills (Petre 2010). So, is climate change occurring? Is it occurring on a global scale? Are the effects being observed in some areas of the world linked to a global climate shift due to anthropogenic activity, or due to natural rhythms in global climates? What are the risks of acting or not acting? And what are appropriate risk management actions? What opportunities are created by climate change risks? Can businesses, governments and individuals capitalize on the opportunities to forge a more sustainable planet regardless of the change in climate or its root causes?
