Abstract
Although there is general scientific consensus that measures are needed to avert global warming and possible consequent ecological disaster, forming and implementing policies for global warming is likely to be more difficult than has been supposed. The reasons lie in the nature of the threat and the radical mismatch between it and the types of problem normally faced by democratic governments. In particular, the greenhouse effect poses major challenges to processes for consensus building and to the readiness for sacrifice in advanced industrial societies. This essay considers aspects of the international politics of global warming, and examines some of the key economic, political and social dimensions of the response of the industrial democracies so far to the threat of global warming.