The effects of climate change are already starting to be felt: sea-levels are rising, average temperatures are increasing and precipitation patterns are changing. Societies and ecosystems have always adapted to changes in their climate, but projected changes over the course of this century would lie outside of the bounds of historical experience. At the same time, the pace of the projected change is faster than any climate shift in the past millions of years. The consequences of this change will include shifts in agricultural production, changes in morbidity and losses of valuable ecosystems. Recent OECD modelling found that climate change impacts could reduce global GDP by between 1% and 3.2% per year by 2060. These are the known consequences. However, as the world moves further outside of its usual operating parameters, there is an increasing risk of encountering “severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts” according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).