In the past decade climate change has become one of the world’s biggest public policy issues. Ten years ago no one would have predicted that the Nobel Peace prize would be awarded to 10,000 or so climate scientists (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and a populariser, Al Gore, of its possible impacts. In this Policy Brief three contributors examine the policy issues of climate change from a global (Will Steffen), regional (Luca Tacconi) and a national perspective (Frank Jotzo). Collectively, they offer a range of insights that will be of use to policymakers and all those interested in the climate-public policy dimension.