• Scientific studies show that human health, ecological systems and socioeconomic sectors (e.g., hydrology and water resources, food and fiber production, coastal systems and human settlements), all of which are vital to sustainable development, are sensitive to changes in climate - including both the magnitude and rate of climate change - as well as to changes in climate variability.

• The most vulnerable ecosystems to global warming include forests, deserts and semi-deserts, low-lying islands, polar regions, mountain systems, wetlands, peatbogs, coastal marshes and coral reefs.

• In both countries, the indigenous peoples (i.e., Aborigines and Torres Straits Islanders of Australia, and the Maori of New Zealand) depend on many terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems both for use as traditional sources of food and materials and for their cultural and spiritual significance-hence likely to be adversely affected by climate change.