Introduction Most people accept that the climate change problem is real and a matter of concern,2 even though it resides largely outside their everyday experiences. Yet public debate on climate change, the impacts of global warming, what may or may not happen, and who is or is not to blame, remains more of a cacophony than a symphony. Vested interests compete with public good advocates for popular support and the political will needed to either prevent or bring about the required rapid and substantive changes in policy. The scientific consensus, which is evidence based and not to be mistaken for the bargaining and trade-offs associated with normal social consensus, is that warming of the climate system is unequivocal and it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-twentieth century.3 Climate change is now primarily the consequence of humans burning fossil fuel, in particular coal, oil and natural gas, for energy, thereby releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere more rapidly than natural processes can remove it. Emissions from deforestation and degradation are also significant. The result is an increase in the quantity or stock of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which in turn leads to global warming and climatic disruption. The solution is to decrease fossil emissions in order to stabilize the atmospheric stock of carbon dioxide and thus avoid an unacceptable degree of climate change. If we wish to avoid the catastrophic consequences of runaway climate change for future generations of people and other species, this current generation must collectively take urgent action to achieve the requisite deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from all sources. A developing discourse on the nature and requirements of climate justice is increasingly playing a role in shaping international negotiations and public policy. In the context of climate change adaptation, a prominent climate justice issue concerns the fate of people whose homes on small islands or otherwise low-lying coastal areas are becoming uninhabitable due to sea level rise. We are witnessing the first attempts at litigation instigated by such communities and individuals displaced by climate change.