The Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its authoritative and comprehensive Fourth Assessment Report in 2007, concluding that warming in the world's climate system is a fact and that the role of humans in contributing to this change is clearer and more significant than the role of any other natural factors.

Climate change will increasingly threaten the way we live, our collective security and our ecosystems. Climate change may ultimately trigger catastrophic changes in economic and social systems worldwide.

While many people around the world are aware of the threat from climate change, relatively few understand the solutions available to tackle it or their role as part of the answer. Increasing understanding and encouraging people to engage with local answers is a big step towards achieving global consensus and finding workable international solutions.

In March 2007, the British Council China (operating as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy in Beijing, the Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulates-General in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and British Council Hong Kong) launched a two-year regional initiative called Climate Cool. Climate Cool has been developed in co-operation with the Ministry of Science & Technology.

Climate Cool offers an innovative and creative approach to raising awareness of climate change and encouraging action to tackle it.

Climate Cool has three interlinking strands:
Climate Cool - Media
Climate Cool - Education
Climate Cool - Society