A large-scale, international and interdisciplinary study suggests that there are three distinct phases in the development of these issues: a long phase of scientific capacity building in which there are few links between the science and policy realms, a phase in which attention to the issue increases rapidly in the media, scientific circles, industry, environmental NGOs and governments, and a phase where the linkages between knowledge and action are "two-way" -- the scientific agenda influences the political agenda and vice versa.

About Jill Jäger
Jill Jäger is Executive Director of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change.

She was awarded her Ph.D. in geography (climatology) by the University of Colorado, USA in 1974. Dr. Jäger has worked as a consultant on energy, environment, and climate for numerous national and international organizations, including: the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria; the International Meteorological Institute, University of Stockholm; the Beijer Institute and Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm.

From 1996 till 1998 she was Deputy Director of IIASA. Dr. Jäger's main fields of interest are the development of policies in response to climate change and the linkages between science and policy in the development of responses to global environmental issues.

Since 1996 she has been a member of the core faculty of the Global Environmental Assessment (GEA) project centered at Harvard University, taking an active role in the development of the research and training modes of the project, supervising fellows' research and contributing to Summer Workshops.