According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.

The definition according to IPCC is different from that of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where climate change refers to a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.