However, there is a big difference between the unanimous agreement of this assessment by all governments and any agreement by governments on how to address this problem. As noted by Hugh Morgan, Australia has other very real environmental problems. But it is not clear that any of these other problems has the same growing, long-term and globally pervasive consequences as greenhouse climate change. One of the difficulties for reaching any international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions is that there are winners and losers from global warming. Many countries at high latitudes in the northern hemisphere may benefit from a warmer winter climate.
Many plants grow faster in an atmosphere with higher carbon dioxide.
These benefits must be weighed against the adverse effects of climate change, such as more extreme high temperatures, rising sea level, increases in severe storms and changes in agricultural zones. There are also major differences between developed and developing countries, and issues of equity in addressing global warming. Developed countries have the infrastructure and capital to be better able to adapt to global warming, while developing countries are unlikely to be able to afford the costs of climate change. Per capita emissions of greenhouse gases are much higher in developed countries because the energy use per person is much greater. Targets for fractional reductions of greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries were agreed in Kyoto in 1997.