By awarding its annual Peace Prize to Al Gore and the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Nobel committee has wisely recognised that global warming is more than a threat to the global environment: it is a threat to international security. We are already seeing conflicts exacerbated by factors such as drought. In a significantly warmer world climate change could become a main driver of war.

Congratulations are due to Mr Gore and the scientists of the IPCC. But the celebrations should not be too loud. This is not an award for a peace achieved, but the recognition of a threat to peace. The hard work is very much still to come. Thanks to the efforts of individuals such as Mr Gore, the issue of climate change has a higher profile than ever before. But the actions of our political leaders to mitigate the effects of global warming have been scandalously short of what is necessary. An inconvenient truth, indeed.