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The complexity of climate change mechanisms Greenhouse gas emissions are of major importance today and the climate issue is expected to remain a question of utmost significance during coming decades and centuries. Climate models indicate how emissions interfere with climate processes and which temperature rise different emission scenarios may lead to. Through a literature survey, it has been our inten-tion to single out some of the findings on climate change mechanisms, such as the interac-tion between emissions of greenhouse gases and global radiative forcing, on how the carbon and nitrogen cycles interfere with concentrations in the atmosphere and in what ways cost-effective abatement measures of greenhouse gases could be made. The focus in this respect has been on non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases. The present basis for action is comprehensive and robust to its order of magnitude, even if there are large uncertainties involved in the overall understanding of the processes. In the strategies elaborated by different actors these large uncertainties in sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, the interconnections with the climate and available climate models, have to be considered in research projects and future action plans. The complexity of climate change mechanisms- aspects to be considered in abatement strategy planning This literature review is produced as a joint activity within two comprehensive en-ergy research projects: ”Nordic Energy Perspectives ” (NEP) and ”Pathways to Sus-tainable European Energy Systems ” (a five year project within The AGS Energy Path