Despite international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol, most societies have made little progress on reducing their emissions of greenhouse gasses. Global concentrations have continued to climb. The future of the world environment's hospitality for human and other life may be at stake. The international research project on Comparing Climate Change Policy Networks (Compon) investigates factors that affect national responses to the problem. The project includes over 17 national teams plus the level of international negotiations. Each team collects equivalent data on the major debates and political coalitions and how they affect national greenhouse gas emissions. Data consist of analysis of news and legislative media, interviews, and a survey of networks among 50–100 engaged domestic and 50 international organizations. A common thread concerns the comparative reception and framing of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Starting with an overview of the whole project, the panel presents results from the United States, China, India, Japan, and South Korea. The relative effect of persuasion and learning via stakeholder forums versus political contention and regulatory imposition in different countries provides a broad comparison. Detailed hypotheses include the legitimacy of national climate change scientists, dependence of major interest groups upon fossil fuels, cultural attitudes toward scientific research, and disaster vulnerability.