For predictions of sea level change, there are two stages to the modelling of glacier response to climate change. Firstly, to calculate the change in mass balance over the glacier areas (static response) and secondly to calculate the change in glacier area and volume (dynamic response) that results from the mass balance change. The static response is primarily controlled by climate while the dynamic response depends on glacier geometry as well as the static response. The change in glacier volume can be characterised by a parameter from each of the two calculation stages. For the mass balance, the static sensitivity is the change in mass balance from the initial profile due to a 1 K temperature increase at the mean glacier altitude for a particular region. For changes in glacier geometry (in particular the area/altitude distribution) the relevant parameter is the glacier response time. We present estimates of these two parameters for different glacier regions, reflecting different climatic regimes and topography. We discuss the implications for the contribution to sea level change from the different regions.