The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has agreed the outline of its next comprehensive scientific assessment of climate change, the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).
At a Session of the Panel in Montreal, Canada, the IPCC agreed the outlines of the three working group contributions to AR6, which will all be delivered in 2021. The next step for the IPCC is to invite nominations through Governments and observers organisations for authors from among the international research community, who will prepare the report.
“The agreed outline combines scientific expertise across a range of disciplines with policymakers’ priorities. It will allow IPCC authors to prepare a comprehensive, balanced and objective assessment of our knowledge of climate change that is relevant to policymakers at all levels and in all regions,” said IPCC Chair, Hoesung Lee.
The draft outlines had been prepared following a scientific scoping meeting in May held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. At the meeting in Montreal, representatives of the IPCC’s 195 member governments discussed the draft and agreed on a final outline. Here is one example – of Working Group 2:
The IPCC includes three working groups: Working Group I assesses the physical science basis of climate change; Working Group II is responsible for impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and Working Group III assesses the mitigation of climate change. It also includes a Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories that focuses on developing internationally agreed methodologies for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions.
The final outlines for all 3 working groups are available on IPCC homepage under AR6 tab: http://ipcc.ch/index.htm(Click on AR6)
Working Group I – The Physical Science Basis
Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability
Working Group III – Mitigation of Climate Change
The outline of the Synthesis Report, the final instalment of AR6, will be agreed in 2019. The Synthesis Report will integrate the three working group contributions and the Special Reports produced during the AR6 cycle. It will be finalised in April 2022.
The agreed outlines, subject to final copy edits, are available now on the IPCC website. The decisions on the outline were taken at the 46th Session of the IPCC, held in Montreal, on September 6 to 10, 2017, and hosted by the Government of Canada.
Among other business in Montreal the IPCC also considered options for strengthening the financial stability of the IPCC and for aligning its work with the global stocktake cycles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
