Press Conference for the Working Group I contribution to Sixth Assessment Report

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https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/05/press-conference-details-wgi-ar6/

GENEVA, Aug 5 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will hold a press conference to present the Summary for Policymakers of the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, subject to approval by the Panel. The press conference is scheduled at 10.00 CEST on 9 August 2021.

The press conference follows the 54^th Session of the IPCC and 14^th Session of Working Group I that are currently considering the report. The meetings started on 26 July and are scheduled to end on 6 August.

The press conference will be streamed live on the IPCC YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/IPCCLIVE and on the IPCC Facebook page.

Journalists who registered to take part in the press conference will receive details on how they can submit questions during the live stream.

After the press conference, Working Group I authors and Bureau Members will be available for interviews. Requests for interviews should be made using this form. Click on “List of Authors” on the top left of the form to see the list of experts available for interview.

Please note that only interviews arranged via this process will be considered as confirmed for 9 August. Any arrangements made directly with IPCC experts may be subject to cancellation. All interview requests should be submitted by 18.00 CEST on 6 August 2021.

For more information contact:
Email: ipcc-media@wmo.int
Jonathan Lynn, + 41 22 730 8066, Werani Zabula, + 41 22 730 8120 and Nina Peeva, + 41 22 730 8142.

Notes for Editors

About the IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide political leaders with periodic scientific assessments concerning climate change, its implications and risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation strategies. In the same year the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by the WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC. It has 195 member states.

Thousands of people from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC. For the assessment reports, IPCC scientists volunteer their time to assess the thousands of scientific papers published each year to provide a comprehensive summary of what is known about the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.

The IPCC has three working groups: Working Group I, dealing with the physical science basis of climate change; Working Group II, dealing with impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and Working Group III, dealing with the mitigation of climate change. It also has a Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories that develops methodologies for measuring emissions and removals.

IPCC assessments provide governments, at all levels, with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies. IPCC assessments are a key input into the international negotiations to tackle climate change. IPCC reports are drafted and reviewed in several stages, thus guaranteeing objectivity and transparency.

About the Sixth Assessment Cycle

Comprehensive scientific assessment reports are published every 6 to 7 years; the latest, the Fifth Assessment Report, was completed in 2014 and provided the main scientific input to the Paris Agreement.

At its 41st Session in February 2015, the IPCC decided to produce a Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). At its 42nd Session in October 2015 it elected a new Bureau that would oversee the work on this report and Special Reports to be produced in the assessment cycle. At its 43rd Session in April 2016, it decided to produce three Special Reports, a Methodology Report and AR6.

The IPCC also publishes special reports on more specific issues between assessment reports.

Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty was launched in October 2018.

Climate Change and Land, an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems was launched in August 2019, and the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate was released in September 2019.

In May 2019 the IPCC released the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, an update to the methodology used by governments to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and removals.

Following the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report currently under consideration, the Working Group II and III reports will be finalized in February and March 2022 respectively. The concluding Synthesis Report is due in 2022.

For more information visit www.ipcc.ch.

The website includes outreach materials including videos about the IPCC and video recordings from outreach events conducted as webinars or live-streamed events.

Most videos published by the IPCC can be found on our YouTube and Vimeo channels.

Report

The IPCC is currently preparing its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). During this cycle, the Panel has produced three Special Reports, a Methodology Report on national greenhouse gas inventories and is now working on the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). More information on the sixth assessment cycle is available here.

The Sixth Assessment Report consists of contributions from each of the three IPCC Working Groups and a Synthesis Report (SYR), which integrates the Working Group contributions and the Special Reports produced in the cycle.

The Working Group I contribution will be considered during the 14th Session of Working Group I and 54th Session of the IPCC scheduled for 26 July to 6 August 2021. The report will be released, subject to approval and acceptance by the Panel, on 9 August. Essential information for media is available here

The meeting to draft the outline of the Sixth Assessment Report took place in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in May 2017. The draft outlines were approved by the 46th Session of the Panel in September 2017.

The First Order Draft of the Working Group I contribution to AR6 underwent an expert review (29 April – 23 June 2019).

The Second Order Draft was reviewed by governments and experts from 2 March 2020. It was initially scheduled to end on 26 April, but closed on 5 June. Read more.

Authors and Review Editors

On 15 September 2017, a call for nomination of authors was sent to governments, observer organizations and IPCC Bureau Members. They were asked to submit their nominations via their focal point before Friday 27 October 2017 (midnight GMT +1).

The Working Group I Bureau met on 29 January to select the author teams. The IPCC Bureau met on 30 January 2018 to agree on the selected list of authors.

The full list of Authors and Review Editors for the Working Group I contribution by chapter is available here

Press Release: Selection of Authors for IPCC Sixth Assessment Report
Press Release: Call for nomination of authors
Leaflet: Nomination of authors for AR6

Lead Author Meetings

First Lead Author Meeting: Guangzhou, China, 25 – 29 June 2018
Second Lead Author Meeting: Vancouver, Canada, 7 – 12 January 2019
Third Lead Author Meeting: Toulouse, France, 26 – 31 August 2019
Fourth Lead Author Meeting: Virtual, 15 – 19 February 2021

Reviews

All IPCC reports undergo two stages of review. A First-Order Draft is reviewed by experts. Following the expert review, authors develop a Second-Order Draft based on the comments received. This draft then undergoes a second review by both governments and experts. Authors will prepare a Final Draft based on the comments received during the second review. The Final Draft is distributed to governments at the time of the final government review of the Summary for Policymakers.

The First-Order Draft of the Working Group I contribution to AR6 has undergone an expert review ( 29 April – 23 June 2019). The Second-Order Draft was reviewed by governments and experts from 2 March 2020. It was initially scheduled to end on 26 April, but closed on 5 June 2020 due to changes to the schedule resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guidance Note for the Expert Review of the IPCC AR6 Working Group I Report (29 April 2019)
Factsheet: What is an Expert Reviewer of IPCC Reports?

Scoping

The scoping meeting for the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) took place in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) from 1 to 5 May 2017. The draft outlines were approved by the Panel when it met in September 2017

The approved outline of the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report is available here

A call for nomination of experts to attend the scoping meeting was issued to governments, observer organizations and IPCC bureau members. They were requested to submit their nominations via their focal points before midnight (CET) on 31 October 2016. The deadline was later extended to Monday 14 November 2016

In order to determine robust areas of consideration, participants in the Scoping Meeting had a broad understanding of climate change and related issues, and collectively had expertise in the following areas:

Working Group I

Climate system (atmosphere, ocean, land surface, cryosphere): observations (past and present), processes, and interactions.
Natural and anthropogenic drivers of climate change (land use, well-mixed greenhouse gases, short-lived forcers including aerosols), carbon and other biogeochemical cycles.
Climate modelling, model evaluation, predictions, scenarios and projections, detection and attribution, on global and regional scales.
Earth system feedbacks and dynamical responses, including abrupt change.
Climate variability, climate phenomena and teleconnections, extremes and implications for regional climate.

Cross-cutting areas of expertise

Co-benefits, risks and co-costs of mitigation and adaptation, including interactions and trade-offs, technological and financial challenges and options.
Ethics and equity: climate change, sustainable development, gender, poverty eradication, livelihoods, and food security.
Perception of risks and benefits of climate change, adaptation and mitigation options, and societal responses, including psychological and sociological aspects.
Climate engineering, greenhouse gas removal, and associated feedbacks and impacts.
Regional and sectorial climate information.
Epistemology and different forms of climate related knowledge and data, including indigenous and practice-based knowledge.

Regional expertise

Africa
Europe
Asia
Australasia
North America
Central and South America
Polar regions
Small islands
Ocean

Nominations page

Pre-Scoping

On 21 September 2016, the IPCC Secretariat sent out a pre-scoping questionnaire to governments and observer organizations to identify policy relevant questions and scientific and technical topics to be addressed in the Sixth Assessment Report (deadline: 30 November 2016, extended to 12 December 2016). The responses received were synthesized and made available to the participants of the AR6 Scoping Meeting and the Panel.