NADI, Fiji, Sept 28 – From 2 to 6 October 2017 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will bring together around 100 experts from over 30 countries in Nadi, Fiji to begin drafting the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.
Following approval of the outline of the report in March 2017, and the subsequent selection of authors, this is the first opportunity for authors to get together and start developing the storyline of the report. They will discuss the research to be assessed in the chapters, and how the different chapters complement each other.
“This is the first time the IPCC has undertaken a focused report on the processes that drive change and the resulting impacts to oceans and the frozen parts of our planet,” said IPCC Vice-Chair Ko Barrett. “There is a huge volume of scientific information for us to assess, which can help policy makers to better understand the changes we are seeing and the risks to lives and livelihoods that may occur with future change.”
Experts at the meeting will be from the IPCC Working Group I (the physical science basis) and II (impacts, adaptation and vulnerability) communities, including scientists from the ocean and cryosphere communities. It is hosted by the Government of Fiji and The University of the South Pacific.
IPCC reports are produced in a process of repeated drafting and review. Following the meeting in Nadi, the authors will start to draft the six chapters of the report. The draft will be refined following a second meeting in February 2018, and then circulated for expert review in May 2018. The report will be finalized in September 2019.
There will be a Media Briefing from 08:00 to 08:30 on Monday 2 October at the Tanoa International Hotel and Convention Centre just before the Opening Ceremony, which is open to the media and observers from 09:00 to 10:00.
Two outreach events presenting the work of the IPCC and its findings will take place in Lautoka and Suva on 6 and 7 October hosted by the University of Fiji and The University of the South Pacific respectively.
“These events will help policymakers from the region and other stakeholders gain an understanding of climate change and how to respond to it,” said Hans-Otto Pörtner, Co-Chair of Working Group II of the IPCC. “Besides presenting our findings, I hope that these events will contribute to enhancing the involvement of developing countries in our work,” he added.
Details of the outreach events are available here:
6 October: http://ipcc.ch/apps/outreach/eventinfo.php?q=391
7 October: http://ipcc.ch/apps/outreach/eventinfo.php?q=390
For more information,and interview requests, contact:
IPCC: Jonathan Lynn, ipcc-media@wmo.int, +41 79 666 7134
Follow IPCC on Facebook, Twitter @ipcc_ch, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Notes for editors
What is 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. It has 195 member states.
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.
Comprehensive scientific assessment reports are published every 6 to 7 years; the latest, the Fifth Assessment Report, was completed in 2014. The next comprehensive assessment is scheduled to be completed in 2022. The IPCC also publishes special reports on more specific issues between assessment reports.
In addition to the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, the IPCC has agreed to prepare two other special reports during this assessment cycle:
- Global Warming of 1.5 ºC, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 ºC 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, to be finalized in October 2018; and
- 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, to be completed in September 2019.
The IPCC also prepares methodologies to enable countries to report their emissions and removals of greenhouse gases. It is currently updating the 2006 IPCC Guidelines on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, for completion in May 2019.
The IPCC is currently seeking nominations for authors for the three Working Group contributions to its Sixth Assessment Report, scheduled for completion in 2021. The Panel approved the outlines of the Woking Group contributions in early September at its last Session. The Sixth Assessment Report will be completed by a Synthesis Report in 2022, integrating the three Working Group contributions and three Special Reports.
For more information visit: www.ipcc.ch
