GENEVA, April 12 – Experts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will meet virtually from 19 to 23 April 2021 to continue their work on the Working Group III contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, which assesses the mitigation of climate change.
The meeting, hosted by the Government of Italy, will draw together 280 experts from around 70 countries as they start to prepare the final draft of the report and second draft of the Summary for Policymakers.
“Despite the ongoing pandemic, we have made a lot of progress since our third Lead Author Meeting, the IPCC’s first virtual Lead Author Meeting, in 2020,” said Working Group III Co-Chair Jim Skea.
“Our authors went the extra mile to deliver the Second-Order Draft, which received over 30,000 comments from more than 850 government and expert reviewers. This upcoming meeting will give them the opportunity to take stock of this vital feedback and persist in their preparation of a relevant and thorough final draft,” he said.
IPCC Working Group III is responsible for assessing the mitigation of climate change – responses and solutions to the threat of dangerous climate change by reducing emissions and enhancing sinks of the greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming.
“We would like to thank the many reviewers of the Second-Order Draft, who reflect both the significance of this report and the interest in it from many sectors and aspects of society,” said Working Group III Co-Chair Priyadarshi Shukla.
“We would also like to thank the Government of Italy for its support during this virtual meeting and engagement with the associated outreach activities, which hold importance not only for Working Group III, but also a broader global audience,” he said.
The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) will assess mitigation options in sectors such as energy, agriculture, forestry and land use, buildings, transport and industry, and consider these in the context of sustainable development. For the first time, it will examine the link between greenhouse gas emissions and themes such as consumption and behaviour, and the role of innovation and technology.
The report will also assess the connection between short to medium-term actions and long-term emission pathways that will limit global warming.
The final draft of the report will be circulated to governments later in 2021 for their comments on the Summary for Policymakers. The IPCC Panel is currently due to consider the Working Group III contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report at a plenary session in early 2022, although dates remain subject to revision because of the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agreed outline of the report can be found here. The list of authors of the report can be found here.
Virtual outreach event (open to the public)
A virtual outreach event will be held by the RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment (EIEE) in partnership with IPCC Working Group III, and with the support of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Government of Italy.
‘Climate change and our future – driving the transition’
14:00-16:00 BST/15:00-17:00 CEST on Wednesday 28 April.
This interactive online event will provide members of the public with the opportunity to engage with scientific experts, young leaders and artists, and government representatives in the midst of an official IPCC meeting on the topic of climate change.
The event will include two parts:
- Science and Policy: strategies, solutions, opportunities
- Ambition: the climate, the future, and the young generations
A Q&A will allow guests to submit their own questions to the panel/speakers, and we are pleased to announce the following guests and speakers:
- Kim Stanley Robinson, Science Fiction writer, Author of Ministry for the Future (2020)
- Antonio Navarra, Focal Point to the IPCC for Italy and President of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change
- Richard Newell, President and CEO of Resources for the Future
- Lead Authors of IPCC WG III
The full programme and list of speakers/guests will be announced shortly.
This event will be held in English with real-time Italian interpretation.
Event details and registration: https://ipcc-ch.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NCvjf8tMTn2MH-jJETpDgA
For more information contact:
IPCC Working Group III Technical Support Unit
Sigourney Luz (Communications Manager), e-mail: s.luz@ipcc-wg3.ac.uk
IPCC Press Office
Jonathan Lynn, +41 22 730 8066, e-mail: ipcc-media@wmo.int
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 on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, an update to the methodology used by governments to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and removals.
The contributions of the three IPCC Working Groups to the Sixth Assessment Report are currently under preparation. 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.