Updated on 20 July to change the starting time of the opening ceremony from 10.00am CEST to 11.00am CEST.
Updated on 27 July to remove reference to representative of the Swiss government under the Opening Ceremony section.
GENEVA, July 8 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will consider the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) at a session to be held virtually from 26 July to 6 August 2021. Working Group I assesses the physical science basis of climate change.
Formally the meeting in July and August consists of sessions of both the IPCC and of Working Group I.
The 14th Session of Working Group I will consider the Summary for Policymakers of the report for approval in line-by-line scrutiny by government representatives in dialogue with report authors and accept the underlying scientific-technical assessment. Then the 54th Session of the IPCC will accept the work of the Working Group, formally accepting the report.
Press conference
A press
conference to present the Summary for Policymakers of the Working Group I
contribution to the AR6 entitled Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science
Basis,will be held after the 54th IPCC Session, subject to approval of the Summary for
Policymakers.
When: 10:00 a.m. CEST (Geneva) on Monday, 9 August 2021
(04.00 EDT (New York), 08:00 GMT, 09:00 BST (London), 11:00 EAT (Nairobi), 15:00 ICT (Bangkok))
Where: online
IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee and the Co-Chairs of Working Group I of the IPCC will address the press conference. The press conference will be streamed live and details on how to access the live stream will be sent closer to the time. Registered media will also receive details on how to submit questions closer to the time.
The IPCC Chair, Working Group I Co-Chairs and report authors will be available for interviews after the press conference. Details on how media can request interviews will be sent in the coming weeks.
Opening Ceremony
The 54th Session of the IPCC will open at 11:00 a.m. (CEST) on Monday 26 July 2021. The opening ceremony will be streamed live. Since this is a virtual meeting, registration for the opening session is not necessary. Details of how to follow the livestream will be sent nearer the time.
The opening ceremony, running for an hour, will be addressed by the IPCC Chair, by senior officials from the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The opening ceremony is open to media. Otherwise the IPCC meeting is closed to the public and media.
Embargoed materials
The Summary
for Policymakers of the Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis,
the press release and other materials will be made available to registered
media under embargo shortly after approval of the Summary for Policymakers. The
exact time that the embargoed material is made available will depend on the
time the plenary approves the Summary for Policymakers and accepts the
underlying report. Registered media will receive an email alert when the
embargoed materials have been posted.
Please note that registering for the press conference
will not automatically provide you with access to embargoed materials. Media
representatives who want access to the embargoed materials must check the
option for “embargo” on the online form, regardless of
whether they are registering to attend the press conference or not.
The embargo will run until the start of the press conference. Registering for
access will require media representatives to agree to adhere to the terms of
the embargo. Failure to adhere to the conditions, e.g. publishing stories based
on the embargoed materials before the start of the press conference, will
result in that journalist or media outlet being excluded from future embargo
arrangements.
How to register
The IPCC
operates its own registration and accreditation
system. Please check our accreditation and registration FAQs: https://apps.ipcc.ch/eventmanager/press/docs/media_accreditation_FAQs.pdf .
It is not necessary to register simply to follow the live stream of the press conference. Registration is only required to receive details of how to submit questions during the press conference and/or to access embargoed materials.
To register please fill in this form: https://apps.ipcc.ch/eventmanager/press/register.php .
Please ensure that you have scanned copies of your credentials ready when you start filling in the form, as the system will not allow you to proceed without uploading these. You can upload up to two files in JPG, PNG and PDF formats.
The required credentials are:
- A letter of assignment requesting accreditation on official letterhead of a media organization, signed by the publisher, editor-in-chief, or assignment editor. It should include the name and duration of assignment of the journalist; and
- A valid press card; or a valid media accreditation badge for the United Nations in New York, Geneva, Vienna or Nairobi. If you do not have a press card, please submit 3 recent samples (i.e. from the last six months) of your work in a relevant area and a scanned copy of a valid photo ID or passport.
Before filling in the form, please carefully read the guidelines below, which need to be followed by all users, including media representatives who have used the system before.
On the IPCC media portal, follow the following steps:
- Click Register
- Read the information on the pop up window and agree to proceed.
- On the registration form, select the event;
- Select from the following options: press conference; embargo. You can choose one, two or all three options (NB for this virtual meeting it is not necessary to register for the opening session);
- Fill in the rest of the form;
- Upload your credentials;
- Click “Submit”;
- Read information on the pop-up window and click “I agree” to submit the form.
The IPCC media team will review your credentials. Once you are registered to attend the press conference you will receive an email confirming your registration. If you request access to the embargoed materials, the email you receive will have credentials to use to log into the system. To access the system you will need to agree to respect the terms of the embargo.
Please note that due to the high number of requests, approval of registration might take several days.
If you have used the system before, the email that you receive will indicate that you should use “Your global IPCC password”, which refers to your previous password. In case you have lost it, please click “Forgot password” on the IPCC media registration page.
The deadline for registration is Friday 30 July 2021. We encourage you to register as soon as possible and not leave it to the last minute as the IPCC has limited capacity to deal with late or last-minute requests. The IPCC cannot guarantee that it will be able to review requests submitted after the deadline.
Each member of a media team should register separately using a different email address.
Embargoed materials are primarily for the use of media covering the report, but access may be extended to relevant bodies preparing communications activities and materials to coincide with the release of the report. Like media representatives, you will be required when registering and when accessing materials to agree to respect the terms of the embargo. When registering, your credentials will be an ID from your institution confirming your position, and a general ID such as a passport or national identity card.
Other arrangements
The IPCC will
advise nearer the time how to request interviews which will be held remotely
due to restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how to access the
live stream of the press conference. Media representatives who have registered
for the press conference will also receive details on to submit questions
during the press conference. We will also issue a further advisory on
arrangements for broadcasters.
For more information contact:
IPCC Press Office, Email: ipcc-media@wmo.int
Jonathan Lynn, + 41 22 730 8066, Werani Zabula, + 41 22 730 8120, Nina Peeva, + 41 22 730 8142 and Melissa Walsh +41 22 730 8532.
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.
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.