GENEVA, Feb 25 – Authors from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II, which assesses climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, will meet virtually over the next two weeks to prepare the final draft of their contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).
More than 260 experts from over 60 countries will participate in the virtual Working Group II meeting, known as eLAM4, which is hosted by the Government of Guatemala, from 1 to 12 March 2021.
“Although we will meet virtually, there is no doubt our hearts will be in Guatemala. Our host country for eLAM4 is one of the many countries in the Global South feeling the increasing impacts of climate change across all aspects of life: economic, environmental, social and cultural,” said Working Group II Co-Chair Debra Roberts.
“With this in mind, we will work purposefully during the meeting to further refine our report and develop summary products that decision-makers around the world can use to inform ambitious and equitable climate action from the local to the international level,” she said.
The large number of helpful review comments received so far reflects the widespread interest in environmental and societal issues addressed by the report, which covers climate change impacts already seen on all continents and in the ocean, said Working Group II Co-Chair Hans-Otto Pörtner.
“Despite the ongoing pandemic, all Working Group II authors are highly motivated and rising to the challenge of a virtual meeting to progress the Working Group II assessment. We all know that our report on the impacts of climate change as well as on our limited possibilities to adapt is crucial to define the ambition in climate action,” he said.
The report is tentatively expected to be finalized and released in early 2022, although dates remain subject to revision because of the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Working Group II report will provide policymakers with the most up-to-date scientific information on how climate change is affecting nature and humanity, and how they are adjusting to these impacts.
During the meeting, the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL) will hold a regional outreach event on Climate Change and Vulnerability in Central America and the Dominican Republic on Thursday 11 March 2021 at 10:00-12:00 Guatemala time (16:00-18:00 GMT) to be addressed by experts from the IPCC and from the region. Links for joining this virtual event will be posted on the IPCC, SICA and ECLAC websites.
The Guatemalan government will also hold an outreach event on How is Guatemala Confronting Climate Change on Wednesday 3 March at 11:00-12:30 Guatemala time (17:00-18:30 GMT). The event will include a presentation on the Third National Communication on Climate Change, a presentation by the Guatemalan System of Climate Change Science, a local version of scientists organized to provide information to decision-makers, and a presentation by a Mayan leader on the relevance of indigenous knowledge.
A virtual briefing for local media will be held on Friday 26 February at 08:30 Guatemala time (14:30 GMT) via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87214118886. A recording of the opening ceremony on Monday 1 March will be made available later.
For more information contact:
IPCC Press Office, Email: ipcc-media@wmo.int
Jonathan Lynn, +41 22 730 8066, Werani Zabula, +41 22 730 8120
IPCC Working Group II
Sina Löschke, sina.loeschke@ipcc-wg2.awi.de
Ministry of the Environment and of Natural Resources of Guatemala
Guillermo Ramirez, giramirez@marn.gob.gt, +502 3045 4000
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 estimating emissions and removals of greenhouse gases.
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.
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 please 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 the IPCC YouTube channel.