Special Report on Climate Change and Cities

A scoping meeting to determine the scope and outline of the report was held from 16 to 19 April 2024 in Riga, Latvia. We thank the government of Latvia for hosting the meeting. The meeting prepared a draft outline for the report as well as details of how it will be prepared and its timeline.

A letter soliciting nominations of experts to attend the meeting was sent to governments and observer organizations on 20 October 2023.

Participants in the Scoping Meeting collectively had expertise in the following areas:

•  Biophysical (expertise examples include urban meteorology and climatology, urban meteorological/energy/water/carbon/air quality modelling and observational monitoring, urban carbon cycle, urban hydrology, urban biodiversity, land-atmosphere interactions);
•  Impacts and Risks, including (i) Economic and Non-economic Losses and Damages and (ii) Compounding and Cascading Aspects (expertise examples include statistical climatology, detection and attribution of climate extremes, heat islands and urban overheating, air pollution, inland and coastal flooding, critical infrastructure including power, digital communication and transport, water/energy/food/health nexus, food security, health, supply chain, vulnerability, losses and damages, risk management, disaster risk reduction, risk modelling);
•  Sectoral Development, Adaptation, Mitigation and Responses to Losses and Damages (expertise examples include built environment, urban planning, building design and materials, tourism, urbanization trends, informal settlements, migration and urban poverty, water management, energy systems, infrastructure, ecosystems and biodiversity, nature based solutions/ecosystem based adaptation, livelihood and communities perspectives issues, urban scenarios/pathways, transportation systems and mobility services, industry, urban agriculture and food production, waste management, climate services and early warning systems, environmental psychology);
• Energy and Emissions (expertise examples include emission inventory, urban and embodied emissions, urban energy demand and services, energy mix, urban energy management, power grid layout, standards and regulations, carbon accounting, urban carbon sequestration, renewable energy, life cycle assessment);
• Governance, Policy, Institutions, Planning and Finance (expertise examples include typology of cities and decision frameworks, urban planning, architecture, smart cities, mitigation / adaptation policies, energy security, water security and sanitation, barriers and enabling conditions for urban climate finance, insurance, livable cities, role of normative principles in governance, science, technology and innovation for sustainable cities, articulation between local and national development priorities, climate resilient development in cities, Sustainable Development Goals, environmental, social and governance reporting);
• Civil Society (expertise examples include social coherence, justice, equity, ethics, gender, intersectionality science, decision making, science/policy interaction, communication, digital/cyber security, indigenous knowledge systems, diversity of urban stakeholders involved in climate responses, city networks / alliances, environmental advocacy).

Scientific Steering Committee Members

The Scientific Steering Committee is chaired by IPCC Vice-Chair Diana Ürge-Vorsatz.  Scientific Steering Committee members include:

• Robert Vautard (Co-Chair of Working Group I)
• Xiaoye Zhang (Co-Chair of Working Group I)
• Winston Chow (Co-Chair of Working Group II)
• Bart van den Hurk (Co-Chair of Working Group II)
• Katherine Calvin (Co-Chair of Working Group III)
• Joy Pereira (Co-Chair of Working Group III)
• Nana Ama Browne Klutse (Vice-Chair of Working Group I)
• Ines Camillioni (Vice-Chair of Working Group I)
• Laura Gallardo (Vice-Chair of Working Group II)
• Zinta Zommers (Vice-Chair of Working Group II)
• Malak Al Nory (Vice-Chair of Working Group III)
• Şiir Kilkis (Vice-Chair of Working Group III)

The Scientific Steering Committee for the Scoping of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities organized pre-scoping webinars to help inform the scoping meeting.  The pre-scoping webinars were open to all IPCC member government Focal Points and all experts nominated for participation in the Scoping Meeting not attending the Riga meeting. The webinars followed a format that collected suggestions for key elements that could be considered for inclusion in the outline of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities.

To accommodate a maximum number of participants from all the different time zones, the webinar which were identical in nature, took place on:

• 18 March from 15:00 to 17:00 PM CET,
• 19 March from 9:00 to 11:00 AM CET, and 19:00 to 21:00 PM CET