Opening of the Sixty-first Session of the IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change held its 61st Plenary Session in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, from 27 July to 2 August. During the week-long meeting delegates of 195 member governments discussed important matters related to the production of IPCC reports during the seventh assessment cycle which began last July with the election of the new Chair and new IPCC Bureau members.

This was the second plenary meeting of the current cycle. Among other issues, the Panel agreed the draft outlines of the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities and the Methodology Report on Short-Lived Climate Forcers. Based on the Panel’s earlier decision, these two reports are scheduled for release in March and July 2027 respectively.

Download pictures from the meeting.

Opening ceremony

The Session was opened at 10.00 a.m. local time in Sofia on Saturday, 27 July, at the Grand Millenium Hotel.

Delegates were addressed by:

  • H.E. Mr Petar Dimitrov, Bulgaria’s Minister of Environment and Water  (Opening Remarks).
  • Professor Jim Skea, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  (Opening remarks).
  • Dr Abdulla Ahmed Al Mandous, President of the World Meteorological Organization (Remarks).
  • Vassil Terziev, Mayor of Bulgaria’s capital Sofia (Remarks).
  • H.E. Mr Nevyana Miteva, Bulgaria’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
  • Video message from Elizabeth Mrema, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
  • Video message from Youssef Nassef, Director Adaptation Division, United Nations Climate Change Secretariat