Governments show strong interest for new IPCC Special Report

 

Governments and the scientific community have shown strong interest in the next  report  of  the  Intergovernmental  Panel  on  Climate  Change  (IPCC),  which  will  look  at  the implications of global warming of 1.5ºC.

Nominations of experts to participate in the scoping meeting of the Special Report on the  Impacts of Global  Warming  of 1.5  ºC above  Pre-Industrial  Levels  and  Related  Global  Greenhouse  Gas Emission Pathways (SR1.5) totaled 589 people.

The IPCC is examining the nominations and will select around 70 experts by 30 June 2016 to take part  in  the  scoping  meeting to  be  held in  Geneva from  15  to  17  August,  which will  draw  up  the  outline of the report –its structure and contents. This outline will then be considered by the IPCC at its next Session to be held in October in Bangkok.

The Special Report will be developed under the joint scientific leadership of all three IPCC Working Groups.“The large number and wide range of nominations show the lively interest of countries and experts in the work of the IPCC as the world moves to tackle climate change,” said

IPCC Vice-Chair Thelma Krug, who chairs the scoping meeting’s Scientific Steering Committee.

Nominations were received from 85 countries and 39 observer organizations.

A total of 99 citizenships are represented, and 25% of the candidates are women.

The IPCC was  invited to prepare this Special Report by the 21^st Session  of the Conference of the Parties  (COP21)  of  the United  Nations  Framework  Convention  on  Climate  Change  (UNFCCC) in Paris in December 2015.

The  Conference reached  an  agreement  to  limit  the  increase  in  global average temperature to well below 2 ºC above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature  increase  to 1.5  ºC. The  Special  Report,  which  the  IPCC agreed  to  produce  at  its  last Session in April held in Nairobi, will provide an evaluation of the scientific state of knowledge of this topic in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.

The report will be delivered in 2018, in time for a “facilitative dialogue” that will take place that year to take stock of progress under the Paris Agreement.