GENEVA, August 28 - The Government of Ireland is holding an event in Dublin on 30 August to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The following week the IPCC is holding the third Lead Author Meeting for its Special Report on Climate Change and Land, also hosted by the Irish Government.
The 30th anniversary event, to be held from 5.30 to 8.30 p.m. at Trinity College Dublin, is one of a series being held by different governments to mark 30 years since the IPCC
was established in 1988.
Speakers include Denis Naughten, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee and Jim Skea, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III, which deals
with the mitigation of climate change. These three speakers will be available for a press briefing at 5.00 p.m. immediately before the event.
Other speakers at the anniversary event include Laura Burke, Director-General of the Environmental Protection Agency and Peter Thorne of Maynooth University, who is an IPCC author.
The Lead Author Meeting for the special report, whose full title is 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, will take place in Dublin on 3-7 September. Over 100 authors from all over the world have worked
hard on a first draft of the report, which has been reviewed by hundreds of experts.
The authors are meeting next week to prepare a second draft of the report, including a draft Summary for Policymakers, which will be opened to governments and expert reviewers for comment
in November and December this year. The report is due to be released in August 2019.
“This report is important because it addresses the interactions between land and the climate system in a fundamental and comprehensive way” said Mr Skea. “Climate change
has huge implications for human well-being and our ability to provide food and nutrition, largely mediated by impacts on land.”
“Land is a major source of emissions in many countries and could also act as a sink, drawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere” he added. “The report will identify measures for
adapting to climate change as well as options for reducing emissions and enhancing these carbon sinks. We are very grateful to the Government of Ireland for hosting these meetings.”
To register for the anniversary event on 30 August, go to: https://bit.ly/2NbreRy
For more information contact:
IPCC Press Office:
Werani Zabula, +41 22 730 8120, Email: ipcc-media@wmo.int
IPCC Working Group III Technical Support Unit:
Marion Ferrat, +44 20 7594 9958, Email: tsu@ipcc-wg3.ac.uk
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and Instagram.
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 (UN Environment)
and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments concerning climate change, its implications and potential future risks, and to put
forward adaptation and mitigation strategies. It has 195 member states.
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.
The IPCC assesses the thousands of scientific papers published each year to inform policymakers about the state of knowledge on climate change. The IPCC identifies where there is agreement in the
scientific community, where there are differences and where further research is needed. It does not conduct its own research.
To produce its reports, the IPCC mobilizes hundreds of scientists. These scientists and officials are drawn from diverse backgrounds. Only a dozen permanent staff work in the IPCC’s Secretariat.
The IPCC has three working groups: Working Group I (the physical science basis of climate change); Working Group II (impacts, adaptation and vulnerability); and Working Group III (mitigation of
climate change). It also has a Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories that develops methodologies for measuring emissions and removals. All of these are supported by Technical Support
Units guiding the production of IPCC assessment reports and other products.
IPCC Assessment Reports consist of contributions from each of the three working groups and a Synthesis Report. Special Reports undertake a shorter assessment of specific cross-disciplinary issues
that usually span more than one working group.
About the Sixth Assessment Cycle
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 Special Report Climate Change and Land is being prepared under the joint scientific leadership of Working Groups I, II and III and the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, with operational
support from the Working Group III Technical Support Unit.
The Methodology Report to refine the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories will be delivered in May 2019. Besides the Special Report on Climate Change and Land, the IPCC will finalize two
other Special Reports:
- Global Warming of 1.5 °C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C 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 in October 2018
- Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate in September 2019.
The AR6 Synthesis Report will be finalized in the first half of 2022.
For more information, go to:
www.ipcc.ch
