Foreword

“Climate Change 2007 – Mitigation of Climate Change”, the third volume of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), provides an in-depth analysis of the costs and benefits of different approaches to mitigating and avoiding climate change.

In the first two volumes of the “Climate Change 2007” Assessment Report, the IPCC analyses the physical science basis of climate change and the expected consequences for natural and human systems. The third volume of the report presents an analysis of costs, policies and technologies that could be used to limit and/or prevent emissions of greenhouse gases, along with a range of activities to remove these gases from the atmosphere. It recognizes that a portfolio of adaptation and mitigation actions is required to reduce the risks of climate change. It also has broadened the assessment to include the relationship between sustainable development and climate change mitigation.

At regular intervals of five or six years, the IPCC presents comprehensive scientific reports on climate change that assess the existing scientific, technical and socioeconomic literature. The rigorous multi-stage review process of the reports, the broad and geographically-balanced participation of experts from all relevant fields of knowledge and the thousands of comments taken into account guarantee a transparent and unbiased result.

As an intergovernmental body established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, the IPCC has the responsibility of providing policymakers with objective scientific and technical findings that are policy relevant but not policy prescriptive. This is especially evident in the Mitigation report, which presents tools that governments can consider and implement in their domestic policies and measures in the framework of international agreements.

Hundreds of authors contributed to the preparation of this report. They come from different backgrounds and possess a wide range of expertise, from emissions modelling to economics, from policies to technologies. They all dedicated a large part of their valuable time to the preparation of the report. We would like to thank them all, in particular the 168 Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors most closely engaged in the process.

The preparation of an IPCC Assessment Report is a complex and absorbing process. We would like to express our gratitude to the Technical Support Unit for its massive organizational efforts. We would also like to thank the IPCC Secretariat for its dedication to the efficient completion of the report.

We express our appreciation to the Government of the Netherlands, which hosted the Technical Support Unit; the Government of Thailand, which hosted the plenary session for the approval of the report; the Governments of China, Germany, New Zealand and Peru, which hosted the Lead Authors’ meetings; and to all the countries that contributed to IPCC work through financial and logistic support.

We wish to sincerely thank Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC, for his steady and discreet guidance and to express our deep gratitude to Drs Ogunlade Davidson and Bert Metz, Co-Chairs of Working Group III, who successfully led their team with positive, efficient and constructive direction.

M. Jarraud

Secretary General

World Meteorological Organization

A. Steiner

Executive Director

United Nations Environment Programme