It is with great sorrow that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has learnt of the death of renowned oceanographer and former Working Group II Co- Chair Dr James J. McCarthy. Dr McCarthy died on 11 December 2019 at the age of 75.

James McCarthy led Working Group II together with his Argentinian counterpart Osvaldo Canziani, and prepared Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, the Working Group II contribution to the Third Assessment Report. He was also a Lead Author on the Fourth Assessment Report.

Among his various other accomplishments, Dr McCarthy was the Alexander Agassiz professor of biological oceanography at Harvard University, where he also served as director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1989 to 2002. In 2012, former President of the USA Barack Obama appointed him to the country’s Arctic Research Commission. In 2018, Dr McCarthy was named as a co-recipient of the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.
His research focused on the regulation of plankton productivity in the ocean, particularly in regions that are strongly affected by seasonal and year-to-year variations in climate.

He was born on 25 January 1944.

GENEVA, Nov 28 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will be present at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) in Madrid on 2-13 December 2019, with a broad programme of its own events as well as taking part in the official activities of the meeting.

The IPCC Chair, Vice-Chairs and Co-Chairs  will present the findings of the IPCC Special Reports launched in 2019 on Climate Change and Land and The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate at events held with the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) on 4 and 5 December at 15:00-18:00.

The IPCC will also hold a side event on “Science for Policymaking” on 4 December at 13:15-14:45. The Co-Chairs of the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories will hold a side event on the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories on 5 December at 13:15-14:45.

The IPCC Chair, the IPCC Vice-Chairs, Co-Chairs and Secretary will give a press conference on 4 December at 11:30-12:00 on the Sixth Assessment Report cycle.

The IPCC will again have a pavilion (Hall 6) at the climate conference, where it will present around 20 events showcasing the Special Reports, the 2019 Refinement, the Sixth Assessment Report work programme, and other IPCC activities. The IPCC-WMO Science Pavilion is shared with the World Meteorological Organization  and the Chilean foundation Filantropía Cortés Solari, whose support is gratefully acknowledged.

The pavilion programme can be accessed at http://bit.ly/IPCC_COP25_Pavilion and full details of the IPCC at COP25 are at http://bit.ly/IPCC_at_COP25.

To request an interview with the IPCC Chair, Vice-Chairs, Co-Chairs or other IPCC authors present please email interviews@ipcc.ch.

 

For more information contact :

IPCC Press Office, Email : ipcc-media@wmo.int

Jonathan Lynn, +41 22 730 8066 or Werani Zabula, +41 22 730 8120

 

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 (UNEP) 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. In the same year the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.

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 estimating 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.

The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C was released in October 2018, Climate Change and Land in August 2019, and The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate in September 2019.

The three Working Group contributions to AR6 will be released in 2021, with the Synthesis Report completing the cycle in April 2022.

More information about the AR6 Synthesis Report is available here:
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/

For more information go to www.ipcc.ch

SINGAPORE, Oct 21 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) opened a meeting on Monday to draft the outline of the Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment Report, which will provide policymakers in 2022 with the most up-to-date scientific information related to climate change.

The Synthesis Report will integrate the findings of all the reports that the IPCC is working on in its current assessment cycle for the Sixth Assessment Report. It is timed to be available in 2022, one year before the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement, when governments will review the targets they set under the accord and their progress towards implementing them.

The scoping meeting, hosted by the Government of Singapore, runs from 21 to 23 October, and brings together 80 experts from some 38 countries and IPCC Bureau members. It will be followed by a Session of the IPCC Bureau on 24-25 October.

“We will make this Synthesis Report not only a value-added document for policymakers, providing the best available science, as did all previous synthesis reports, but also a more useful resource for policy leaders around the globe,” said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee, who is leading the preparation and writing of the report.

Over the past 12 months the IPCC, the world’s leading body for assessing the science related to climate change, has released three special reports – on global warming of 1.5ºC, on land use, and on the ocean and cryosphere – and a methodology report. The three IPCC Working Groups are now preparing their contributions to the Sixth Assessment Report, which will be released in 2021.

The scoping meeting in Singapore will draft the outline or contents of the Synthesis Report for consideration by the IPCC at its next meeting in early 2020.

Governments agreed in Paris in 2015 to respond to climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2ºC above pre-industrial levels while pursuing efforts to hold it to 1.5ºC. Each government decides its own actions in furtherance of this goal, known as Nationally Determined Contributions. They agreed to review progress towards the goal in a global stocktake every five years starting in 2023.

 For more information contact:
IPCC Press Office: ipcc-media@wmo.int

 

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 (UNEP) 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. In the same year the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.

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 estimating 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.

The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C was released in October 2018, Climate Change and Land in August 2019, and The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate in September 2019.

The three Working Group contributions to AR6 will be released in 2021, with the Synthesis Report completing the cycle in April 2022.

More information about the AR6 Synthesis Report is available here:
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/

For more information go to www.ipcc.ch

GENEVA, Oct 18 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will hold a scoping meeting in Singapore from 21 to 23 October 2019 to draft the outline of the Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6 SYR). The meeting will bring together 80 experts from some 38 countries and IPCC Bureau members.

The Synthesis Report, due in 2022, will provide policymakers with the most up-to-date scientific information relevant to climate change by drawing on information from the reports the IPCC is preparing in the current assessment cycle. It will serve as the basis for international negotiations and will be ready in time for the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement in 2023.

The meeting in Singapore will draft the outline of the contents of the Synthesis Report for consideration by the IPCC when it next meets in 2020.

The Synthesis Report will be written under the leadership of IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee. It will integrate findings from the three Special Reports of the current cycle already completed: Global Warming of 1.5°C, Climate Change and Land, and The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. It will also be based on the content of the three Working Group Assessment Reports to be released in 2021: The Physical Science Basis; Mitigation of Climate Change; and Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

Following the scoping meeting in Singapore, the IPCC Bureau will meet from 24 to 25 October 2019. These meetings are closed to media.

More information about the AR6 SYR is available here:
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/

Media briefing

Prior to the scoping meeting, Mr. Hoesung Lee, IPCC Chair will give a media briefing on 21 October 2019 at 8:30 – 9:15 a.m. local time, in conference room Pisces at the Resorts World Convention Centre (Level 1), Sentosa.

Opening ceremony

The scoping meeting will be opened by H.E. Mr. Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources of Singapore; Mr. Hoesung Lee, IPCC Chair and Mr. Abdalah Mokssit, IPCC Secretary on 21 October 2019 at 10:00–10:30 a.m. in conference room Leo at the Resorts World Convention Centre (Level 1). Media are cordially invited to attend the opening ceremony.

Symposium

A Symposium on Sea Level Rise in Southeast Asia open to the public will take place on 23 October 2019 at 7.00 – 9.00 p.m. at Singapore Management University, Mochtar Riady Auditorium. The event will be organized by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) of Singapore and the Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS), with support from Singapore Management University (SMU). The Symposium will discuss what climate change and in particular, sea level rise means for Singapore and the Southeast Asian region.

IPCC representatives who will be participating in this event include Mr. Abdalah Mokssit, IPCC Secretary;  Ms. Ko Barrett, IPCC Vice-Chair;  Mr. Gregory Flato, IPCC Working Group I Vice-Chair.  Other distinguished speakers at the event will include H.E. Ms. Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources of Singapore;  Mr. Erland Källén, Director, CCRS;  Ms. Leonie Lee, Director of Energy and Climate Policy Division of MEWR, Mr. Winston Chow, Associate Professor of the School of Social Sciences, SMU and Ms. Estella Ho, Student Representative, SMU.

To attend the events listed above opened to the media please contact Mr. Samuel Lee (samuel_lee@mewr.gov.sg) from the host organization.

 For more information contact:

IPCC Press Office, Email: ipcc-media@wmo.int

 

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 (UNEP) 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. In the same year the
UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.

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 estimating 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.

The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C was released in October 2018. The Methodology Report 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories was released in May 2019. The Special Report on Climate Change and Land was released on 8 August 2019 and the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate on 25 September 2019.

The three Working Group contributions to the AR6 will be finalized in 2021 and the AR6 Synthesis Report will be completed in the first half of 2022.

For more information go to www.ipcc.ch

GENEVA, Oct 14 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scholarship programme has awarded scholarships to 12 students from developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

The IPCC set up the scholarship programme to provide an opportunity to early career scientists in developing countries to work on climate change-related research which in turn contributes to the pipeline of research to be assessed by the IPCC in future reports.

Selected from over 300 applications received in this Fifth Round of Awards (2019-2021), the 12 students are:

Supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation:

Supported by the Cuomo Foundation:

Each scholarship award is for a maximum of 15,000 Euros per year for up to two years from 2019 to 2021. The Fifth Round of Awards was launched in February 2019.

The students received their certificates from His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco and Ms Elena Cuomo during an Award Ceremony held on 19 September 2019 in Monaco.

The IPCC developed its scholarship programme after being jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice-President Al Gore in 2007 for its work in building up and disseminating knowledge about climate change and laying foundations for response options. The IPCC decided to invest the Noble Prize money in post-graduate education for young scientists.

The IPCC scholarship programme is generously supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the Cuomo Foundation.

For  more information, please contact:
Mxolisi SHONGWE, Programme Officer, +41(22) 730 8438, IPCC-SP@wmo.int

 

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 (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide political leaders with periodic scientific assessments concerning climate change, its implications and risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation strategies. It has 195 member states. In the same year, the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by the WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.

Thousands of people from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC. For the assessment reports, IPCC scientists volunteer their time to assess the thousands of scientific papers published each year to provide a comprehensive summary of what is known about the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.

The IPCC has three working groups: Working Group I, dealing with the physical science basis of climate change; Working Group I, dealing with impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and Working Group III, dealing with the mitigation of climate change. It also has a Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories that develops methodologies for measuring emissions and removals.

For more information visit www.ipcc.ch.

GENEVA, Oct 11 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), currently working on its next comprehensive report, the Sixth Assessment Report  (AR6), will open the Working Group II contribution for a first review by experts from 18 October to 13 December 2019.

Working Group II assesses the science related to impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation to climate change.

Review is an essential part of preparing IPCC reports. It ensures that IPCC reports cover the most up to date scientific, technical and socio-economic findings, and are representative of a broad range of independent expertise from developed and developing countries.

“We invite experts from all over the world to participate in the review of the IPCC Working Group II assessment of the impacts of climate change, the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change, and options for adapting to it,” said Debra Roberts and Hans-Otto Pörtner, the Co-Chairs of Working Group II, in a joint statement.

All IPCC reports undergo two stages of review. A First Order Draft is reviewed by experts. Following the expert review, authors develop a Second Order Draft based on the comments received. This draft then undergoes a second review by both governments and experts. Authors will prepare a Final Draft based on the comments received during the second review. The Final Draft is distributed to governments at the time of the final government review of the Summary for Policymakers.

Experts interested in serving as Expert Reviewers and providing scientific comments on the First Order Draft of the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report can register from 11 October to midnight CET on 6 December 2019 at https://apps.ipcc.ch/comments/ar6wg2/fod/register.php.

To register for the review, a self-declaration of expertise is required. Once the registration is complete, and before accessing the draft, reviewers agree to the terms of the review, including the confidentiality of the draft and review materials, which are provided solely for the purpose of the review. The drafts may not be cited, quoted or distributed.

The Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report will be finalized in 2021.

For more information contact:
IPCC Press Office, ipcc-media@wmo.int, +41 22 730 8120 or +41 22 730 8142

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 (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide political leaders with periodic scientific assessments concerning climate change, its implications and risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation strategies. It has 195 member states. In the same year, the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by the WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.

Thousands of people from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC. For the assessment reports, IPCC scientists volunteer their time to assess the thousands of scientific papers published each year to provide a comprehensive summary of what is known about the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.

The IPCC has three working groups: Working Group I, dealing with the physical science basis of climate change; Working Group II, dealing with impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and Working Group III, dealing with the mitigation of climate change. It also has a Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories that develops methodologies for measuring emissions and removals.

About the Sixth Assessment Cycle
Comprehensive scientific assessment reports are published every 6 to 7 years; the latest, the Fifth Assessment Report, was completed in 2014, and provided the main scientific input to the Paris Agreement.

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 IPCC also publishes special reports on more specific issues between assessment reports.

Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius 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 was launched in October 2018.

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 was launched in August 2019.

The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate was released in September 2019.

In May 2019 the IPCC released the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, an update to the methodology used by governments to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and removals.

The contributions of the three IPCC Working Groups to the Sixth Assessment Report will be finalized in 2021. The concluding Synthesis Report is due in 2022.

For more information visit www.ipcc.ch.

Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is filling the position of

Science Officer in the Technical Support Unit (IPCC WGII)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is in its Sixth Assessment cycle. The Working Group II Technical Support Unit (WGII TSU), which provides the scientific, technical and organisational support of the activities and products of the Working Group focusing on the Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability of Climate Change, is employed through the Alfred-Wegener-Institute in Bremen, Germany.

Tasks

Requirements

Further Information
For further information please contact Prof. Dr. Hans-Otto Pörtner (hans.poertner@ipcc-wg2.awi.de; +49(471)4831-2440).

The full-time position is limited to 2 years with the potential for a further extension until the completion of the entire AR6 cycle in 2023, depending on requirements. The salary will be paid in accordance with the German Tarifvertrag des öffentlichen Dienstes (TVöD Bund), up to salary level 13. The place of employment will be Bremen.

This characterizes AWI

Equal opportunities for women and men are an integral part of our personnel policy. Therefore, we encourage women to
apply.

Disabled applicants will be given preference when equal qualifications are present. The AWI fosters the compatibility of work and family through various means. Because of our engagement in the area of work-life compatibility we have been awarded the certificate “Career and Family”.

We look forward to your application!

Please forward your application by 6 November 2019 exclusively online at https://recruitingapp-5442.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/451/Description/2

Reference number 113/D/Bio-b

Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is filling the position of

Director of Communications & Outreach in the Technical Support Unit (IPCC WGII)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is in its Sixth Assessment cycle. The Working Group II Technical Support Unit (WGII TSU), which provides the scientific, technical and organisational support of the activities and products of the Working Group focusing on the Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability of Climate Change, is employed through the Alfred-Wegener-Institute in Bremen, Germany.

Tasks

Requirements

Additional advantageous knowledge and skills

Further Information

For further information please contact Prof. Dr. Hans-Otto Pörtner (hans.poertner@ipcc-wg2.awi.de; +49(471)4831-2440).

The full-time position is limited to 2 years with the potential for a further extension until the completion of the project, expected at about 3 to 3.5 years. The salary will be paid in accordance with the German Tarifvertrag des öffentlichen Dienstes (TVöD Bund), up to salary level 13. The place of employment will be Bremen.

This characterizes AWI

Equal opportunities for women and men are an integral part of our personnel policy. Therefore, we encourage women to apply.

Disabled applicants will be given preference when equal qualifications are present. The AWI fosters the compatibility of work and family through various means.

Because of our engagement in the area of work-life compatibility we have been awarded the certificate “Career and Family”.

We look forward to your application!

Please forward your application by 6 November 2019 exclusively online at: https://recruitingapp-5442.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/452/Description/2

Reference number 112/D/KM-b

GENEVA, Sept 26 – Experts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will meet in New Delhi, India, on 30 September to 4 October 2019 to advance their work on the Working Group III contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report.

More than 200 experts from 65 countries will come together for one week to start preparing a first draft of the report, which is due to be finalized in July 2021. The meeting is hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India.

IPCC Working Group III is responsible for assessing the mitigation of climate change – responses and solutions to the threat of dangerous climate change by reducing emissions and enhancing sinks of the greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming.

The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) will examine topics such as the link between consumption and behaviour and greenhouse gas emissions, and the role of innovation and technology. The report will assess the connection between short to medium-term actions and their compatibility with the long-term temperature goal in the Paris Agreement. It will assess mitigation options in sectors such as energy, agriculture, forestry and land use, buildings, transport and industry.

“Following our previous Lead Author Meeting in the United Kingdom, it is a pleasure to be in the IPCC Working Group III Technical Support Unit’s other home country, India,” said Priyadarshi R. Shukla, Co-Chair of Working Group III. “IPCC authors and scientists are working to deliver the most relevant and up-to-date research on climate change mitigation.”.

The First Order Draft will be available for Expert Review from 13 January to 8 March 2020. The Second Order Draft will be open for Government and Expert Review from 13 July to 13 September 2020, along with the first draft of the Summary for Policymakers. The IPCC Panel is due to consider the Working Group III contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report at a plenary session on 12 to 16 July 2021.

“Building on previous Working Group III assessments, this report will emphasize what can be done in the near term to mitigate climate change, and how mitigation actions can be enabled through policy, institution-building and finance,” said Jim Skea, Co-Chair of Working Group III.

“Mitigation efforts will be set firmly in the context of sustainable development and development pathways compatible with a just transition towards net zero emissions,” he said.

The agreed outline of the report can be found here. The list of authors of the report can be found here.

Each of the three IPCC Working Groups will release their contributions to the Sixth Assessment Report in 2021. A Synthesis Report in 2022 will integrate them together with the three special reports that the IPCC is producing in the current assessment cycle. It will be released in time to inform the 2023 global stocktake by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) when countries will review progress towards the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming to well below 2°C while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

Media briefing
Monday 30 September 2019, 8:15 – 10:00 a.m.

Taj Mahal Hotel, 1 Mansingh Road, New Delhi

Media are also invited to attend the opening ceremony on Monday 30 September at 9:00 – 10:00  a.m. at the Taj Mahal Hotel, 1 Mansingh Road, New Delhi, Delhi 110011, India.

Outreach event (open to media)
“What are Countries Doing to Mitigate Climate Change?” hosted by the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

6:30 – 8 p.m. on Tuesday 1 October at the Indian Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi

Speakers include Karen Seto, Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanisation Science at Yale University; Harald Winkler, Professor of Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town; and Heleen de Coninck, Associate Professor in Innovation Studies at the Environmental Science Department at Radboud University.  This event will be chaired by Professor Navroz K. Dubash, Professor, Centre for Policy Research, and Dr. Ritu Mathur, Senior Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute.

Event details and registration: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/72926395813/


For more information contact:

IPCC Working Group III Technical Support Unit
Sigourney Luz (Communications Manager), e-mail: s.luz@ipcc-wg3.ac.uk

IPCC Press Office
Jonathan Lynn, +41 22 730 8066, e-mail: ipcc-media@wmo.int


 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 (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide political leaders with periodic scientific assessments concerning climate change, its implications and risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation strategies. It has 195 member states.

Thousands of people from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC. For the assessment reports, IPCC scientists volunteer their time to assess the thousands of scientific papers published each year to provide a comprehensive summary of what is known about the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.

The IPCC has three working groups: Working Group I, dealing with the physical science basis of climate change; Working Group I, dealing with impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and Working Group III, dealing with the mitigation of climate change. It also has a Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories that develops methodologies for measuring emissions and removals.

About the Sixth Assessment Cycle
Comprehensive scientific assessment reports are published every 6 to 7 years; the latest, the Fifth Assessment Report, was completed in 2014, and provided the main scientific input to the Paris Agreement.

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 IPCC also publishes special reports on more specific issues between assessment reports.

Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius 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 was launched in October 2018.

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 was launched in August 2019.

The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate was released in September 2019.

In May 2019 the IPCC released the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, an update to the methodology used by governments to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and removals.

The contributions of the three IPCC Working Groups to the Sixth Assessment Report will be finalized in 2021. The concluding Synthesis Report is due in 2022.

For more information visit www.ipcc.ch.

 

 

 

MONACO, Sept 25 – The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report highlights the urgency of prioritizing timely, ambitious and coordinated action to address unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean and cryosphere.

The report reveals the benefits of ambitious and effective adaptation for sustainable development and, conversely, the escalating costs and risks of delayed action.

The ocean and the cryosphere – the frozen parts of the planet – play a critical role for life on Earth. A total of 670 million people in high mountain regions and 680 million people in low-lying coastal zones depend directly on these systems. Four million people live permanently in the Arctic region, and small island developing states are home to 65 million people.

Global warming has already reached 1°C above the pre-industrial level, due to past and current greenhouse gas emissions. There is overwhelming evidence that this is resulting in profound consequences for ecosystems and people. The ocean is warmer, more acidic and less productive. Melting glaciers and ice sheets are causing sea level rise, and coastal extreme events are becoming more severe.

The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, approved on 24 September 2019 by the 195 IPCC member governments, provides new evidence for the benefits of limiting global warming to the lowest possible level – in line with the goal that governments set themselves in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions limits the scale of ocean and cryosphere changes. Ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them can be preserved.

“The open sea, the Arctic, the Antarctic and the high mountains may seem far away to many people,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. “But we depend on them and are influenced by them directly and indirectly in many ways – for weather and climate, for food and water, for energy, trade, transport, recreation and tourism, for health and wellbeing, for culture and identity.”

“If we reduce emissions sharply, consequences for people and their livelihoods will still be challenging, but potentially more manageable for those who are most vulnerable,” Lee said. “We increase our ability to build resilience and there will be more benefits for sustainable development.”

Knowledge assessed in the report outlines climate-related risks and challenges that people around the world are exposed to today and that future generations will face. It presents options to adapt to changes that can no longer be avoided, manage related risks and build resilience for a sustainable future. The assessment shows that adaptation depends on the capacity of individuals and communities and the resources available to them.

More than 100 authors from 36 countries assessed the latest scientific literature related to the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate for the report, referencing about 7,000 scientific publications.

The IPCC Special Report is a key scientific input for world leaders gathering in forthcoming climate and environment negotiations, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Chile in December

“The world’s ocean and cryosphere have been ‘taking the heat’ from climate change for decades, and consequences for nature and humanity are sweeping and severe,” said Ko Barrett, Vice-Chair of the IPCC. “The rapid changes to the ocean and the frozen parts of our planet are forcing people from coastal cities to remote Arctic communities to fundamentally alter their ways of life,” she added.

“By understanding the causes of these changes and the resulting impacts, and by evaluating options that are available, we can strengthen our ability to adapt,” she said. “The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate provides the knowledge that facilitates these kinds of decisions.”


Major changes in high mountains affecting downstream communities

People in mountain regions are increasingly exposed to hazards and changes in water availability, the report said.

Glaciers, snow, ice and permafrost are declining and will continue to do so. This is projected to increase hazards for people, for example through landslides, avalanches, rockfalls and floods.

Smaller glaciers found for example in Europe, eastern Africa, the tropical Andes and Indonesia are projected to lose more than 80% of their current ice mass by 2100 under high emission scenarios. The retreat of the high mountain cryosphere will continue to adversely affect recreational activities, tourism, and cultural assets.

As mountain glaciers retreat, they are also altering water availability and quality downstream, with implications for many sectors such as agriculture and hydropower.

“Changes in water availability will not just affect people in these high mountain regions, but also communities much further downstream,” said Panmao Zhai, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group I.

“Limiting warming would help them adapt to changes in water supplies in mountain regions and beyond, and limit risks related to mountain hazards,” he said. “Integrated water management and transboundary cooperation provides opportunities to address impacts of these changes in water resources.”

Melting ice, rising seas

 

Glaciers and ice sheets in polar and mountain regions are losing mass, contributing to an increasing rate of sea level rise, together with expansion of the warmer ocean.

While sea level has risen globally by around 15 cm during the 20th century, it is currently rising more than twice as fast – 3.6 mm per year – and accelerating, the report showed.

Sea level will continue to rise for centuries. It could reach around 30-60 cm by 2100 even if greenhouse gas emissions are sharply reduced and global warming is limited to well below 2°C, but around 60-110 cm if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase strongly.

“In recent decades the rate of sea level rise has accelerated, due to growing water inputs from ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, in addition to the contribution of meltwater from glaciers and the expansion of warmer sea waters,” said Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group I.

“This new assessment has also revised upwards the projected contribution of the Antarctic ice sheet to sea level rise by 2100 in the case of high emissions of greenhouse gases,” she said. “The wide range of sea level projections for 2100 and beyond is related to how ice sheets will react to warming, especially in Antarctica, with major uncertainties still remaining.”


More frequent extreme sea level events

Sea level rise will increase the frequency of extreme sea level events, which occur for example during high tides and intense storms. Indications are that with any degree of additional warming, events that occurred once per century in the past will occur every year by mid-century in many regions, increasing risks for many low-lying coastal cities and small islands.

Without major investments in adaptation, they would be exposed to escalating flood risks, the report shows. Some island nations are likely to become uninhabitable due to climate-related ocean and cryosphere change, the report said, but habitability thresholds remain extremely difficult to assess.

Increases in tropical cyclone winds and rainfall are exacerbating extreme sea level events and coastal hazards. Hazards will be further be intensified by an increase in the average intensity, magnitude of storm surge and precipitation rates of tropical cyclones, especially if greenhouse gas emissions remain high.

“Various adaptation approaches are already being implemented, often in response to flooding events, and the report highlights the diversity of options available for each context to develop integrated responses anticipating the full scale of future sea level rise,” said Masson-Delmotte.

 

Changing ocean ecosystems

Warming and changes in ocean chemistry are already disrupting species throughout the ocean food web, with impacts on marine ecosystems and people that depend on them, the report said.

 To date, the ocean has taken up more than 90% of the excess heat in the climate system. By 2100, the ocean will take up 2 to 4 times more heat than between 1970 and the present if global warming is limited to 2°C, and up to 5 to 7 times more at higher emissions. Ocean warming reduces mixing between water layers and, as a consequence, the supply of oxygen and nutrients for marine life.

Marine heatwaves have doubled in frequency since 1982 and are increasing in intensity. They are projected to further increase in frequency, duration, extent and intensity. Their frequency will be 20 times higher at 2°C warming, compared to pre-industrial levels. They would occur 50 times more often if emissions continue to increase strongly.

The ocean has taken up between 20 to 30% of human-induced carbon dioxide emissions since the 1980s, causing ocean acidification. Continued carbon uptake by the ocean by 2100 will exacerbate ocean acidification.

Ocean warming and acidification, loss of oxygen and changes in nutrient supplies, are already affecting the distribution and abundance of marine life in coastal areas, in the open ocean and at the sea  floor.

Shifts in the distribution of fish populations have reduced the global catch potential. In the future, some regions, notably tropical oceans, will see further decreases, but there will be increases in others, such as the Arctic. Communities that depend highly on seafood may face risks to nutritional health and food security.

“Cutting greenhouse gas emissions will limit impacts on ocean ecosystems that provide us with food, support our health and shape our cultures,” said Hans-Otto Pörtner, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II. “Reducing other pressures such as pollution will further help marine life deal with changes in their environment, while enabling a more resilient ocean.”

“Policy frameworks, for example for fisheries management and marine-protected areas, offer opportunities for communities to adapt to changes and minimize risks for our livelihoods,” he added.


Declining Arctic sea ice, thawing permafrost
The extent of Arctic sea ice is declining in every month of the year, and it is getting thinner. If global warming is stabilized at 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the Arctic ocean would only be ice-free in September – the month with the least ice – once in every hundred years. For global warming of 2°C, this would occur up to one year in three.

Some people living in the Arctic, especially indigenous peoples, have already adjusted their traveling and hunting activities to the seasonality and safety of land, ice and snow conditions, and some coastal communities have planned for relocation. Their success in adapting depends on funding, capacities, and institutional support, the report shows.

Permafrost ground that has been frozen for many years is warming and thawing and widespread permafrost thaw is projected to occur in the 21st century. Even if global warming is limited to well below 2°C, around 25% of the near-surface (3-4 meter depth) permafrost will thaw by 2100. If greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase strongly, there is a potential that around 70% near-surface permafrost could be lost.

Arctic and boreal permafrost hold large amounts of organic carbon, almost twice the carbon in the atmosphere, and have the potential to significantly increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere if they thaw. It is unclear whether there is already a net release of carbon dioxide or methane due to the ongoing thaw of the Arctic permafrost. In the future, increased plant growth can increase the storage of carbon in soils and offset carbon release from permafrost thaw, but not at the scale of large changes on the long term.

Wildfires are disturbing ecosystems in most tundra and boreal as well as mountain regions.

Knowledge for urgent action

The report finds that strongly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting and restoring ecosystems, and carefully managing the use of natural resources would make it possible to preserve the ocean and cryosphere as a source of opportunities that support adaptation to future changes, limit risks to livelihoods and offer multiple additional societal benefits.

“We will only be able to keep global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels if we effect unprecedented transitions in all aspects of society, including energy, land and ecosystems, urban and infrastructure as well as industry. The ambitious climate policies and emissions reductions required to deliver the Paris Agreement will also protect the ocean and cryosphere – and ultimately sustain all life on Earth,” said Debra Roberts, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II.

SROCC provides the best available scientific knowledge to empower governments and communities to take action, embedding that scientific knowledge on unavoidable change and plausible futures into their own context, to limit the scale of risks and climate impacts.

The report gives evidence of the benefits of combining scientific with local and indigenous knowledge to develop suitable options to manage climate change risks and enhance resilience. This is the first IPCC report that highlights the importance of education to enhance climate change, ocean and cryosphere literacy.

“The more decisively and the earlier we act, the more able we will be to address unavoidable changes, manage risks, improve our lives and achieve sustainability for ecosystems and people around the world – today and in the future,” Roberts said.

For more information contact:

IPCC Press Office ipcc-media@wmo.int, +377 93 15 36 98

IPCC Working Group II Technical Support Unit tsu@ipcc-wg2.awi.de

Maike Nicolai maike.nicolai@ipcc-wg2.awi.de,

 

Notes for Editors

Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC)

The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) is the third in a series of Special Reports produced in the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Cycle. The report was prepared under the joint scientific leadership of IPCC Working Groups I and II, with support from the Working Group II Technical Support Unit.

The word “cryosphere” – from the Greek kryos, meaning cold or ice – describes the frozen components of the Earth system, including snow, glaciers, ice sheets and ice shelves, icebergs and sea ice, ice on lakes and rivers as well as permafrost and seasonally frozen ground.

The Summary for Policymakers presents the key findings of the Special Report, based on the assessment of the available scientific, technical and socio-economic literature relevant to the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate.

The Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate as well as additional information are available at https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc

SROCC in numbers

The report was prepared by 104 authors and review editors from 36 countries, 19 of which are developing countries or economies in transition.

31 were women and 73 were men.

6,981 publications were referenced in the whole report (Final Draft).

The drafts of the report received 31,176 comments from 80 countries and the EU.

 

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 (UNEP) 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. In the same year the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.

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 estimating 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.

The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C was released in October 2018. The Methodology Report 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories was released in May 2019. The Special Report on Climate Change and Land was released on 8 August 2019.

The three Working Group contributions to the AR6 will be finalized in 2021 and the AR6 Synthesis Report will be completed in the first half of 2022.

For more information go to www.ipcc.ch