Media articles about IPCC draft report

GENEVA, June 23 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) notes that news articles have appeared citing a draft of the Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report.

The articles appear to be based on the Second-Order Draft of the Working Group II report, which assesses impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change, and which was circulated for review by governments and experts from 4 December 2020 to 29 January 2021.

The IPCC is committed to an open, robust and transparent assessment process. During the review stages, the IPCC actively seeks the collaboration of researchers and practitioners across a broad range of expertise to provide expert comments on the draft reports. As with the normal practice of peer review, this process is designed to ensure that the report is as accurate, comprehensive and objective as possible.

Draft reports are provided to governments and reviewers as confidential working documents and must not be publicly distributed, quoted or cited. This is out of respect for the authors and to give them the time and space to finish writing before making the work public.

For these reasons, the IPCC does not comment on the contents of draft reports while work is still ongoing. Journalists or others seeking context or background information can contact Jonathan Lynn, Head of Communications, IPCC, or Sina Löschke, Communications Manager, IPCC Working Group II Technical Support Unit.

More information about the report, including its agreed outline, can be found here.

The IPCC session to approve the Summary for Policymakers and accept the underlying report of Working Group II is anticipated for 14-18 February 2022. The IPCC looks forward to presenting and discussing the report findings, subject to approval by the Panel, after that approval session.

The first part of the Sixth Assessment Report, the Working Group I contribution assessing the physical science basis of climate change, is expected to be released on 9 August following an approval session from 26 July to 6 August. The Working Group III report, assessing the mitigation of climate change, will follow in the last week of March, and the Synthesis Report in September, but, besides Working Group I, dates remain subject to the impact of the pandemic and related measures.

For more information, contact:

IPCC Press Office, Email: ipcc-media@wmo.int
Jonathan Lynn, Tel: +41 22 730 8066 or Werani Zabula, +41 22 730 8120

IPCC Working Group II Technical Support Unit:
Sina Löschke, sina.loeschke@ipcc-wg2.awi.de, +49 2353 70 71 527

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. In the same year the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by the WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC. 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 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 estimating emissions and removals of greenhouse gases.

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.

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 for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, an update to the methodology used by governments to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and removals.

For more information please visit www.ipcc.ch.

The website includes outreach materials including videos about the IPCC and video recordings from outreach events  conducted as webinars or live-streamed events. 

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