IPCC calls for nomination of experts to draft an outline of the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities

The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) is calling on its member governments and observer organizations to nominate experts who will draft the outline of the special report on climate change and cities. Nominations should be submitted by 17 November 2023.

Participants to the scoping meeting should have collective expertise in:

  • Biophysical: examples include urban meteorology and climatology, urban meteorological/energy/water/carbon/air quality modelling and observational monitoring, urban carbon cycle, urban hydrology, urban biodiversity, land-atmosphere interactions.

  • Impacts and Risks, including economic and non-economic losses and damages; and compounding and cascading Aspects: including expertise in statistical climatology, detection and attribution of climate extremes, heat islands and urban overheating, air pollution, inland and coastal flooding, critical infrastructure including power, digital communication and transport, water/energy/food/health nexus, food security, health, supply chain, vulnerability, losses and damages, risk management, disaster risk reduction, risk modelling.

  • Sectoral development, adaptation, mitigation and responses to losses and damages:  including expertise in built environment, urban planning, building design and materials, tourism, urbanization trends, informal settlements, migration and urban poverty, water management, energy systems, infrastructure, ecosystems and biodiversity, nature-based solutions/ecosystem based adaptation, livelihood and communities perspectives issues, urban scenarios/pathways, transportation systems and mobility services, industry, urban agriculture and food production, waste management, climate services and early warning systems, environmental psychology.
  • Energy and Emissions- including expertise in emission inventory, urban and embodied emissions, urban energy demand and services, energy mix, urban energy management, power grid layout, standards and regulations, carbon accounting, urban carbon sequestration, renewable energy, life cycle assessment.
  • Governance, policy, institutions, planning and finance: including expertise in typology of cities and decision frameworks, urban planning, architecture, smart cities, mitigation/adaptation policies, energy security, water security and sanitation, barriers and enabling conditions for urban climate finance, insurance, livable cities, role of normative principles in governance, science, technology and innovation for sustainable cities, articulation between local and national development priorities, climate-resilient development in cities, Sustainable Development Goals, environmental, social and governance reporting.
  • Civil Society: including expertise in social coherence, justice, equity, ethics, gender, intersectionality science, decision making, science/policy interaction, communication, digital/cyber security, indigenous knowledge systems, diversity of urban stakeholders involved in climate responses, city networks/alliances, environmental advocacy.

The meeting to discuss the draft outline will be held in 2024. The draft outline will be submitted to the panel for approval before the authors teams can be selected to work on the report.

More information on the preparation of IPCC reports, including the scoping process is available from the IPCC Principles and Procedures.

Those interested in being nominated as an expert for participation at the scoping meeting should contact the relevant Focal Point. A list of Focal Points for IPCC member governments and observer organizations is available here.

Nominations are submitted through the online nomination tool here .

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