MOMBASA, Kenya, Jul 21 – The Second Lead Author Meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Cities taking place in Mombasa, Kenya, this week will advance the work on the First Order Draft (FOD) of the IPCC’s only special report in the seventh assessment cycle. The first of multiple review stages opens in October, when experts will have the initial opportunity to review and comment on the draft text.
The meeting in Mombasa from 21 to 25 July 2025, brings together nearly 100 selected authors from more than 50 countries. Scheduled for release in March 2027, the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities will be the first report delivered by the IPCC in the current cycle.
The drafting process for this Special Report has been underway since the First Lead Author Meeting in Osaka, Japan earlier this year. Selected authors have been developing the report based on the outline agreed by the 195-member government Panel during its 61st Session held in Sofia, Bulgaria from 27 July to 2 August 2024.
This IPCC meeting is hosted by the Kenyan State Department for Environment and Climate Change. It will bring together experts from the IPCC Working Group I (the physical science basis), Working Group II (impacts, adaptation and vulnerability), and Working Group III (mitigation of climate change), including researchers and practitioners from urban communities who have been selected by the Working Group I, II and III Bureaus to serve as Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors on the report.
“We are grateful to be hosted by the Kenyan government and the city of Mombasa. A city – where people live, work and enjoy – that also has unique characteristics, such as having an ocean as its neighbor, a rich cultural blend and history, and is a popular tourist destination. As our authors draft the report, they know their dynamic exchange of ideas throughout the week will be surrounded by numerous urban topics and stakeholders they want to address. We look forward to this unique opportunity to engage with the beautiful city and its vibrant inhabitants.” said Bart van den Hurk, IPCC Working Group II Co-Chair.
The Special Report on Climate Change and Cities aims to provide a timely assessment of the latest science related to climate change and cities, including climate impacts and risks, as well as adaptation and mitigation solutions that can be taken to minimize the impacts and risks.
“African cities are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but they are also critical hubs for climate resilience and action. It is key that we contribute to the Special Report and engage with the assessment cycle to also develop insights that are crucial for decision making in the region, “said Cromwel Lukorito, a climate scientist at the University of Nairobi Department of Earth and Climate Sciences and IPCC Working Group II Vice-Chair, based in Nairobi, Kenya.
The author team of this Special Report comprises a diverse set of experts who participate as authors or review editors, including 13 experts from Africa.
There will be a Media Briefing about the ongoing work on the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities led by IPCC’s Working Group II from 8.30am to 9.00am (local time) on Monday, 21 July 2025 at the Prideinn Paradise Beach Resort and Spa, followed by the formal opening which is open to the media from 9.00 am to 10:00 am (local time).
For more information and interview requests for the IPCC experts participating in this meeting, please contact Woo Qiyun, Senior Communications Manager, IPCC Working Group II Technical Support Unit, media@ipccwg2.org.
Pan-African Regional Outreach Event (25-26 July 2025)
A Pan-African Regional Outreach Event in Support of the IPCC Process will be held at the Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) on 25-26 July 2025.
The Technical University of Mombasa is located along Tom Mboya Street, Mombasa, Kenya.
The Kenyan Government with support from the IPCC will host government and academic representatives from the five African sub-regions (North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and Central Africa) for a two-day outreach event with the aim to increase awareness and opportunities to contribute to the IPCC processes throughout the seventh assessment cycle and beyond.
Speakers from the IPCC Bureau include Working Group I Co-Chair Robert Vautard and Xiaoye Zhang, Working Group II Co-Chairs Winston Chow and Bart van den Hurk, Working Group III Co-Chair Şiir Kilkiş, and Working Group II Vice-Chair Cromwel Lukorito.
For more information about this event, please contact IPCC Head of Communications and Media Relations, Andrej Mahecic (amahecic@wmo.int) and IPCC Communications Officer, Melissa Walsh (mwalsh@wmo.int).
Notes for Editors
What is 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, scientists and experts volunteer their time as IPCC authors 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.
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 Seventh Assessment Cycle
Comprehensive scientific assessment reports are published every 5 to 7 years. The IPCC is currently in its seventh assessment cycle, which formally began in July 2023 with the elections of the new IPCC and Task Force Bureaus at the IPCC’s Plenary Session in Nairobi.
At its first Plenary Session in the seventh assessment cycle – the 60th Plenary Session in Istanbul, Türkiye, in January 2024 – the Panel agreed to produce in this cycle the three Working Group contributions to the Seventh Assessment Report (AR7), namely the Working Group I report on the Physical Science Basis, the Working Group II report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability and the Working Group III report on Mitigation of Climate Change. The Synthesis Report of the Seventh Assessment Report will be produced after the completion of the Working Group reports and released by late 2029.
During its 62nd Plenary Session held in Hangzhou, China, in February 2025, the Panel has agreed on the outlines of the three Working Group contributions to the Seventh Assessment Report (AR7).
The Panel decided already during the previous cycle to produce a Special Report on Climate Change and Cities and a Methodology Report on Short-lived Climate Forcers during AR7.. Scientists have also been asked to deliver a Methodology Report on Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage.
At the IPCC’s 61st Plenary Session held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 27 July to 2 August 2024, the Panel agreed upon the outlines for the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities scheduled for approval and publication in March 2027 and for the 2027 IPCC Methodology Report on Inventories for Short-lived Climate Forcers scheduled for publication in the second half 2027.
In addition, a revision of the 1994 IPCC Technical Guidelines on impacts and adaptation as well as adaptation indicators, metrics and guidelines, will be developed in conjunction with the Working Group II report and published as a separate product.
IPCC’s latest report, the Sixth Assessment Report, was completed in March 2023 with the release of its Synthesis Report, which provided direct scientific input to the First Global Stocktake process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at COP28 in Dubai.
The Sixth Assessment Report comprises three Working Group contributions and a Synthesis Report. The Working Group I contribution Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis was released on 9 August 2021. The Working Group II contribution, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, was released on 28 February 2022. The Working Group III contribution, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change, was released on 4 April 2022 and the Synthesis Report on 20 March 2023. The Synthesis Report to the Sixth Assessment Report, distils and integrates the findings of the three Working Group assessments as well as the three Special Reports released in 2018 and 2019.
The special reports were on Global Warming of 1.5°C (October 2018.), Climate Change and Land (August 2019) and, the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (September 2019).
For more information visit www.ipcc.ch.
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