The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
In brief
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading body for the assessment of climate change and provides the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge on climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences.
- The role of the IPCC is to advise policy makers about the current state of knowledge and provide reliable information pertaining to climate change.
- Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis. The IPCC does not undertake new research but assesses published and peer-reviewed scientific and technical literature.
- The state of knowledge on climate change is summarized in the IPCC assessment reports, published approximately every six to seven years. The latest of these reports, the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, produced in 2007, states global warming is 'unequivocal' and 'most of the observed increase in globally-averaged temperatures since the mid-20th Century is very likely due to the observed increase in greenhouse gas concentrations'.
- The IPCC assessment reports and the consensus within the mainstream scientific community is that climate change is real, currently being observed and will have significant future impacts if no action is taken to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
- The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report is being written and will be published in stages throughout 2013 and 2014.
- Further information concerning the IPCC, including the Assessment Reports, can be found on their website at www.ipcc.ch.
In detail
Background of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The IPCC is the leading body for the assessment of climate change and provides the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge on climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences. It is acknowledged by governments around the world, including the Australian Government, as the authoritative source of advice on climate change.
The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly. The IPCC is open to all member countries of the United Nations and the WMO. There are currently 194 member countries.
The IPCC is a scientific body. It reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change. It does not conduct any research, nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters.
Because of its scientific and intergovernmental nature, the IPCC embodies a unique opportunity to provide rigorous and balanced scientific information to decision makers. By endorsing the IPCC reports, governments acknowledge the authority of their scientific content.
How the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change works
Figure 1: The structure of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The IPCC is supported by a central Secretariat, whose role is to plan, coordinate and oversee all IPCC activities. The Secretariat is supported by both WMO and UNEP and is hosted at WMO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The IPCC Secretariat coordinates all the IPCC work and liaises with governments.
The IPCC is currently organised in three Working Groups and a Task Force that focus on specific aspects of climate change:
The Working Groups and the Task Force are assisted by Technical Support Units (TSUs). The TSUs are hosted and financially supported by the government of the developed country co-chair of that Working Group or Task Force. In addition to the Working Groups and Task Force, further Task Groups and Steering Groups may be established for a limited or longer duration to consider a specific topic or question.
The panel meets approximately once a year at Plenary Sessions. These sessions are attended by hundreds of officials and experts from relevant government departments, agencies and research institutions from member countries and from observer organizations such as international governmental organisations , and non-government organisations . Major decisions are taken by the panel during the Plenary Sessions such as: the election of the IPCC Chair, IPCC Bureau and the Task Force Bureau; the structure and mandate of IPCC Working Groups and Task Forces; IPCC principles and procedures, the work-plan of the IPCC; the scope and outline of IPCC reports; the approval, adoption and acceptance of reports.
The purpose of the IPCC Bureau is to provide guidance to the panel on the scientific and technical aspects of its work, to advise on related management and strategic issues, and to take decisions on specific issues within its mandate in accordance with the Principles governing IPCC Work.
The coordinating lead authors (CLAs) coordinate the content of the chapter they are responsible for. There are usually two CLAs per chapter: one from a developing country and one from a developed one. Lead authors (LAs) work in teams to produce the content of the chapter. CLAs and LAs are selected by the relevant Working Group or Task Force Bureau, under general guidance provided by the session of the Working Group. In the case of reports prepared by the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, CLAs and LAs are selected from experts provided by governments and participating organisations, and other experts as appropriate. Contributing authors provide more technical information on specific subjects covered by the chapter. None of the IPCC authors are paid by IPCC.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports and Peer Review
The role of the IPCC is to advise policy makers about the current state of knowledge and provide reliable information pertaining to climate change. Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis. IPCC does not undertake new research but assesses published and peer-reviewed scientific and technical literature.
Peer-review is an essential part of the IPCC process, to ensure an objective and complete assessment of current information. IPCC aims to reflect a range of views and expertise. IPCC processes are characterised by broad expert participation, rigorous oversight, and transparency. Any interested individual or organisation can comment on draft reports and chapter authors are required to justify their treatment of each comment, in writing, to independent review editors.
The state of knowledge on climate change is summarised in the IPCC assessment reports, published approximately every six to seven years. These reports have been some of the most intensely scrutinised science reports ever produced, reflecting the views of the majority of the international climate science community. The latest of these reports, the Fourth Assessment Report, produced by the IPCC in 2007, was compiled over six years, bringing together scientists from over 130 countries, involving 1250 scientific authors, more than 2500 expert reviewers and 90 000 review comments. The Fourth Assessment Report states global warming is 'unequivocal' and 'most of the observed increase in globally-averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in greenhouse gas concentrations'. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report is being written and will be published in stages throughout 2013 and 2014.
The IPCC assessment reports have become standard climate change reference works that are used widely by policymakers, scientists, experts, students, and the public. They are written and reviewed by thousands of scientists and experts from universities and research institutes around the world. As a result, a large fraction of the international climate change community is involved in the production of the IPCC reports. As increasing evidence has been found on the influences of human activities on the earth's system, increasingly definitive statements about human impacts on climate have been made in the IPCC assessment reports.
The findings of IPCC have been strongly supported by more recent publications that summarise the peer reviewed literature including, the American National Academies, the Royal Society in the United Kingdom and the Australian Academy of Science.
Recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change controversies
Emails stolen from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia
In November 2009, hackers illegally accessed thousands of emails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) and posted them online. Subsequent media reports alleged that the emails proved CRU scientists had used 'tricks' to manipulate data and falsify findings, undermining the credibility of the Fourth Assessment Report.
Six reviews related to the CRU emails have been completed. In composite, the six reviews found that no scientific misconduct had taken place and that the hacked emails provide no reason to challenge the science of climate change. Nothing has been found in the stolen emails to undermine the central conclusions of the Fourth Assessment Report and the CRU has been cleared of all allegations.
Errors in the Fourth Assessment Report
Since the release of the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report, two errors on points of detail have been found in the Working Group II report (Impacts and Adaptation); one relating to the rate of loss of the Himalayan glaciers and another concerning the area of the Netherlands which is susceptible to inundation from sea level rise.
IPCC chairs have announced that one paragraph relating to loss of Himalayan glaciers by 2035 was poorly based. They indicated that in this case, the normal thorough process of preparation of an IPCC report was not followed.
The error concerning the area of the Netherlands susceptible to inundation from sea level rise was because incorrect information was provided by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
No errors have been found in the Working Group I report which examines the physical scientific basis for climate change. The science of climate change remains robust—it shows that greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are changing the Earth's climate system.
Review and continuous improvement
Following the controversies regarding potential errors in the Fourth Assessment Report, two reviews of the IPCC have been completed. The InterAcademy Council (IAC) conducted a review of IPCC's processes and procedures at the request of the United Nations and the IPCC.
The IAC review concluded that the process of preparing IPCC assessment reports on climate change had to date been successful, however recommendations on how to improve IPCC processes and management structures were made. The recommendations were considered by IPCC member governments at its session in Busan, South Korea 11–14 October 2010.
IPCC agreed to immediately implement many of the recommendations, which included providing guidance on uncertainty, non-peer-reviewed literature and addressing potential errors.
In addition, the panel agreed to set up a task group to address the establishment of an Executive Committee, review the key responsibilities of the Secretariat, as well as the terms of reference of chairs and co-chairs of the Working Groups. IPCC also decided to implement a rigorous conflict of interest policy and established a task group to propose options. IPCC accepted the IAC recommendation to develop a communications strategy, and also formed a task group to address other IAC recommendations related to IPCC procedures for the preparation of the assessment reports.
Further information concerning IPCC, including the assessment reports, can be found on their website at www.ipcc.ch.