The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations (UN). Its job is to “provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies“. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) set up the IPCC in 1988. The UN endorsed the creation of the IPCC later that year. It has a secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, hosted by the WMO. It has 195 member states who govern the IPCC. The member states elect a bureau of scientists to serve through an assessment cycle. A cycle is usually six to seven years. The bureau selects experts in their fields to prepare IPCC reports. There is a formal nomination process by governments and observer organizations to find these experts. The IPCC has three working groups and a task force, which carry out its scientific work.
The IPCC informs governments about the state of knowledge of climate change. It does this by examining all the relevant scientific literature on the subject. This includes the natural, economic and social impacts and risks. It also covers possible responseoptions. The IPCC does not conduct its own original research. It aims to be objective and comprehensive. Thousands of scientists and other experts volunteer to review the publications. They compile key findings into “Assessment Reports” for policymakers and the general public; Experts have described this work as the biggest peer review process in the scientific community. The IPCC was the first of three global science policy panels to be established, followed by and IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), established in 2012 and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISPCWP) established in 2025.
Leading climate scientists and all member governments endorse the IPCC’s findings. This underscores that the IPCC is a well-respected authority on climate change. Governments, civil society organizations, and the media regularly quote from the panel’s reports. IPCC reports play a key role in the annual climate negotiations held by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report was an important influence on the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015. The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore for contributions to the understanding of climate change.
The seventh assessment cycle of the IPCC began in 2023. In August 2021, the IPCC published its Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report on the physical science basis of climate change. The Guardian described this report as the “starkest warning yet” of “major inevitable and irreversible climate changes”. Many newspapers around the world echoed this theme. In February 2022, the IPCC released its Working Group II report on impacts and adaptation. It published Working Group III’s “mitigation of climate change” contribution to the Sixth Assessment in April 2022. The Sixth Assessment Report concluded with a Synthesis Report in March 2023.
[caption id="attachment_231038" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Very interesting. While a Persian carpet with the motif of an orgy can be admired in the museum, thousands of women are currently being abused, raped and/or killed outside the museum because they no longer want to wear a headscarf and ...
