UN climate panel head wants swift end to deadlock over key scientific report
The world's top climate scientists will reconvene at the earliest opportunity, the panel's chair said on Monday, after member states failed to agree when to release its crucial new findings on global heating.
The chair of the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has called for the expeditious resolution of a deadlock over the release date of a critical scientific report. The IPCC, recognized globally as the leading authority on climate science, is currently grappling with member states' inability to agree on when to release its next key findings on global heating.
Following protracted negotiations that concluded late on Friday in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, member countries including Saudi Arabia, India, and China have sought a delay in the report's release until 2029. They argue that additional time is necessary to incorporate scientific data and information from developing nations. Conversely, many smaller nations most susceptible to the impacts of climate change insist that the report should be published in 2028, in time for a crucial United Nations climate summit.
IPCC chair Jim Skea emphasized the importance of reaching consensus on the timeline for the upcoming IPCC reports, stating that these reports serve to communicate the severity of climate risks and the urgency of mitigation, adaptation, and international cooperation. He stressed that the participation of all countries in the negotiations is crucial to ensure the IPCC's assessments of the planet's condition are robust, representative, and responsive to the needs of all nations.
The IPCC, established in 1988, compiles assessments from thousands of climate scientists working voluntarily to create its extensive reports, typically released every five to seven years. The most recent report was published in 2021. While the Addis Ababa meeting achieved agreement on various issues, including artificial intelligence, consensus on a timeline for the next report and the budget supporting the IPCC's operations remains elusive.
An open letter from the 117 scientists involved in the new report urges governments and the world to utilize the latest available evidence in addressing the climate crisis, warning that an assessment released after the decisions it was intended to inform would fail to serve its purpose. The timing and budget for the next global climate assessment remain unresolved, with proponents of a 2028 release arguing that it would inform the global review of emissions-reduction progress, while those favoring a 2029 release seek additional time to incorporate evidence from developing countries.
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