Information on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change. It provides regular assessments of the scientific basis for climate change, its impacts and future risks, as well as adaptation and mitigation options.
The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The purpose of the IPCC is to provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies.
The IPCC is an organization of governments that are members of the UN or the WMO. Currently the IPCC includes 195 members.
The IPCC reports represent a key contribution to international negotiations on climate change. Special and methodological reports, as well as assessment reports are produced. The IPCC works by reviewing published literature. The Panel does not conduct its own research. Thousands of people from around the world contribute to the work of the IPCC. For the assessment reports, experts volunteer time as authors to evaluate the thousands of scientific papers published each year in order 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 these risks. The IPCC reports go through multiple stages of preparation and review to ensure that they are comprehensive and objective and produced in an open and transparent manner.
The IPCC is organized in three working groups: Working Group I works on the physical scientific basis for climate change, Working Group II focuses on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change, and Working Group III – on climate change mitigation. In addition, there is a Working Group on National greenhouse gas inventories that develops methodologies for measuring emissions and removals.
The IPCC holds a plenary session at least once a year. The sessions are attended by hundreds of officials and experts from relevant ministries, agencies, and research institutions from member countries and observer organizations. The Panel also endorses and adopts the IPCC reports. It operates by consensus.
To date, six assessment cycles have been completed and six assessment reports have been published (one for each working group and one joint report). These comprehensive scientific assessment reports are published every 5 to 7 years. The last report of the IPCC, the Sixth Assessment Report, was completed in March 2023. It provided a direct scientific input to the global review process under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change at COP28 in Dubai.
The IPCC is currently in its seventh assessment cycle, which officially began in July 2023. The meeting in Sofia from 26 July to 2 August 2024 will be the third meeting of the seventh assessment cycle. The seventh assessment report will be produced after the completion of the working group reports and will be published by the end of 2029.