The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

When the United Nations embarked on controlling climate change it needed a clearing house for climate science. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC was set up in 1988, parented by two UN organisations: the World Meteorological Organsation WMO and the UN Environment Programme.

The role of the IPCC is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for addressing it. The IPCC does not carry out research itself but bases its assessment on peer reviewed and published scientific/technical literature.

It has been six years since the last assessment report and according to the IPCC’s Working Group I, humans are the primary cause of the build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases are causing global climate change.

The IPCC has three Working Groups and a Task Force

  • Working Group I assesses the scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change.
  • Working Group II assesses the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change.
  • Working Group III assesses options for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and otherwise mitigating climate change.
  • The Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories is responsible for the IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme.

Main Activities and Products

A key activity of the IPCC is to provide in regular intervals an assessment of the state of knowledge on climate change.

The First IPCC Assessment Report was completed in 1990. The Report played an important role in establishing the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Its Second Assessment Report, Climate Change 1995, provided key input to the negotiations, which led to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC in 1997.

The Third Assessment Report (TAR), Climate Change 2001, was completed in 2001. It was submitted to the 7th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and Parties agreed that it should be used routinely as a useful reference for providing information for deliberations on agenda items of the Conference of the Parties.
/ ©: IPCC
IPCC Third Assessment Report – Climate Change
© IPCC

The facts...

IPCC - the consensus on climate change:

  • 2500+ scientific expert reviewers
  • 800+ contributing authors
  • 450+ lead authors
  • from 130+ countries
Visit the IPCC Official website

WWF materials on IPCC

The latest IPCC report released in 2007

During 2007, the IPCC’s 4th Assessment report is being finalised and released.
On Friday, 2 February 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - IPCC issued the first of three working group reports of its Fourth Assessment Report, on the underlying science of climate change in Paris.

The report of Working Group II, released in Brussels on 6 April 2007, assesses impacts, adaptation and vulnerability of the Earth to climate change. It will look at consequences for the environment and nature, for agriculture, forestry and fisheries, health and disaster prevention.

The report of Working Group 3 will be release on 4 May 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand. It will deal with ‘mitigation of climate change’ i.e. look at the economic and social conditions to keep climate change as low as possible.

From 12 to 16 November the IPCC will meet in Valencia Spain to finalise its synthesis rport. This is the most polticial of the reports as delegates from over 100 governments negotiate the final text.

The reports will provide a crucial basis for the conference a month later in Bali, Indonesia, where 190 governments will negotiate deep cuts in CO2 emissions for after the KyotoProtocol’s foirst phase finishes in 2012.

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