4.1 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It provides regular assessments of the scientific basis for climate change, its impacts and risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. These assessments provide the essential evidence for decision makers at all levels to develop climate-related policies and underlie any international negotiations. The First Assessment Report supported the establishment in 1992 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The IPCC draws on experts from nearly 200 member states, who volunteer their time to provide an authoritative and comprehensive assessment of climate change science. Its regular assessments are written by hundreds of leading scientists and supported by thousands of reviewers in an open and transparent process that ensures that the reports reflect the full range of views in the global scientific community.

As well as assessment reports, the IPCC publishes special reports on specific climate-related issues. Over the years, these reports have reflected the growing understanding of anthropogenic climate change and provided a more detailed picture of its current and future risks and of ways to deal with them.

The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) was published in 2015 and provided support for the Paris Agreement in its goal to avoid dangerous climate change by keeping global warming to well below 2 °C and if possible limiting it to 1.5 °C.

The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) was published in 2023, in time for COP 28 and the ‘first global stocktake’, when countries reviewed their progress towards the Paris Agreement targets. It adds urgency to these tasks by pointing out that unprecedented changes to our climate system are already causing extreme weather across the world.