how do climate experts work?

After eight years of work, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will publish the final summary of its assessment cycle on Monday 20 March. Called “AR6”, it is the sixth global report produced by the body on climate change since 1990.

► What is the IPCC?

Created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme, the IPCC is responsible for regularly establishing a synthesis of the scientific data available on climate change, its consequences and the future risks linked to the evolution of the climate.

This group publishes many reports for the 195 UN Member States, with up-to-date data on the subject, the different climate scenarios in the face of climate change and the presentation of the risks posed by this phenomenon. Its annual budget varies between 5 and 8 million euros, depending on the contributions of the States which choose “independently and voluntarily” the amount of their subsidy.

► Who composes it?

The IPCC includes an executive body, the office, made up of 36 scientists elected during a plenary assembly. This office includes a president (currently Hoesung Lee, a South Korean economist), three vice-presidents and two co-presidents. The current members (including the Frenchwoman Valérie Masson-Delmotte) were elected at the 42nd plenary meeting in 2015. This office will be renewed at the end of the current evaluation cycle.

The office brings together three working groups, each with specific thematic prerogatives and a special team called a “task force”. Group 1 is responsible for analyzing the scientific elements of the climate system and its evolution; group 2 the vulnerability and adaptation of socio-economic systems; group 3 possible solutions to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Hundreds of scientists contribute voluntarily to each report as main authors, coordinators, or reviewers. They come from various regions, selected “to ensure that the reports are not biased by the point of view of one country or group of countries”, explains the IPCC. Industry or NGO representatives may also be consulted on specific issues. Finally, there is a secretariat of around ten permanent staff in Geneva, Switzerland, hosted by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

► Comment s’organise sa production ?

The written production of the Giec is spread out in work cycles, which last on average between five and seven years. For this sixth cycle, the deadlines have been modified by the health crisis. In addition to the one about to be concluded, work cycles were completed in 1990, 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2013-2014.

The evaluation cycles are broken down into three documents published successively by each working group, 1,500 pages each. They are accompanied by a summary report of 30 to 50 pages, and a summary for decision-makers of 5 to 10 pages.

These documents are supplemented from time to time by the publication of special reports to assess a specific aspect. This was the case, for example, in 2018 and 2019 with work on the ocean and on the impact of global warming at 1.5 degrees.

Each document is published after about ten stages, from the preparation of the summary decided upon in plenary meeting and the selection of authors, to the final version of the text, including successive proofreading by specialists. Each report is reviewed three times, in a process that takes about two years.

The IPCC does not produce new data, but it gathers, analyzes and synthesizes the latest advances in scientific research. Its particularity is to involve the States in the development process since the latter must approve the scientific conclusions by validating the “summary for decision-makers”.

These reports are however not binding, according to the adage “policy relevant but not policy prescriptive”, that is to say “politically relevant but not prescriptive”. This text also serves as a basis for discussion by States during international climate negotiations.

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