When climate change was first posited as "real" people all over the world realized that this issue encompasses the inter linkage of several other issues. The scope and magnitude of the consequences of climate change are also very far reaching. There emerged a critical need for an objective source of information on the subject so that people could understand it in a broader context and make informed decisions.
Hence, in1988, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
As a scientific body it provides information with reports based on comprehensive scientific evidence that reflects existing viewpoints within the scientific community.
It does not directly monitor data or climate related parameters, nor does it conduct any research of its own. It basically assesses the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic literature. IPCC reports are policy neutral. They reflect a range of views, expertise and wide geographical coverage with high scientific and technical standards.
Constituents
Governments of all member countries of WMO and UNEP participate in plenary sessions of the IPCC. It is at these plenaries that the main decisions about the work programme of the IPCC are taken and reports are presented for discussion and approved. They also participate in the review of IPCC Reports.
Hundreds of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC as authors, contributors and reviewers.
The IPCC provides its reports at regular intervals and they immediately become standard works of reference, widely used by policymakers, experts and students.
The first IPCC Assessment Report of 1990 was a decisive document that guided the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 1992).
Their Second Assessment Report of 1995 was the backdrop for the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.
Since then two more reports have been published, The Third Assessment Report (TAR) 2001 and the most recent, Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) 2007.
Working groups
There are three Working Groups which are responsible for different aspects of climate change. Each of these publishes their separate reports, which are then synthesized into the single reports like the TAR and the AR4. There are strict procedures agreed by the panel for the preparation and publication of all IPCC reports.
The IPCC Chair, the Working Group and Task Force Co-chairs guide the hundreds of experts in the preparation of IPCC reports as authors, contributors and reviewers. The composition of author teams reflects the range of views, expertise and geographical representation. The preparation of IPCC reports are reviewed by governments and experts.
The IPCC Working Group I (WGI) assesses the physical scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change. It launched its latest report "Climate Change 2007 - The Physical Science Basis" in Paris on February 2, 2007. It includes details of recent changes in air, land and ocean temperatures, rainfall, glaciers and ice sheets; as well as on changes in greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere and the extent to which they affect climate
The IPCC Working Group II (WGII) assesses the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change; it assesses the negative and positive consequences of climate change, and outlines options for adaptation.
"Climate Change 2007 - Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability", its latest report was launched on April 6, 2007 in Paris.
The report provides a comprehensive analysis of how climate change is affecting natural and human systems, what the impacts will be in the future and how far adaptation and mitigation can reduce these impacts. It assesses the latest scientific, environmental and socio-economic literature on "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability".
The IPCC Working Group III (WGIII) assesses options for mitigating climate change through limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing activities that remove them from the atmosphere.
It launched its latest report, "Climate Change 2007 - Mitigation of Climate Change" in Bangkok on 4 May 2007. This report addresses the significant relationship between mitigation and sustainable development. It analyses options and the costs and benefits of different approaches for mitigation in the main economic sectors for the period between now and 2030
Other reports
The IPCC also produces Special Reports; Methodology Reports; Technical Papers; and Supporting Material, often in response to requests from the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, or from other environmental Conventions
Other functions
The Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI) was established by the IPCC to oversee the IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme (IPCC-NGGIP) to meet the inventory reporting requirements of Parties to the UNFCC, and is normally undertaken in response to an invitation by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC.
Its purpose is to develop and refine an internationally-agreed methodology and software for the calculation and reporting of national GHG emissions and removals; to encourage the widespread use of this methodology by signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); and to maintain an Emission Factor Database to be used for estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals.
There is another task group - on Data and scenario support for impacts and climate analysis (TGICA). It aims to facilitate wide availability of climate change related data and scenarios.
Compilation of resources
U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Former Vice President Al Gore received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize creating an "ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming", by involving thousands of scientists and officials from over 100 countries and for efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it. The prize was handed over during a ceremony in Oslo on December 10.
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The main activity of the IPCC is to provide in regular intervals Assessment Reports of the state of knowledge on climate change. The latest one is "Climate Change 2007", the Fourth IPCC Assessment Report. The IPCC also produces Special Reports; Methodology Reports; Technical Papers; and Supporting Material which is available on this site.
The principles governing IPCC can be found here.
The IPCC Data Distribution Centre (DDC) is designed primarily for climate change researchers, but materials contained on the site may also be of interest to educators, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and the general public. The Assessment Reports can be found on this site.
... it should be absolutely clear that it is the two largest CO2 emitters, the . United States and China "most of all, the US" that will need to make the boldest moves, or stand accountable before history for their failure to act.
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The successive assessment reports published by the IPCC since 1990 demonstrate the progress of scientific knowledge about climate change and its consequences. There is now more scientific evidence of the reality of climate change and its human contribution. As stated in the Fourth Assessment Report, "warming of the climate system is unequivocal", and "most of the global average warming over the past 50 years is very likely due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases increases".
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This Website answers some elementary questions on Climate Change by the author Jean-Marc Jancovici.
Further reading
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ? Nobel lecture - Click here
- Al Gore: Nobel lecture - Click here
- Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report - Read more