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23.17. INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC)

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, in December 1988, on the subject and endorsed the UNEP/ WMO proposal for the setting up of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide the governments of the world with a clear scientific view of what is happening to the world’s climate.

The Secretariat coordinates all the IPCC work and liaises with Governments. The secretariat is supported by WMO and UNEP and hosted at WMO headquarters in Geneva.

It is open to all member countries of the United Nations (UN) and WMO. Currently 195 countries are members of the IPCC.

The initial task for the IPCC as outlined in the UN General Assembly Resolution 1988 was to prepare a comprehensive review and recommendations with respect to the state of knowledge of the science of climate change; social and economic impact of climate change, and possible response strategies and elements for inclusion in a possible future international convention on climate.

The IPCC is a scientific body. It reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio- economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change.

It does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters.


Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis.


Review is an essential part of the IPCC process, to ensure an objective and complete assessment of current information.

Governments participate in the review process and the plenary Sessions, where main decisions about the IPCC work programme are taken and reports are accepted, adopted and approved.

By endorsing the IPCC reports, governments acknowledge the authority of their scientific content. The work of the organization is therefore policy-relevant and yet policy-neutral, never policy-prescriptive.

The IPCC has delivered on a regular basis the most comprehensive scientific reports about climate change produced worldwide, the Assessment Reports.

It has also responded to the need of the UNFCCC for information on scientific and technical matters through Special Reports, Technical Papers and Methodology Reports.

It has also produced methodologies and guidelines to help Parties to the UNFCCC prepare their national greenhouse gas inventories.


 

23.17.1. Assessment Reports