2500
+
SCIENTIFIC EXPERT REVIEWERS
800
+
CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS AND
450
+
LEAD AUTHORS FROM
130
+
COUNTRIES
6
YEARS WORK
1
REPORT
The IPCC 4th Assessment Report is coming out
A picture of climate change
the current state of understanding
2007
2500
+
SCIENTIFIC EXPERT REVIEWERS
800
+
CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS AND
450
+
LEAD AUTHORS FROM
130
+
COUNTRIES
6
YEARS WORK
1
REPORT
The IPCC 4th Assessment Report is coming out
A picture of climate change
the current state of understanding
2007
The IPCC is the leading body for the assessment of climate
change, established by the World Meteorological Organization
and the United Nations Environment Programme to provide
the world with a clear, balanced view of the present state of
understanding of climate change. The IPCC is neutral with
respect to policy.
WHO IS IPCC
IPCC AND UNFCCC
The findings of the first IPCC Assessment Report of 1990 played
a decisive role in leading to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was opened for
signature at the Rio de Janeiro Summit in 1992. IPCC continues
to be a major source of information for the Climate Convention.
www.ipcc.ch
IPCC reviews and assesses the most recent scientific,
technical and socio-economic information relevant to the
understanding of climate change. It provides at regular
intervals comprehensive, rigorously documented reports that
summarize the current knowledge and future projections of
climate change.
WHAT IPCC DOES
The IPCC 4th Assessment Report has been compiled by
three scientific working groups. Review is an essential part
of the IPCC process, to ensure an objective and complete
assessment of current information. Both expert reviewers
and governments are called upon to comment on scientific
and technical matters. A wide circulation process ensures
contributions from independent experts in all regions of the
world and all relevant disciplines. Differing views are reflected
in the documents.
HOW IPCC WORKS
The IPCC 4th Assessment Report (AR4) will come out in 2007
and cover the latest climate change (CC) science. Compared
to the 2001 report, the AR4 pays greater attention to the
integration of climate change with sustainable development
policies and the inter-relationships between mitigation and
adaptation. Specific attention is given to regional issues,
uncertainty & risk, technology, climate change & water.
The Working Group (WG) I volume summarizes the present
knowledge on the physical science basis of CC: atmospheric
composition, observation of various climate parameters,
coupling between changes in climate and biogeochemistry,
evaluation of models and attribution of CC.
The WG II volume carries out a detailed analysis of observed
and projected impacts on natural and human systems in
response to actual and expected climate change stimuli.
The report further addresses key vulnerabilities as well as
adaptation measures for main sectors and regions.
The WG III volume analyses mitigation options for the main
sectors in the near-term, addressing also cross-sectorial matters
such as synergies, co-benefits and trade-offs. It also provides
information on long-term mitigation strategies for various
stabilization levels, paying special attention to implications of
different short-term strategies for achieving long-term goals.
The Synthesis Report (SYR) integrates and synthesizes
all information from the three volumes around 6 topics
areas, providing an overall scientific view of the current
understanding of climate change.
For the reports’ release dates, check the calendar in the back!
CLIMATE CHANGE 2007
CC DEFINITION
The UNFCCC and IPCC use two different definitions of climate
change. In the IPCC ‘s definition, CC may be due to both natural
processes and anthropogenic factors. Finding out to what extent
and how these different factors act and interact in climate change
processes is one of the key aspects of IPCC assessments. The
UNFCCC definition of CC refers on the other hand only to the
change attributed to human activity, since that attributed to
natural causes is referred to as ‘climate variability’.
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2
0
0
7
Brussels:
WGII –
Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability
Bangkok:
WGIII –
Mitigation of CC
Valencia:
AR4 Synthesis Report
I
P
C
C
Paris:
WGI –
The Physical Science Basis
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