In 2023, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) returned to the forefront with the publication of the summary of its 6th assessment report on climate change.

An intergovernmental group on climate change, the IPCC has long remained confidential. It has now established itself as a scientific reference, against the background of global warming and collective awareness.

His media reports do not leave anyone indifferent and shake people's minds. However, the IPCC is still a group whose functioning is unknown.

SirEnergies invites you to discover this organization, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for its contributions on climate change.

What is the IPCC?

The IPCC is an intergovernmental panel on climate change. In English, it is known by the acronym IPCC or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is a place of collective scientific expertise, passed from shade to light in 45 years of existence.

Who is behind the IPCC?

The IPCC is Born in 1988. From its inception, its mission has been to provide policy makers with scientific, technical and socio-economic assessments of climate change, by analysing causes, potential impacts, future risks and adaptation and mitigation strategies to deal with them.

The IPCC was created by theWorld Meteorological Organization (OMM) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), on the initiative of Pioneering scientists aware of the consequences on the climate of the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

How is the IPCC structured?

The IPCC is a independent intergovernmental scientific group. All WMO and UN member countries can participate in its climate work. Collegial, its governance is based on consensus. The IPCC is governed by:

• The General Assembly : composed of representatives of the governments of the IPCC member countries, it meets once or twice a year in plenary sessions to validate each summary of assessment reports, special reports and methodological reports.
• The Bureau : it is made up of 34 scientists elected by the General Assembly and has been under the presidency of the British climatologist Jim Skea since 2023. The Office sits for the duration of an evaluation cycle, from 5 to 7 years.

Based in Geneva, the IPCC Secretariat ensures the daily management of the organization.

In France, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion is responsible for relations with the IPCC.

What is the role of the IPCC in the fight against climate change?

The IPCC is an independent and climate-neutral organization. His mission? Give states and decision-makers all the scientific keys to decide and guide their climate and energy policies.

The IPCC, a collective expertise mission

The main mission of the IPCC is to present and evaluate, in a scientific, rigorous, objective and neutral manner, the state of scientific knowledge on climate.

Every 5 to 7 years, the IPCC publishes a periodic evaluation report. Groups of scientific experts analyze in detail the causes, impacts and risks associated with climate change for humans and their environment.

They propose projective adaptation and mitigation scenarios. The work is based on solid knowledge, already established by existing technical and scientific documents. Indeed, the IPCC is not intended to be a research laboratory.

In addition, IPCC experts are publishing special scientific reports. The last ones focus on Global warming of 1.5°C, The ocean and the cryosphere in the context of climate change or Climate change and land areas.

Finally, a task force for national inventories of greenhouse gases (PEOPLE) develops methodologies to assist States in monitoring their emissions. The guidelines were revised in 2019.

The IPCC, a scientific reference

The IPCC assessment reports serve as reference to states and decision makers to guide national and international climate and energy policies.

They are used as bases for international negotiations on the climate conducted within the Conference of the Parties (COP) and under the aegis of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).

The latest IPCC assessment report was also the main scientific basis for the first Global Assessment of the Paris Agreement in the fall of 2023.

comprehensive and unbiased, evaluation reports are not inductive or prescriptive. According to the established formula, their contents must be “Relevant policy, but not prescriptive policy” (in French, “politically relevant but not prescriptive”).

How are IPCC reports written?

The summary of the latest IPCC climate report was published in March 2023. While its publication was publicized, it concluded the publication in three parts of the full report from 2021 to 2022.

The three scientific working groups of the IPCC

The evaluation report is composed of three components, each under the direction of a dedicated working group. Three working groups coexist within the IPCC, composed of scientific experts:

• Working group 1 is dedicated to the knowledge and analysis of physical and scientific principles of climate change. It has been co-chaired since 2023 by a French person, the meteorologist and climatologist Robert Vautard.
• Working group 2 focuses on consequences of climate change, as well as on the vulnerability and adaptive capacities socio-economic systems.
• Working group 3 assesses solutions to mitigate climate change and limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Report writing: a structured and consensual process

Each IPCC assessment report is written according to a structured, hierarchical, consensual and highly controlled process. The contents are developed by hundreds of experts, under the coordination of the co-chairs of the working groups and the main authors.

Authors are selected by each working group on the proposal of states and global organizations. The works are examined several times by experts, reviewers and editors. Each report is validated in its full version by the corresponding working group.

This process is the guarantee of having objective, comprehensive and transparent evaluation reports, reflecting the diversity of views of the scientific community.

Member countries only intervene in the final stages, to write and validate line by line, word for word and unanimously the summary intended for decision makers, under the supervision of scientific experts.

The IPCC: some key figures

• 195: the number of member countries of the IPCC, i.e. almost all of the 197 recognized states in the world.
• 6 million euros: the annual budget of the IPCC.
• 10,000: the number of pages in the sixth edition of the IPCC report.
• 37: the number of pages of the summary of the sixth edition of the IPCC report.
• 6: the number of evaluation reports published since 1990.

What are the 5 climate scenarios in the latest IPCC report?

Published in March 2023, the summary of the 6th IPCC assessment report draws an alarming picture of climate change and its impacts on humans and their environment.

But it also proposes concrete mitigation and adaptation solutions to change the climate and socio-economic future. Five scenarios (SSP — Shared Socio-Economic Pathways) are described by scientists in order to better understand possible futures and to support policy guidelines.

2 scenarios with high and very high greenhouse gas emissions

In the most pessimistic scenarios, scientists predict a global warming level of 1.5°C to 1.6°C by 2040, 2.1—2.4°C by 2060, and 3.6—4.4°C by 2060, and 3.6 to 4.4°C by 2100.

This world is marked by a energy-intensive economic development based on unlimited fossil fuels, the multiplication of natural disasters, low investments in education and health, rapid population growth and the rise of inequalities.

Highly vulnerable to climate change, countries are turning inward, giving priority to regional security and energy sovereignty.

If confirmed, these scenarios would illustrate the failure of policies to mitigate energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, they do not take into account the limitation of fossil resources in the world.

1 scenario with intermediate greenhouse gas emissions

In the interim scenario, temperatures could rise by 1.5°C by 2040, 2°C by 2060, and 2.7°C by 2100. It describes an intermediate global warming trajectory, based on the continuation of current trends, with a drop in CO2 emissions starting in 2050.

In this projection, economic and climate inequalities are growing between rich countries and developing countries. Some regions of the world are suffering hard from the impacts of climate change.

2 scenarios with low and very low greenhouse gas emissions

The most optimistic scenarios are in line with the goals set by the Paris Agreement. They predict a rise in temperatures of less than 2°C, with a global warming level of 1.5°C by 2040, between 1.6 and 1.7°C by 2060, and between 1.4 and 1.8°C by 2100.

These are the most sustainable scenarios for humans and their environment, marked by the development of sustainable practices, economic growth and global cooperation.

They foresee the attainment of the carbon neutrality as early as 2050, thanks to the progress of the capture of CO2 in the air. But, based on a significant reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) and carbon emissions by 2020, these scenarios would already be obsolete...

Where can I find the latest IPCC report?

Do you want to decipher the impacts of climate change and the solutions to slow it down? You can consult:

• The summary of the latest IPCC assessment report (in French) on The website of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion.
• The full IPCC reports (in English) on The IPCC website.