Climate Talk

Explainer: what the IPCC actually is, and why a 'cycle' takes years

After the Ethiopia news a few people asked me in messages, so I write a short explainer. Corrections welcome!

The IPCC was set up in 1988 by the UN Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization. It has three working groups: WG1 the physical science, WG2 impacts and adaptation, WG3 mitigation. Each 'assessment cycle' produces big reports from each group plus a Synthesis Report. The last cycle (AR6) finished in 2023.

Thousands of scientists volunteer as authors, they review published studies, and then governments approve the short 'Summary for Policymakers' line by line at a plenary. That is why governments must agree, and why it is slow.

The current fight, as the GONOM post explains, is about WHEN the next cycle (AR7) reports should be published. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin link has the daily record, very detailed if you like this stuff.