by Dr. Donna Charlevoix, GPO Climate Research Campaign Coordinator
The conference here is very large and as such there are many meetings and informational sessions that occur at the same time. It is difficult to select which talks to attend. I made an excellent choice, I think, yesterday in attending an update of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports. The IPCC was formed in 1988 and is comprised of hundreds of scientists who are experts in climate. They have issued four assessment reports, most recently in 2007. There are four working groups within the IPCC and each working group issues a report. They also provide summaries for policy makers and other technical papers.
Yesterday I attended a session where the lead authors of the IPCC provided insight into how the results of the fourth report will be informing negotiations here at COP-15. They also provided a preview of the fifth report they have started work on. The session has been highlighted by news sources around the world (COP-15, BBC, Alijazeera).
The session began with the Chairman of the IPCC, Dr. Pachauri, addressing the breach of security at the University of East Anglia where emails of climate scientists (who are members of the IPCC) were stolen and distributed to the public. He reiterated his confidence in the science of the IPCC reports and process by which the results were derived. The fourth report of the IPCC included over 250 lead authors (can you imagine trying to complete a group project with that size team?!) and over 2,500 reviewers of the results.
The various working group reports of the fifth assessment are expected to be released in 2013 and 2014. New elements that will be included in the fifth assessment are an assessment of geoengineering. (Briefly in this context, geoengineering is a way to deal with through man-made design.) The next assessment will have a stronger focus on impacts of climate change. The report will focus on how to address the real threat of climate change. Some of the new areas that they will focus on include:
• how impacts of climate change can be avoided, reduced or developed by mitigation
• how increased adaptation to climate change can help reduce future vulnerability of people
• an improved examination of regional impacts of climate change
The fifth assessment report is also expected to look at a broader range of ocean impacts as well as looking closely at weather extremes and disaster and the treatment of costs associated with those events. In the words of Dr. Field, the fifth report moves from making the point that climate change is real to “here is information you need to make good decisions” to adapt to the upcoming changes in climate.
The information the scientists provided was very interesting and the room had standing room only with people sitting on the floor in the aisles and standing outside the doors. Clearly, the attendees at the conference found this session important – I hope the brief insight I’ve shared helps you see the next steps a little more clearly as well.
