Contributing to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change.
The IPCC was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. In the same year, the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.
Several of UCL STEaPP's academic staff have been engaging with the IPCC over the past several years, in particular Yacob Mulugetta, Professor of Energy & Development Policy and Arthur Petersen, Professor of Science, Technology & Public Policy.
Past Activity
- Read ‘Three institutional pathways to envision the future of the IPCC’ (Nature Climate Change, 2023)
- Read A Critical Assessment of the Intergovernmental on Climate Change (Cambridge University Press, 2023, open access)
- Read Yacob Mulugetta’s report on the workshop on enhancing African capacity for climate-related research (published January 2017)
In the October 2015 issue of Nature Climate Change, Arthur Petersen, Jason Blackstock and Neil Morisetti argued that IPCC reports were not fit for purpose. The new leadership, elected in the same month, was told that they needed to promote reforms to make the panel more relevant to the actors that use the organisation’s information. The argument of the Commentary in Nature Climate Change was also made in response to questions from BBC News on tasks for the newly elected Chair of the IPCC, in which Arthur Petersen challenged the new Chair to really support a larger author base from developing countries. The new Chair subsequently visited UCL STEaPP on 16 June 2016.
- Read BBC News coverage on the newly elected IPCC Chair and comments by Arthur Petersen.
- The Nature Climate Change Commentary 'New leadership for a user-friendly IPCC' can be found here.
In November 2014 the IPCC AR5 cycle ended in Copenhagen on 1 November 2014 with the approval of the Summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report and adoption of the underlying report.
As an independent contribution to the discussion on the future of the IPCC, Professor Arthur Petersen, Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti and Dr Jason Blackstock from UCL STEaPP convened a workshop on 'Partnering with the Users of IPCC Products - How best to deliver scientific assessments on climate change', which was held at UCL on 4 and 5 February 2014. The outcomes of the workshop were presented during a lunchtime session at the first meeting of the Task Group on the Future Work of the IPCC in Berlin in April 2014.
STEaPP contributors
| Professor Arthur Petersen participated as a member of the Dutch government delegation to all IPCC AR5 and as Focal Point of UCL to all AR6 Working Group Reports and Synthesis Report sessions. |
| Professor Yacob Mulugetta was Coordinating Lead Author of the IPCC AR5 Working Group III report (Energy Systems chapter), member of the Core Writing Team of the IPCC AR5 Synthesis Report (topic facilitator 'adaptation and mitigation measures'), and Lead Author of the IPCC AR6 Working Group III report (Demand, Services and Social Aspects of Mitigation chapter). |
| Professor Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti was co-convener of a workshop on the future of the IPCC and co-author of the subsequent Nature Climate Change article. As former Special Representative for Climate Change for the UK Foreign Secretary, Neil often speaks on IPCC related issues such as climate and security. |
