Climate Change: Fostering Global Solutions to a Global Problem

Evidenced by rising sea levels and habitat destruction, climate change is an unsettling reality of our times. This international problem can only be fixed with international cooperation, which is precisely where the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) takes charge. The IPCC is a body of the United Nations tasked with studying climate change and its effects and reporting its findings to policymakers. The IPCC has a report on the science of climate change set to be released this August. In a recent educational program moderated by Thanos Dimadis of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents, Ko Barrett of the IPCC, and Pete Ogden of the UN Foundation fielded several questions from reporters eager to hear new insights into the highly-anticipated report and understand its implications for the future of international policy-making around climate change. 

The IPCC’s task is twofold: to research relevant scientific data on climate change and make it understandable to government officials who lack scientific backgrounds. The IPCC meets this mandate by producing a “Summary for Policymakers,” a distilled version of the full-length reports (which are hundreds of pages) geared at policymakers. The labor of writing and presenting is divided up into “Working Groups,” which are each tasked with a different area of focus. The first working group report in the current cycle, slated for release on August 9, will be produced by Working Group 1 (WGI), which studies the physical evidence of climate change.  Barrett stressed the continuing need for IPCC reports – which are requested by governments – by citing the ever-changing nature of climate change and how it requires constant study to modify guidelines. 

Both Barrett and Ogden emphasize the international nature of this initiative. The IPCC, Barrett proudly states, has representation from 234 authors from 65 countries, 63% of whom are new to the organization. Together, these scientists have looked at 14,000 peer-reviewed publications and sifted through tens of thousands of comments on their work. Ogden adds that the sheer number of countries represented leads to better data and encourages international cooperation in policymaking.

Nevertheless, the process is not without its challenges. First and foremost is the impact of COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, a number of deadlines had to be rescheduled. In addition, the upcoming plenary session, where the WGI Summary for Policymakers will be approved, will be held virtually for the first time --  a monumentally difficult task given that representatives from the IPCC’s 195 member countries will have to attend the session online. The IPCC is dedicated to addressing questions of equity that arose in response to the new virtual format, including ensuring all the participants will have the necessary infrastructure and planning for technology-related challenges, such as disconnected calls. The IPCC also received some criticism from one reporter for its policy barring reporters from the plenary negotiations, where governments reach consensus on the text of the Summary for Policymakers. This rule, the reporter argued, makes the process of negotiation less transparent to concerned outsiders, which in turn holds the government officials less accountable. On the flip side, closed negotiations facilitate open conversations between parties who may be hesitant to speak freely with journalists in the room. What’s more, official observer organizations to the IPCC, including many NGOs, are allowed access to negotiating sessions. It is standard policy that when IPCC plenary sessions conclude, all draft reports and comments are made public, in addition to the final report, in order to promote transparency.

While climate change is perceived in many communities as a simple truth and something that we must fix immediately, an unsettling number of officials still refuse to accept the overwhelming scientific evidence. This disconnect, especially during a time of internet-spread misinformation, makes the work of the IPCC a precious tool in the global policymaker’s arsenal. This organization is a major player in the international cooperation needed to make a change. The Association will be awaiting their upcoming reports, the first of which is scheduled for release on August 9, 2021.    

Watch the virtual program: