IPCC Meet in Switzerland

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)?
• What is the importance of Assessment reports prepared by IPCC?
• News Summary: IPCC meet in Switzerland
• What has been published so far as part of the Sixth Assessment Reports?
• Why sustained focus on climate change is necessary?

Why in news?

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is meeting in Switzerland this week to finalise the last report of its sixth assessment cycle.
• The sixth assessment cycle is expected to set up the tempo for a string of climate change-focused discussions over the next fortnight.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

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What is Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)?

• The IPCC is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.
• The IPCC was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
• Its main activity is to prepare Assessment Reports, special reports, and methodology reports assessing the state of knowledge of climate change.
  • The IPCC does not itself engage in scientific research.
  • Instead, it asks scientists from around the world to go through all the relevant scientific literature related to climate change and draw up the logical conclusions.

What is the importance of Assessment reports prepared by IPCC?

• The IPCC’s Assessment Reports (ARs), produced every few years, are the most comprehensive and widely accepted scientific evaluations of the state of the Earth’s climate.
• They form the basis for government policies to tackle climate change, and provide the scientific foundation for the international climate change negotiations.
• Six Assessment Reports have been published so far, the sixth report (AR6) came in three parts.

News Summary: IPCC meet in Switzerland

• The IPCC is about to meet in Switzerland to finalise the last report of its sixth assessment cycle.
• The Synthesis Report is supposed to be a relatively non-technical summary of the previous reports, aimed largely at policymakers around the world.
• This report is meant to address a wide range of policy-relevant scientific questions related to climate change, but, like all IPCC reports, in a non-prescriptive manner.

What has been published so far as part of the Sixth Assessment Reports?

• As part of the sixth assessment cycle, the IPCC published three comprehensive reports:
  • one on scientific evidence for climate change, the other on impacts and vulnerabilities, and the third exploring mitigation options available.
  • Besides these, special reports on the feasibility of keeping global temperature rise within the 1.5 degree Celsius limit, and the connections between land, ocean and cryosphere, were also released.
• Together, these form the most comprehensive understanding of the earth’s climate system, the changes it is undergoing, the repercussions of these changes.
• It also gives the idea about the actions that should to be taken to avoid the worst impacts.

Why sustained focus on climate change is necessary?

• Climate impacts have already begun to hurt population groups.
  • This year’s February in India was the hottest ever, and unusually hot weather continues to prevail in many parts of the country.
  • The situation is similar in several other parts of the world, with extreme weather events becoming the norm.
  • The year 2023 is predicted to be among the warmest ever.
• However, it is in terms of climate action that countries have been found wanting despite repeated predictions of an impending catastrophe.
  • The current level of actions is not even commensurate to the effort required to meet the 2 degree Celsius target.
  • There is disagreement even on something as basic as a commitment to phase out fossil fuels, one of the main contributors to global warming.

Q1) What is climate change?

Climate change refers to long-term changes in the Earth’s climate, including changes in temperature, precipitation, and wind patterns, as a result of natural and human activities. These changes can have significant impacts on ecosystems, human health, and social and economic systems. Human activities have caused a significant increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, leading to global warming and other effects on the climate system. 

Q2) What is World Meteorological Organization?

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that serves as the UN system’s authoritative voice on the state and behavior of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources.

Source: IPCC meet in Switzerland: The significance, likely impact | IPCC | Indian Express