Following the June 2022 announcement that the release of the Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment report would be delayed until early 2023, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) used its 57th session to address business and procedural matters. The key agenda items included the work of the Ad Hoc Group on Elections and the IPCC Trust Fund Programme and Budget. On the latter issue, delegates considered the proposed 2022 budget, a forecast 2023 budget, and indicative budget for 2024.  

Additionally, IPCC-57 participants received updates on several areas of the IPCC’s work, including the contributions of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report and the Synthesis Report. This non-technical report is designed for policymakers and integrates the content of the assessment reports produced by the three Working Groups: WGI: The Physical Science Basis; WGII: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability; and WGIII: Mitigation of Climate Change. It also captures key elements of the three Special Reports: Global Warming of 1.5°C, Climate Change and Land, The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

IPCC-57 participants also considered progress reports on:

• Communication and outreach activities;
• The Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories;
• The Task Group on Data Support for Climate Change Assessments;
• The IPCC Scholarship Programme; and
• The Informal Group on Publications.

Established in 1988, the IPCC is made up of 195 governments that are members of the United Nations or the World Meteorological Organization. The Panel provides governments with scientific information that can be used to create climate policies and provides input into multilateral climate change negotiations. Its assessments of the drivers of climate change, impacts, and risks are intended to be policy relevant, but not policy prescriptive. Its assessments are based on the work of thousands of experts who volunteer as IPCC authors.

IPCC-57 was held at the International Conference Center Geneva (CICG), in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27-30 September 2022.