50th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-50)
2-7 August 2019 | Geneva, Switzerland
Summary Highlights: 2-7 August 2019
On Wednesday afternoon, 7 August 2019, the 50th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-50) adopted the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) and accepted the underlying report. The SRCCL represents the first ever comprehensive look at the whole land-climate system, addressing land as a critical resource, desertification and land degradation, food security, and land and climate change responses.
The SCCRL’s official name is “Climate Change and Land: An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems.” It was prepared by 107 experts from 52 countries, including 15 Coordinating Lead Authors (CLAs), 71 Lead Authors, and 21 Review Editors. This is the first IPCC report in which a majority of the authors are from developing countries, with women accounting for 40% of CLAs. The report includes over 7,000 cited references. The author team considered over 28,275 expert and government review comments, including 3,043 on the final government draft.
Highlights for Wednesday, 7 August 2019
The 50th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-50) concluded Wednesday, 7 August 2019, with the adoption of the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL). Although the meeting was initially scheduled to end on 6 August, delegates ended up working through the night to reach line-by-line agreement on the SPM in the second Joint Session of IPCC Working Groups (WGs) I, II and III, in cooperation with the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI). The SPM was forwarded to the Panel for adoption. The Panel also accepted the underlying technical report.
The SRCCL SPM has four sections:
- People, land and climate in a changing world;
- Adaptation and mitigation response options;
- Enabling response options; and
- Action in the near term.
IPCC-50 also discussed collaboration between the IPCC and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and heard oral progress reports on the Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report and the Task Group on the Organization of the Future Work of the IPCC in light of the Global Stocktake.
IPCC-50 concluded at 3:16 pm on Wednesday, 7 August.
The ENB Summary and Analysis of IPCC-50 and of the second Joint Session of WGs I, II and III is available in HTML and PDF.
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Highlights for Tuesday, 6 August 2019
On Tuesday, the second Joint Session of IPCC Working Groups (WGs) I, II and III, in cooperation with the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI), continued consideration of the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL). Delegates met in morning, afternoon and night plenary sessions, as well as in contact groups and huddles to advance work on the SPM.
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Highlights for Monday, 5 August 2019
On Monday, the second Joint Session of IPCC Working Groups (WGs) I, II and III, in cooperation with the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI), continued consideration of the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL). Delegates met in morning, afternoon and evening sessions to discuss specific paragraphs in sections that address: people, land and climate in a changing world; and adaptation and mitigation response options. They also addressed relevant Figures in the text. Various subsections were taken up in contact groups and huddles throughout the day.
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Highlights for Sunday, 4 August 2019
On Sunday, the second Joint Session of IPCC Working Groups (WGs) I, II and III, in cooperation with the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI), continued consideration of the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL). Delegates met in morning, afternoon and evening sessions to discuss specific paragraphs in the section on people, land and climate in a changing world, and a relevant figure and table. Various subsections were taken up in contact and informal groups throughout the day.
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Highlights for Saturday, 3 August 2019
On Saturday, the second Joint Session of IPCC Working Groups (WGs) I, II and III, in cooperation with the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI), continued consideration of the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL). Delegates met in morning, afternoon and evening sessions to discuss specific paragraphs in the section on People, land and climate in a changing world.
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Highlights for Friday, 2 August 2019
Welcoming participants to IPCC-50 on Friday morning, IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee noted that the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) is the first report produced by all three IPCC Working Groups (WGs) and the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventories (TFI), with an integrated policy-relevant approach addressing all three UN Rio conventions.
Elena Manaenkova, WMO Deputy Secretary-General, emphasized the importance of the SRCCL for WMO’s core work given its recent strategic decision to move fully towards an integrated “Earth system” approach.
Via video message, UN Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen noted that the SRCCL report is timely and underscored the need to translate science to action toward restoring “our degraded planet.”
Florian Vladu, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, said the SRCCL will guide policymakers and practitioners on enabling the best adaptation and mitigation response measures, and said continuing collaboration between the Subsidiary Body on Scientific Technical Advice (SBSTA) and the IPCC at the science-policy interface is effective in enhancing the flow of science into the UNFCCC.
Marc Chardonnens, Director, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, cautioned against attempting to negotiate science or seeking to discredit IPCC reports and engaging in “selective amnesia,” saying that “we cannot play with the facts.”
The Panel adopted the agenda, with additions on cooperation with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and on progress on the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) Synthesis Report (SYR) to the agenda item on Any Other Business. Adoption of the report of IPCC-49 was postponed pending informal consultations.
The IPCC also took note of the report of the Task Group on the Organization of the Future Work of the IPCC in Light of the Global Stocktake under the UNFCCC.
IPCC-50 was then suspended until Tuesday, 6 August.
The second Joint Session of WGs I, II and III, in cooperation with the TFI, then convened to begin consideration of the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the SRCCL. Following an overview of the SPM’s approval process, participants discussed the Introduction, which addresses the origins and structure of the SRCCL and includes a number of footnotes that explain the use of terms in the SRCCL. Participants then began discussions on Section A on ‘People, land and climate in a changing world.’
A reception hosted by the Government of Switzerland was held in the evening for participants.
+ Visit the web coverage for Friday, 2 August 2019
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IISD ENB/ENB+ Meeting Coverage
- Bonn Climate Change Conference - June 2019, 17-27 June 2019, Bonn, Germany
- IPCC-49, 8-12 March 2019, Kyoto, Japan
- Katowice Climate Change Conference - December 2018, 2-14 December 2018, Katowice, Poland
- IPCC-48, 1-6 October 2018, Incheon, Republic of Korea
- IPCC-47, 13-16 March 2018, Headquarters of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris, France
- Fiji / Bonn Climate Change Conference 2017, 6-17 November 2017, Bonn, Germany
- IPCC-46, 6-10 September 2017, Montreal, Canada
- IPCC-45, 28-31 March 2017, Guadalajara, Mexico
- Marrakech Climate Change Conference - November 2016, 7-18 November 2016, Marrakech, Morocco
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