With its seventh assessment cycle underway, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) convened in an extended session to try to make substantial progress on key issues, including the strategic planning schedule for this cycle. The IPCC also considered the outlines for the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities and the Methodology Report on Short-Lived Climate Forcers. The previous meeting of the IPCC revealed significant differences in opinion regarding the timeline for delivery of key outputs. Thus, progress at this meeting was essential to keeping the Panel’s work on schedule and ensuring it provides timely information for policymakers at all levels.

The IPCC also considered: options for expert meetings and workshops for the seventh assessment cycle; lessons learned from the sixth assessment cycle; and progress reports from the three Working Groups, the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, the Task Group on Data Support for Climate Change Assessments, and the Gender Action Team.  

Other agenda items included the report of the IPCC conflict of interest committee on the revision of the conflict of interest disclosure form, matters related to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and other international bodies, and the report of the Innvoate4Cities conference in 2021.

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. Since its inception, the Panel has prepared a series of comprehensive assessment reports and special reports that provide scientific information on climate change to the international community. Its reports are based on the work of thousands of experts who volunteer as IPCC authors.

The outputs of the IPCC’s seventh assessment cycle will inform the second Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement and will help policymakers evaluate progress toward achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

IPCC-61 convened in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 27 July - 2 August 2024. As IPCC meetings are closed, ENB published pictures and brief highlights each day during the meeting. Our full summary and analysis of the meeting was published after the conclusion of the meeting.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) writers for this meeting were Jessica Templeton, Ph.D.; Laura Bullon-Cassis, Ph.D.; and María Gutiérrez, Ph.D. The Digital Editor was Anastasia Rodopoulou. The Editor was Pam Chasek, Ph.D.