IPCC opens meeting to consider ocean and cryosphere report

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the world body for assessing the science related to climate change — opened a meeting on Friday to consider a special report on the ocean and cryosphere, the word used to describe the frozen parts of the planet.

Hosted by the government of Monaco and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the IPCC session will consider the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, which assesses the impacts of climate change on ocean, coastal, polar and mountain ecosystems, consequences for human communities that depend on them, and options for adaptation and climate resilient development. The IPCC said it is meeting in Monaco from September 20 to 23, 2019.

Last month, the IPCC released another Special Report, Climate Change and Land, and in May it finalised a methodology report – the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate is the third product this year.

“This week’s deliberations on the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate marks another major milestone for the IPCC,” said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee.

“The two special reports this year complement last October’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC. Together they constitute the most up-to-date science on climate change as we prepare for the full Sixth Assessment Report,” he said.

The IPCC special reports have transformed public discussions about climate change. The IPCC is considering the new ocean and cryosphere assessment as leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly and the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit on 20 September.

The new report, which will be released on 25 September, subject to approval, will provide important scientific inputs into the Santiago Climate Change Conference (COP25) later this year.