IPCC: ‘Frustrating and disappointing’ meeting leaves AR7 timeline in deadlock
Why it matters: The delay in the IPCC AR7 timeline risks critical climate science not informing the 2028 global stocktake, impacting national climate goals.
- IPCC Chair Prof Jim Skea described the recent 64th session in Bangkok as "frustrating and disappointing," resulting in "minimal outcomes" and decisions primarily to postpone further decision-making.
- A coalition of developing and developed countries supports the IPCC co-chairs' proposal to publish the three working group reports in 2028, ensuring their findings can inform the second global stocktake at COP33.
- A separate group of countries, including China, India, Kenya, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, advocates for a longer timeline, arguing that developing nations require more time to review and approve the reports, potentially pushing some publications past the 2028 global stocktake.
Governments remain deadlocked on the timeline for the IPCC's seventh assessment report (AR7), with a recent Bangkok meeting yielding "minimal outcomes" as countries failed to agree on whether key reports should precede or follow the 2028 global stocktake. This ongoing disagreement, spanning five consecutive meetings, pits a coalition of developed and developing nations advocating for a 2028 publication to inform the stocktake against countries like China and India, who argue for more time for developing nations to review the reports.
