Archived press release

Stark findings on climate change

26 January 2007

The world's leading scientific experts are set to deliver the latest, starkest findings on climate change.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change begins its release of the long anticipated Fourth Assessment Report in Paris on 2 February 2007, which is set to provide the most credible evidence yet of the human link to climate change and its devastating impacts.

The report which has taken six years to compile draws on research by 2,500 scientists from over 130 countries and should shock the world into taking urgent action to reduce global emissions.

Catherine Pearce, Friends of the Earth's International Climate Campaigner, said:

"This report will show with unquestionable certainty that we are to blame for the last 50 years of warming. The recorded changes in our climate, which had been predicted to start many years from now are already upon us - and with some bleak predictions to come. We can no longer afford to ignore growing and compelling warnings from the world's leading experts.

"This report should provoke the UK government to move its plans for action on climate change up a gear, ensuring that the climate change law - which is going through Parliament - delivers the cuts in carbon emissions which are needed. The Big Ask, Friends of the Earths climate campaign, is calling for a law which commits the Government to reducing the UK's carbon dioxide emissions by at least 3 per cent every year. The law would provide the clarity and confidence Government departments and business need to invest in the solutions to climate change. By taking a lead, the Government will give UK business a competitive advantage in the emerging low carbon friendly market."

Background to the Fourth Assessment Report:

The report is broken down into four sections. The timing for publication of each section is as follows:

• 2 February - Working Group I, Science of climate change
• 6 April - Working Group II, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
• 4 May - Working Group III, Mitigation
• Mid November - Final Synthesis Report, covering key findings of all three Working Groups.

Working Group I - The Physical Science Basis of Climate Change, will assess:

• What progress has been made in understanding and attributing climate change?
• What do observations of the atmosphere, oceans, sea level, snow and ice tell us?
• How has climate been behaving in the last hundreds of thousands of years?
• What are the projections of future changes?

The Report includes significantly advanced observations of the climate system, presents new projections of future global climate change using results from 19 climate models, all with improved representations of physics, chemistry, and spatial resolution. The report also covers the range of anthropogenic greenhouse gases and other factors that drive climate change.

Background to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):

Recognising the problem of potential global climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the IPCC in 1988. It is open to all members of the UN and WMO.

The role of the IPCC is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. It bases its assessment mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific/technical literature.

The First IPCC Assessment Report was completed in 1990. The Report played an important role in establishing the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a UN Framework Convention on Climate Change by the UN General Assembly. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992 and entered into force in 1994. It provides the overall policy framework for addressing the climate change issue.

The IPCC has continued to provide scientific, technical and socio-economic advice to the world community, and in particular to the Parties to the UNFCCC through its periodic assessment reports and special reports. Its Second Assessment Report, Climate Change 1995, provided key input to the negotiations, which led to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC in 1997.

The Third Assessment Report (TAR), Climate Change 2001, was completed in 2001. It was submitted to the 7th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and Parties agreed that it should be used routinely as a useful reference for providing information for deliberations on agenda items of the Conference of the Parties.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust