IPCC Process

The Working Group III contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (WGIII AR5) Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change was prepared following the IPCC Principles and Procedures, as outlined in the graphic.

 

IPCC Working Group Session

Stages of Report

IPCC Panel Initiates Assessment Report The IPCC Panel decides whether to prepare an IPCC Assessment Report, including the overall structure and the scientific areas to be considered by each Working Group. The outline of the Report is developed through a scoping process involving climate change experts from all relevant disciplines and users of IPCC reports, including representatives from governments. The scoping meeting to define the outline of the AR5 was held in Venice, Italy, 13-17 July 2009.<br/

The outline and structure of the contribution of each Working Group to an Assessment Report is developed by the Working Group Bureau in consultation with experts, governments and observer organizations. The outlines of the Working Group contributions to AR5 were approved by the 31st Session of the IPCC meeting in Bali, Indonesia, 26-29 October 2009, together with a revised timetable.
IPCC Panel Initiates Assessment Report
Publication Before publication, Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors address any changes to the text in the underlying chapters arising from approved changes to the Summary for Policymakers. Most IPCC Reports are published commercially. A limited number of free copies may be provided to experts from developing countries and countries with economies in transition. At the time of publication, the First Order and Second Order Drafts of the Report, their review comments, and the associated responses to the comments are made publicly available, usually by posting on the relevant IPCC website(s). Publication Governments Nominate Experts as Authors and Review Editors Governments and observer organizations are invited to nominate experts who can serve as Coordinating Lead Authors (CLA), Lead Authors (LA), and Review Editors (RE) for the Report. For WGIII AR5, there were over 1400 nominations from more than 85 countries Governments Nominate Experts as Authors and Review Editors Accepts Report At the Working Group Session the SPM is approved and the underlying Report is accepted. The Report is then provided to a session of the Panel for acceptance. Accepts Report Approves SPM Line-by-Line A Session of the Working Group(s) is convened to approve the Summary for Policymakers line-by-line. Coordinating Lead Authors are present at the Session to ensure consistency between the Summary for Policymakers and the underlying Report. For WGIII AR5, this Session takes place in Berlin, Germany, from 7-11 April 2014. Approves SPM Line-by-Line WG Bureau Selects Authors and Review Editors Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors, and Review Editors are selected by the relevant Working Group Bureau from the nominations received. Further experts can be invited by the WG Bureau to fill gaps in expertise. Selection of Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors, and Review Editors reflects the requirements for appropriate expertise; a balance of disciplines; and geographic and gender balance, including ensuring representation of experts from developed and developing countries and countries with economies in transition as well as ensuring involvement of experts who have not been involved with IPCC before.

A total of 235 Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors and 38 Review Editors from 57 countries were selected for WGIII AR5. Nominees not selected as authors or Review Editors are invited to be Expert Reviewers of the Report.
WG Bureau Selects Authors and Review Editors
Final Goverment Distribution The Final Draft of the Report is distributed prior to a Session of the relevant Working Group inviting governments to submit additional comments on the Final Draft of the Summary for Policymakers. Final Goverment Distribution Authors Prepare First Order Draft The writing process is normally initiated by a meeting of all Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors (Lead Author meeting). At this meeting, a more detailed structure is developed for the Report and tasks are allocated to chapter team members. The First Order Draft is finalized shortly after the second Lead Author meeting. Authors Prepare First Order Draft Authors Prepare Second Order Draft After taking into account the comments from the Expert and Government Review, Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors write the Final Draft of the Report. It is important that Reports describe different and possibly controversial scientific, technical, and socioeconomic views on a subject, particularly if they are relevant to the policy debate. Authors Prepare Second Order Draft Authors Prepare Final Draft After taking into account the comments from the Expert and Government Review, Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors are responsible, along with Review Editors, for writing the Final Draft of the Report. It is important that Reports describe different (possibly controversial) scientific, technical, and socioeconomic views on a subject, particularly if they are relevant to the policy debate. The Final Draft of the Summary for Policymakers is drafted. Authors Prepare Final Draft Authors Prepare SPM First Order Draft The First Order Draft of the Summary for Policymakers is drafted. The Summary for Policymakers provides a policy relevant and policy neutral synthesis of the key findings of the Report. Authors Prepare SPM First Order Draft Authors Prepare SPM Final Draft The Final Draft of the Summary for Policymakers is drafted. It is consistent with the factual material contained in the full scientific, technical, and socioeconomic content of the Assessment Report. Authors Prepare SPM Final Draft Authors Revise SPM Final Draft All government comments that were submitted are considered by the SPM drafting team in revising the Final Draft SPM to be considered for approval by the Working Group Session. Authors Revise SPM Final Draft Expert Review The First Order Draft is circulated to experts with significant expertise and/or publications in particular areas of the Report, and experts nominated by governments and observer organizations. The experts comment on the accuracy and completeness of the scientific/technical/socioeconomic content as well as on the overall balance of the Report. The comments are collected by the Technical Support Unit and discussed at the Third Lead Author Meeting. There were more than 16,000 comments on the WGIII AR5 First Order Draft from 602 Expert Reviewers. Expert Review Expert and Government Review The Second Order Draft of the Report and the First Order Draft of the Summary for Policymakers are distributed to Expert Reviewers and the governments of the 195 member countries of the IPCC. The comments are collected by the Technical Support Unit and discussed at the Fourth Lead Author Meeting . There were 19,554 comments on the WGIII AR5 Second Order Draft from 469 Expert Reviewers and 24 Governments. Expert and Government Review Government SPM Review The Final Draft of the Report is distributed prior to a Session of the relevant Working Group inviting governments to submit additional comments on the Final Draft of the Summary for Policymakers. There were 2,573 written comments on the Final Draft of the WGIII AR5 Summary for Policymakers from 37 governments Government SPM Review