Sunday morning brought a moment of celebration at the 58th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as delegates concluded their review of the Summary for Policymakers of the synthesis of the Sixth Assessment Report. After a week of negotiations, which went two full days past the scheduled conclusion and involved round-the-clock deliberations, applause erupted when delegates provisionally approved the final line of text. Delegates gave a standing ovation to IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee, the IPCC Secretariat, and the authors, expressing appreciation for their work and central contributions to the IPCC’s outputs during the sixth assessment cycle.
The work of IPCC-58 was not done, however. Delegates reconvened in plenary at 1:00 pm to review and adopt the Synthesis Report. Following repeated delays, delegates initiated this work in the late afternoon. They reviewed the report page by page before adopting it and formally approving the Summary for Policymakers in the early evening.
In their closing remarks, many delegates welcomed the Sixth Assessment Report and highlighted the importance of the Panel’s work to provide policymakers with key inputs on the state of knowledge on climate change.
Highlighting that this approval marks the culmination of the sixth assessment cycle, Chair Lee thanked participants for their unshakeable commitment and tireless work. He gaveled IPCC-58 to a close at 7:35 pm.
All ENB photos are free to use with attribution. For the 58th Session of the IPCC, please use: Photo by IISD/ENB | Anastasia Rodopoulou
To receive free coverage of global environmental events delivered to your inbox, subscribe to the ENB Update newsletter.
Plenary Session
IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee
Delegates celebrating the approval of the Summary for the Policymakers
Jim Skea, Working Group (WG) III Co-Chair
Tejal Kanitkar, India
Qingchen Chao, China
Jan Fuglestvedt, WGI Vice-Chair
IPCC Secretary Abdalah Mokssit
Jolene Cook, United Kingdom
Antonio López Nicolás, Spain
Claudia Alejandra Octaviano Villasana, Mexico
Jens Tambke, Germany
Sebastian König, Switzerland
Maria Aljishi, Saudi Arabia
Andreas Fischlin, WG II Vice-Chair
Daniel Machado da Fonseca, Brazil
Alana Marie Carlson, Quaker UN Office
Ramón Pichs-Madruga, WGIII Vice-Chair
Heta-Elena Heiskanen, Finland
Marcel Berk, the Netherlands
Friedemann Call, Germany
Malak Al-Nory, Saudi Arabia
Melanie Ford, Australia
Andrew Ferrone, Luxembourg
Celsos Pazos Alberdi, Cuba
IPCC Secretariat Interns
Authors and TSU members listening to the process
Mathias Garschagen, Core Writing Team
A Chinese delegate asking for a clarification on the report
IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee gavels the approval of the last line of text of the Summary for Policymakers.
Sarah Connors, Head, WGI Science Team, was praised by IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee
Authors celebrate the approval of the Summary for the Policymakers
Authors consult in between plenary sessions.
Delegates consulting informally in a huddle
Sarah Connors, Head WGI, Science Team
Gerherd Krinner, Core Writing Team
Delegates gave a standing ovation to honor Øyvind Christophersen, Norway upon his retirement.
Delegates observed a moment of silence in memory of IPCC colleague Patricia Annie Courtin.
Between Sessions
IPCC Secretariat and Technical Support Unit members
Around the Venue
IPCC-58 Earth Negotiations Bulletin Team
L-R Deborah Davenport, US, Anastasia Rodopoulou, Greece, Maja Schmidt-Thomé, Germany, Jessica Templeton, US, Laura Bullón-Cassis, Switzerland, and Moritz Petersmann, Finland