Summary Report ｜

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IPCC-51 will consider the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in Changing Climate (SROCC). Delegates are expected to adopt the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) and approve the underlying report, which evaluates the ways climate change will affect the ocean and marine life, as well as areas where water is found in its solid state, for example in polar or high-mountain regions. The report also assesses the impacts on communities around the world and options for adapting to climate-related changes for a more sustainable future.

The word “cryosphere” – from the Greek kryos, which means meaning cold or ice – describes the areas the frozen components of the Earth system, including snow, glaciers, ice sheets and ice shelves, icebergs and sea ice, frozen lakes and rivers, as well as permafrost and seasonally frozen soil and ground.

IPCC-51 will be opened by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee, and senior officials from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Prior to the report’s consideration by the IPCC, the second Joint Session of Working Groups (WGs) I and II will discuss the draft SPM, line-by-line.

The SROCC will contribute to the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle and the UNFCCC process and covers many issues addressed by the Sustainable Development Goals.

In April 2016, IPCC-43 took a decision to prepare this special report. The report’s outline was approved by IPCC-45 in March 2017 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Approximately 130 scientists from over 35 countries are participating in the report as Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors, who are each working on specific chapters, and Review Editors, who seek to ensure that comments by experts and governments are considered through the development of the report. The SROCC is being developed under the joint scientific leadership of WGs I and II and is supported by the WG II Technical Support Unit (TSU).

Created in 1988 by the WMO and UNEP, the IPCC aims to provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies.

IPCC-51 will convene from 20-23 September 2019 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. A press conference to present the SPM will be held on Wednesday, 25 September, at 11:00 am Monaco time, at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.