IPCC approves outline of Working Group III contribution to Assessment Report
10/29/2009 - On Wednesday, the outline of the Working Group III contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the IPCC was approved by the IPCC Plenary. From October 26 to 29 government delegates from more than 100 countries met with the three IPCC Working Groups on the island of Bali, Indonesia. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the chapter outlines of all three Working Groups and their respective contributions.
The envisaged structure of the contribution by Working Group III, co-chaired by Ottmar Edenhofer, Youba Sokona and Ramon Pichs-Madruga, consists of four parts. The first two parts will cover the introduction and the so-called framing issues. These are the methods for integrated risk and uncertainty assessments and economic analyses, and the concepts on which social and ethical decision making is based. To integrate these different analytical approaches, a chapter on sustainable development and equity will conclude the part on the framing issues.
Part III will provide detailed top-down and bottom-up analyses of the most emission-intensive sectors, such as energy, transport, buildings, industry and agriculture. These analyses will provide technological and macro-economic assessments of the mitigation potential of these different sectors. In addition, the required behavioural and social changes will be discussed. To conclude part III, a chapter on human settlements, infrastructure and spatial planning will integrate the outcomes of the sectoral analyses and assess their implications in the light of urbanisation and climate change mitigation efforts. An Expert Meeting planned for spring 2010 will provide further input to the contents of this chapter.
Part IV is dedicated to the assessment of policies, institutions and finance. Here, approaches for international and regional cooperation, efforts with respect to regional development, and national and sub-national policies and institutions are discussed. To conclude, a cross-cutting chapter will deal with the role of investment and finance for mitigation.
The successful conclusion of this meeting on the 31st Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) marks a great step on the road toward drafting the AR5. With the support of several Expert Meetings over the next few years, this agreed outline will incorporate important future developments in the climate change mitigation arena. AR5 is expected to be published in 2013 or 14.
