IPCC - What Is It and How Does It Work?

Comprehensive information on the current state of knowledge regarding the climate crisis is published at regular intervals. Hundreds of international scientists compile current knowledge on climate change and evaluate it from a scientific perspective. This processed knowledge is intended to serve as a basis for the political decision-making processes of the respective governments. Different options for action are presented, but due to the independence[1] of the IPCC they do not commit to any action.

What is the IPCC doing?

Since the mid-19th century, it has been clear that the atmosphere is warming and that human activities are primarily causing it. As a result, the IPCC was founded in November 1988 as an intergovernmental institution by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). With the help of the Council, the danger posed by climate change and how to react to it are to be explained. International researchers from 195 member countries are involved. 160 organisations act as independent observers. 
Current knowledge from all relevant areas of research that may be related to the causes, consequences and risks of climate change is compiled in the IPCC. In reports, possibilities for mitigation and adaptation to climate change are presented. These so-called Assessment Reports are a compilation of tens of thousands of publications that are designed, reviewed and assessed by IPCC researchers on a scientific basis. In 2007, the IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to raise awareness of the risks and dangers of climate change. 

Organisation of the IPCC 

The plenary meets at least once a year. Experts, government representatives, observer organisations and representatives of the scientific community take part in this meeting. It deals with coordination, procedural rules for reporting and the work programme. In addition, the Board is elected for the respective reporting cycle of about six to seven years. This board consists of 34 elected members. All world religions are represented. The Executive Committee is responsible for implementing the decisions of the Plenary. Currently, the IPCC consists of three Working Groups that produce Assessment Reports and Special Reports:

• Working Group I: Natural Causes of Climate Change
• Working Group II: Vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change and its impacts and human adaptation to climate change 
• Working Group III: Policy, Economic and Technological Options for Mitigating Anthropogenic Climate Change

There is also a project group developing methodologies for reporting national greenhouse gas emissions used in the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The IPCC is additionally assisted by a Secretariat and its Executive Board. In addition, each working group and project group receives technical support from a secretariat. Almost all governments of the member countries have appointed a national IPCC contact point. In Germany, this office is held by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). As the German contact point, the BMU in turn receives support from the German IPCC Coordination Unit, which is supported by the Federal Ministry of Research and the Federal Ministry for the Environment.

Product of the IPCC

Since the founding of the IPCC, five comprehensive Assessment Reports have been written. This report consists of three volumes, prepared by the respective working groups and an additional overarching synthesis report.
In addition, the IPCC has already published ten special reports, which were prepared according to the same scheme as the assessment reports. However, these reports deal with specific individual topics. The IPCC also produces methodological guidelines and software for greenhouse gas reporting. All relevant climate change, environmental and socio-economic data is made available in an IPCC data centre.

Preparation of a report

It takes about three to four years to prepare a report. The first step is for the plenary to narrow down and define the topic of the report. IPCC chairs, scientific experts and policy makers propose questions for the report. A preliminary outline is then drawn up, which serves as the basis for decisions on the final choice of topics and structure. 
Between 100 and 250 experts and additional independent consultants are involved in a report. The teams are made up of candidates nominated by governments and observing organisations and selected by the Board. The highest priority is given to scientific expertise. This must be proven accordingly. Increased value is also placed on diversity. Different world religions and genders should always be represented.  
Thousands of experts from all over the world contribute voluntarily to the IPCC reports as authors or reviewers. The report preparation process is based on a multi-stage peer review process.
The entire process must be based on objectivity, transparency and openness. To this purpose, the maximum possible number of independent experts is engaged. The large number of scientists and independent advisors, as well as the diversity of the groups, makes it possible to produce a multi-layered, reflective and, above all, scientifically clean end product. 
At the end, a Summary for Policymakers (SPM) is adopted for each report. The summary may only be prepared from underlying information from the report. In the final instance, the plenary formally votes on the overall report and summary. With this step, governments recognise the scientific statements of the IPCC report. For the public, this assessment report is merely published and presented.

Funding of the IPCC

As a rule, the authors and the board members of the IPCC are released by their institutes for their work. Only travel expenses are reimbursed. The offices of the working groups and the data centre are financed by the countries in which they are based. There is an IPCC Trust Fund, which finances the travel of experts from developing countries, the publication and translation of reports, and supports the IPCC Secretariat. This is funded by the industrialised countries as well as WMO, UNEP and the UNFCC. 

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Source

[1] cf. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung,  Das Verhältnis von Klimawissenschaft und Politik, in: https://www.bpb.de/shop/zeitschriften/izpb/klima-347/336209/das-verhaeltnis-von-klimawissenschaft-und-politik/ 

IPCC Deutsche Koordinierungsstelle, Wie der IPCC organisiert ist, in: https://www.de-ipcc.de/230.php 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in: https://www.ipcc.ch/