Why have countries been pushing for a vital global climate report to be delayed?
Saudi Arabia, Russia and China among those claiming developed countries have skewed findings of IPCC review
TL;DR
- The IPCC meeting in Addis Ababa concluded without agreeing on a launch date for the AR7 report.
- Some governments, led by Saudi Arabia, Russia, and India, want to delay the report, citing bias in climate science from developed countries.
- Scientists and experts fear a delay will hinder AR7's role in informing emissions reduction pledges for the Cop33 summit.
- The 2015 Paris agreement's 'global stocktake' in 2028 relies on timely scientific advice to assess emissions pledges.
- Critics argue that powerful nations seeking a delay have the scientific capacity to produce their own models.
- A potential compromise involves starting work on incorporating more science from developing countries while maintaining the 2028 timeline for the physical science part of the report.
- Civil society activists are divided, with some seeing delays as a danger to emission cuts and others prioritizing equitable representation in research.