- Climate Change Education
You are here: Home > Professional Development > Climate Change Education > Climate Change Primer
Climate Change Education > Climate Change Primer > IPCC > Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up in 1988 by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). This body was established to objectively review and assess the body of scientific, technical and socio-economic literature that has relevancy for understanding human induced climate change, its projected impacts as well as the options for adaptation and mitigation. Every effort is made to ensure that sources used have high scientific and technical standards, that a range of views and expertise are represented and that there is a comprehensive geographical coverage.
The IPCC does not monitor climate data, climate parameters or even conduct research. Its focus is on providing decision makers with an objective source of information that is policy neutral. The IPCC has so far completed four full assessment reports, as well as a number of guidelines, methodologies, special reports and technical paper. Click here to access the IPCC home page.
PDF copies of most of the IPCC reports are available online. Click here to access the assessment reports.
The IPCC glossaries page provides links to a range of glossaries including those provided for the Third and Fourth Assessment reports. Offering a comprehensive set of definitions that are useful for understanding the terminology used in IPCC documents.
The IPCC has three main working groups:
Working Group I: The science of climate change
Working group II: Impacts, mitigation and vulnerability
Working group III: Mitigation of climate change
And a task force: Task force on Greenhouse Gas Inventories
