Professors selected for Author roles for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report

Professor David Lee has been selected for a lead Author role for the Working Group III contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report. The Working Group III received 873 nominations with only 226 places available for coordinating Lead Authors and Reviews Editors. Professor Walter Leal has also been selected to be a Lead Author for the Working Group II (Climate Change Adaptation) to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the international body for assessing the science related to climate change. The IPCC was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to provide policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) is due to report by 2021. IPCC has three Working Groups (WGs): The Physical Science Basis (WGI); Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (WGII); Mitigation of Climate Change (WGIII).

The Bureaus of the IPCC WGs selects scientists for these roles from nominations of experts from their respective countries by IPCC member governments on the basis of individuals’ detailed CVs of their expertise. For WGIII, there were 873 nominations, worldwide, for 226 places.

In 2007, the Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to the IPCC and Al Gore for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.

Professor Lee commented – “The IPCC is the most respected international body that establishes critical benchmark information on climate change. Working on these reports is, by necessity, hard work but also a great honour to participate in, providing high-visibility internationally peer-reviewed reports for policy makers.”