SOFIA, Bulgaria, July 23, 2024 — Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) experts will be in Sofia, engaging in the 61st session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — the UN body responsible for climate science — from July 26 to August 2 and are available for comment.
The IPCC meeting in Sofia aims to organize the work for the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report (AR7) and will be dedicated, among other matters, to the outlines of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities, and of the Methodology Report on Short-Lived Climate Forcers (SLCF), as well as overall strategic planning for the new cycle.
In March 2023, the IPCC released its latest Synthesis Report on the current status of climate change, its impacts and risks, and our options to adapt to and confront the crisis in the pivotal years ahead. The 6th Assessment Cycle Synthesis once again unequivocally warned that exceeding 1.5°C warming (“overshoot”) has dangerous and irreversible consequences and confirmed that every fraction of a degree matters to avoid climate “tipping points” and self-reinforcing feedback loops, such as permafrost thawing and the collapse of forest ecosystems.
The report emphasized that the most certain path to avoid overshoot is a rapid and fair phaseout of all fossil fuels, accompanied by a rollout of renewable energy and energy and resource demand reduction measures.
The science is clear, but there is still a significant gap between governments’ climate plans and pledges and the scale and pace of action needed to address the climate crisis.
In Sofia, CIEL and fellow civil society observers will engage with government delegates and advocate for rights-based approaches and real solutions, highlighting the risks of speculative, dangerous, and ineffective technofixes like carbon capture, carbon removal, and solar geoengineering.
CIEL Experts in Sofia:
Mary Church — Geoengineering Campaign Manager, specializing in exposing and avoiding highly speculative fossil fuel escape hatches including solar and marine geoengineering. Mary will be in Sofia from July 27 to August 2. Follow Mary on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Francesca Mingrone — Staff Attorney, specializing in the intersection between human rights and climate change. She followed closely the 58th IPCC session, which concluded the 6th Assessment Cycle. Francesca will be in Sofia from July 27 to August 2. Follow Francesca on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Additional availability:
Lili Fuhr — Director of CIEL’s Fossil Economy Program, Lili has been following the IPCC closely since 2018 and was an expert reviewer of the Special Report on 1.5°C global warming and engaged in the Synthesis Report approval plenary of AR6 in 2023 as an observer. Lili will be following the session remotely (CEST timezone). Follow Lili on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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Media Contact
Rossella Recupero, Communications Campaign Specialist: press@ciel.org
Notes to Editor
Notes to editors:
The IPCC Seventh Assessment Report (AR7) comprises three Working Group contributions and a Synthesis Report, which will be produced by late 2029. Working Group I‘s contribution concerns the physical science of climate change, Working Group II deals with impacts, adaptation, and vulnerabilities, and Working Group III looks at mitigation of climate change. During this cycle, the IPCC will also produce a Special Report on Climate Change and Cities, and two Methodology Reports on Short-Lived Climate Forcers and Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies, Carbon Capture Utilization, and Storage.
- CIEL Reaction to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Synthesis Report
- Lost in Translation: Lessons from the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment on the Urgent Transition from Fossil Fuels and the Risks of Misplaced Reliance on False Solutions (March 2023): This joint analysis produced by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, is intended as a metric and counterpoint to weigh the IPCC’s AR6 SYR SPM against the underlying AR6 reports to highlight findings that are essential to understanding the climate actions necessary to prevent and minimize the risk of catastrophic impacts of overshoot, and to design the just and equitable path ahead.’ This analysis builds upon the organizations’ previous examination of the IPCC Working Group II report, Beyond the Limits: New IPCC WG II Report Highlights How Gambling on Overshoot is Pushing the Planet Past a Point of No Return.