The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change held its 65th session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last week, convening to resolve disagreements over when its seventh assessment report (AR7) should be released. The meeting ended without a decision after a week of contentious negotiations, with IPCC chair Prof Sir Jim Skea suspending talks on Friday evening. This marks the sixth consecutive failure to reach agreement on a publication timeline since 2024.
At the center of the dispute is whether the IPCC’s three working group reports on climate science, adaptation and impacts, and mitigation should all be published before the UN’s second global stocktake in late 2028. This stocktake is a key mechanism under the Paris Agreement designed to assess global progress on climate action and inform future emissions reduction commitments and climate finance decisions. Skea had previously indicated that publishing all reports in time for the 2028 stocktake would require a timeline decision by the end of 2026.
Countries remain divided into two main blocs. Developed nations and small island states advocate for all three reports to be released before the stocktake so that the latest climate science can guide future climate policy. Conversely, India, Kenya, Russia and Saudi Arabia have pushed for a staggered approach, arguing that developing countries require additional time to prepare, review and approve the working group reports.
The secretariat had proposed three timeline options ahead of the meeting, which expanded to seven options during negotiations before being narrowed to four. A contact group chaired by Brazil and Ireland worked throughout the week but reported remaining “a long way from consensus.” Additionally, the IPCC faces a funding crisis after countries failed to agree on a budget for the remainder of the AR7 cycle. The organization has pledged to reconvene but has not announced when this will occur. Several delegations, including representatives from Pacific island nations, expressed alarm that continued delays could undermine global climate action efforts.
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