High Ambition Coalition Statement: Keep IPCC Science at the Heart of the Paris Agreement
As climate impacts intensify, deaths and damage rise, and we face the perilous prospect of a Super El Niňo, it is more important than ever that our fight against climate change is informed by the latest and best available science. We are extremely alarmed at the prospect of an overshoot of the 1.5°C temperature limit, and are committed to a response that strictly limits the magnitude and duration of any overshoot.
As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) prepares to meet in Addis Ababa, we call on its members to safeguard the apolitical nature of the organisation’s work so it can continue to provide its timely authoritative assessments of the latest and best available peer-reviewed science to the UNFCCC through reports drawn up by experts and endorsed by governments from across the globe.
Divorcing the policy cycle under the United Nations from the scientific evidence provided by the IPCC would undermine the global effort to address the climate crisis and weaken international cooperation.
Access to the latest and best available science, including Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and local knowledge systems, enables a just, equitable, evidence-based approach to addressing the greatest challenge of our time, rather than one driven by those whose entrenched interests are at odds with reducing greenhouse gases. Those most vulnerable to climate change rely on governments following the IPCC’s assessments to inform their policy decisions.
As we look ahead to the next global stocktake under the Paris Agreement, timely information from all three working groups of the Seventh Assessment Report is critically needed to provide Parties with the most up-to-date information for their deliberations and decision-making. The upcoming IPCC Plenary session is the best opportunity to make this happen. We therefore urge all members there to support the scientifically robust, inclusive and policy-relevant timeline proposed by the IPCC Co-Chairs.
The latest and best available climate science is the ultimate tool we have to safeguard human lives, livelihoods, and our shared future. To protect that future and our communities, we must act now to preserve the strong link between the IPCC and the Paris Agreement’s global stocktake.
H. E. Michael Joseph, Minister of Health, Wellness, Environment and Civil Service Affairs, Antigua and Barbuda
H. E. Norbert Totschnig, Federal Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management, Austria
H. E. Marsha Caddle, Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning, Barbados
H. E. Jean-Luc Crucke, Federal Minister of Mobility, Climate and Ecological Transition, Belgium
H. E. Julie Dabrusin, Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature, Canada
H. E. Francisca Toledo, Minister of the Environment, Chile
H. E. Samira Nawa, Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, Denmark
H. E. Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, European Commission
H. E. Florian J. Yatilman, Secretary of Environment, Climate Change & Emergency Management, Federated States of Micronesia
H. E. Lynda Tabuya, Minister for Information, Environment and Climate Change, Fiji
H. E. Sari Multala, Minister of Climate and the Environment, Finland
H.E. Monique Barbut, Minister for the Ecological Transition, Biodiversity and International Climate and Nature Negotiations, France
H. E. Taivini Teai, Minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources, and the Environment, French Polynesia
H. E. Carsten Schneider, Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany
H. E. Edwin Castellanos, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Guatemala
H. E. Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson, Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate, Iceland
H.E. Ambassador Adão Soares Barbosa, Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group
H. E. Sabine Monauni, Deputy Prime Minister, Liechtenstein
H. E. Serge Wilmes, Minister of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity of Luxembourg
H. E. Jess Gasper Jr, Minister-in-Assistance to the President and of Environment, Republic of the Marshall Islands
H. E. Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, Mexico
H. E. Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development, Monaco
H. E. Stientje van Veldhoven-van der Meer, Minister of Climate and Green Growth, the Netherlands
H. E. Simon Watts, Minister of Climate, New Zealand
H. E. Sigrun Aasland, Minister for Climate and Environment, Norway
H. E. Steven Victor, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment, Republic of Palau
H. E. Juan Carlos Navarro, Minister of Environment, Panama
H. E. Jiwoh Emmanuel Abdulai, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Sierra Leone
H. E. Wayne Ghemu, Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, Solomon Islands
H. E. Sara Aagesen Muñoz, Third Vice-President and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Spain
H. E. Romina Pourmokhtari, Minister for Climate and the Environment, Sweden
H. E. Katrin Schneeberger, State Secretary, Director of the Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland
H. E. Maina Vakafua Talia, Minister for Home Affairs, Climate Change and Environment, Tuvalu
H. E. Katie White, Minister for Climate Transition, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
H. E. Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology & Geo-Hazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Management, Vanuatu