Hello (again) from Working Group II! 👋🏼

With 15 days left, we are ramping up the call for author nominations for the 7th Assessment Report (AR7). In here you'll find our remaining webinars but also a ⭐ new mini interviews series ⭐ to get a glimpse of what it means to be an IPCC author.

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Today, we have Professor Peter Thorne from Maynooth University and also Director of the ICARUS Climate Research Centre. Peter shares his experience as a Lead Author of AR5, a core writing team member on the AR6 Synthesis Report and now he's back again as a Coordinating Lead Author in AR7. Read his story below!

Prof Peter Thorne on making big work moves 🧳, highlight moments as an author ☀️ and his one-liner reminder to fellow chapter authors ✏️ ⤵️

How did you first get involved as an author? How does it differ from your day to day?

I was packing my desk (quite literally) to move from the UK Met Office to a new position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US when the Met Office Chief Scientist and Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Chief Scientist phoned asking if I would agree to be put forward by the UK for Working Group I of AR5. The rest is history.

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Authorship is distinct from the day-to-day job in requiring efforts at synthesis, thinking far more broadly and trying to be open to many more perspectives.

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How did you manage your role as an author with your day-to-day responsibilities?

Done well authorship is a substantial undertaking. And its worth doing well because what you put in you get back with proverbial interest. There is a lot of juggling of priorities and time management involved. Key is open dialogue with your employer (and funders!) so they understand when things are running hot and when there are hiatus periods when you can play catch up.

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What are some of the challenges of being an IPCC author?

Challenges are also very much opportunities (it depends whether you are the type of person who views the glass as half empty or half full 🥛). Time management and peer review will certainly never seem daunting again after completing an IPCC assessment cycle.

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The challenges of bridging cultural and disciplinary differences to build author-team consensus are substantial but the reward is enriched understanding and new personal perspectives. You really do have to walk a mile in other’s shoes.

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This is a massive report and author teams are diverse. How do authors work together to decide what goes into the final report?

There is a lot, and I mean a lot, of trial and error. There is a reason why these reports go through no fewer than 4 drafts and two substantive review cycles. As we build towards the final draft things start to settle down, especially regarding cross-chapter issues and handshakes (Editor's note: a term used to mention where chapters 'meet') but the lead author meetings to agree all this are super intense.

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I always remind colleagues we are writing chapters in a report and not a report in each chapter – what matters is the final report and its coherency.

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There is so much literature out there, how do author teams figure out what makes it to the final report and also plug expertise and research gaps?

It is important to recognise that an assessment is not a literature review – not every paper needs to be cited although all relevant literature should be considered. The final reports need to be policy relevant but not policy prescriptive and relevant here really means actionable information by policy makers on the ground. The final report needs to proverbially sing to these folks 🎶.

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Author teams are picked to be broadly representative and authors should stretch themselves rather than retreat to their comfort zones. But there will be bona fide gaps and that is where engaging contributing authors to plug those gaps comes in.

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What are the highlights of being an IPCC author? Any fun anecdotes?

The highlights are the connections made, the friendships, the new research opportunities and the new perspectives. Each and every report brings new opportunities. Being fully participated in IPCC reports can be a real opportunity to open doors that you may long have thought locked. There are lots of anecdotes but maybe you’ll need to find me in person to get them out of me 😬.

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Why did you decide to come back to do this again?

Stockholm syndrome (actually the AR5 WGI approval was in Stockholm…). There is something addictive about the process and the community you build. In particular cross-Working Group activities (Special Reports and the Synthesis Report) open your eyes to no one discipline having all the answers. It really is a team game 🏀.

Here are some of the introduction seminars that our IPCC Co-Chairs and Vice-Chairs are involved in for you to check out. We'd strongly encourage you to join us. Sign up now and don't miss it!

South Africa event on 2 April 2025 (hybrid)

This outreach event provides an opportunity to engage with leading climate scientists and IPCC contributors to learn about the role of IPCC, the upcoming 7th Assessment Report (AR7) and how South African experts can contribute to shaping global climate knowledge. RSVP below. RSVP here

Latin America event on 3 April 2025 (online)

Join us for this webinar hosted by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research 'Cómo ser un autor del IPCC / How to become an IPCC author" with our IPCC Vice Chairs. English/Spanish interpretation will be available. RSVP below. RSVP here

West Africa event on 7 April 2025 (online)

This outreach event provides an opportunity to engage with leading climate scientists and IPCC contributors to learn about the role of IPCC, the upcoming 7th Assessment Report (AR7) and how West African experts can contribute to shaping global climate knowledge. RSVP below. RSVP here

Central Africa event on 8 April 2025 (online)

To those based in Central Africa, this outreach event provides an opportunity to engage with leading climate scientists and IPCC contributors to learn about the role of IPCC, the upcoming 7th Assessment Report (AR7) and how Central African experts can contribute to shaping global climate knowledge. RSVP below. RSVP here

North Africa event on 9 April 2025 (online)

To those based in North Africa, this outreach event provides an opportunity to engage with leading climate scientists and IPCC contributors to learn about the role of IPCC, the upcoming 7th Assessment Report (AR7) and how North African experts can contribute to shaping global climate knowledge. RSVP below. RSVP here

Below are events and calls by other organisations that we are aware of but not involved in:

DCCEW event on 2 April 2025 (online)

Australia's IPCC National Focal Point, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) is holding an information webinar on the IPCC’s call for nominations of authors for its seventh assessment report (AR7). Register below. RSVP here

CMCC event on 3 April 2025 (online)

The Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) is running an Open Hour by Anna Pirani, CMCC and Focal Point alternate for Italy, who also served as executive editor of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C and the IPCC AR6 in Working Group I, and was an author of the IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report, who will present the details of the call and will interact with the audience in a Q&A session Register below. RSVP here

MRI event on 9 April 2025 (online)

In this information webinar, the Mountain Research Initiative presents a brief overview of the IPCC AR7 and share some insights and advice on how to get involved in and contribute to the AR7 assessment, including lessons learnt from the the previous assessment (AR6). In this webinar, we specifically take a “mountains lens” perspective to highlight opportunities for mountain-specific inputs, plus share some tips and recommendations for the nomination process and beyond. Register below. RSVP here

ISC's call for author nominations (online)

Please check out International Science Council's call for author nominations for the IPCC AR7 on their website below. Read here

Curious about the nomination process?

We know it can be confusing so we put together a list of links that you need to know about the process of being nominated, what to expect, how to get nominated and more.

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Progress of our reports 🗓️

Working Group II contributions to the 7th Assessment Report ​ Where we are at 👉 Call for nominations of AR7 authors from 7 March 2025 to 17 April 2025, midnight CEST ​ Up next 👉 Selection of authors

​ Special Report on Climate Change and Cities (SR Cities) ​ Where we are at 👉 First Lead Author Meeting (LAM1) just concluded on 14 March 2025 ​ Up next 👉 Second Lead Author Meeting (LAM2) in July 2025

The IPCC Working Group II update is an independent effort of the IPCC Working Group II Technical Support Unit meant to provide informal updates about the work of the Working Group and should not be taken as official communications from the IPCC. If you would like to reach out to the IPCC, please get in touch with the media contacts at the IPCC Secretariat (ipcc-media@wmo.int) or Working Group II (media@ipccwg2.org).

IPCC Working Group II Update #7 | 2 April 2025