The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a vital but embattled organisation. With the resignation of its chair, Rajendra Pachauri, there is an opportunity for renewal. Here, Jean-Pascal van Ypersele , one of the candidates to succeed Pachauri, sets out his stall.

With the upcoming Paris climate negotiations in December this year (COP21) and the decisions beginning to be made about the next (6th) IPCC Assessment, both international climate policy and climate science are at a crossroads. I believe the IPCC must continue to offer scientifically rigorous, yet policy-neutral, assessments of climate change knowledge. That is why I am standing for election as the next IPCC Chair and I explain my reasons below.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the main organization informing policy-makers about the state of climate change science. Now that the human influence on the climate system has been deemed ‘clear’ by IPCC and that a long-term goal has been agreed (reduce emissions so that global mean warming would stay below 2°C, or possibly 1.5°C, above the pre-industrial level), humanity knows it must stop ignoring the ‘inconvenient truth’ of climate change.

The debate has shifted from a scientific one 40 years ago to a very political one today, involving economic interests, geopolitics, different priorities given to environment or development, and a clash between short-term and long-term visions. The IPCC mandate is to assess, in the most rigorous, inclusive, and transparent way, the ‘scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation’. Does a body such as IPCC still serve a purpose in this context?

Yes. I am convinced that IPCC has an essential mandate, more important than ever. For 20 years, the world has tried to finesse the scientific evidence of climate change. Precious time has been lost to engage in sufficiently ambitious mitigation and adaptation policies under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The room for manoeuver is very limited to avoid the ‘severe, pervasive, and irreversible impacts’ that the IPCC has warned about in its last Report.



Adaptation has the potential to reduce some risks. But it cannot reduce all of them, especially if the international climate stabilization targets, which require net global emissions reduced to zero well before the end of this century, are not met. When manoeuvring a vehicle in limited space, one must be very well informed about both the surrounding risks and the available options. This is what the IPCC must do, and continue to do, in a scientifically rigorous, but policy-neutral, way: assess the risks, the options and the processes for reaching decisions.

But the IPCC must do so in an even more inclusive manner than in the past, involving more scientists from developing countries in particular. It must encourage all authors to work better across disciplinary boundaries. The next assessment by the IPCC must ensure the best team spirit, with a sense of accountability and ownership that is shared by all.

For the IPCC to be relevant, it must also continue to improve its communication with policymakers and with the public. This is an area I am proud to have contributed to as Vice-chair in charge of designing the implementation plan for the IPCC Communication strategy. The IPCC products need to be more accessible, more readable, and translated into different languages faster. The IPCC should make more effort to reach out to different audiences, seek greater transparency in how it works and show more responsiveness on social media. It should consider new partnerships with other organisations to address specific audiences.

To make sure all of this happens during the next assessment cycle, the IPCC needs a strong leader, a team builder, who dedicates herself or himself full time as IPCC Chair (see my platform). Having worked as a climate scientist for the last 35 years, I am lucky that my University will allow me to take that unpaid full-time position if I am elected, and continue to pay my salary.

I shall be speaking about the future of the IPCC at King’s College London, at 6.30pm on Thursday, March 26th. I look forward to meeting the UK scientific community and stakeholders at this event and to listening to their comments and suggestions about the future of IPCC.

Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Candidate IPCC Chair (Vice-Chair for now), Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium (@JPvanYpersele)