1 November 2009: The 31st session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) convened from 26-29 October 2009, in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, bringing together approximately 350 participants who focused primarily on the scoping of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).
During the meeting, the IPCC’s three Working Groups (WGs) convened in parallel sessions to approve the proposed chapter outlines of WG contributions to the AR5, which had been developed by the participants of the AR5 scoping meeting held in Venice, Italy, from 13-17 July 2009. The Panel then accepted the outlines of the WG reports and considered a number of other issues relevant to the scope of the AR5. In particular, delegates agreed to treat Article 2 of the UNFCCC as a crosscutting theme in the AR5, as well as revise the timetable for the preparation of the report.
The Panel also considered progress on the implementation of decisions taken at its 30th session (IPCC 30) with regard to involving scientists from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, use of electronic technologies, and the longer-term future of the IPCC. The Panel also granted special observer status to the European Community and addressed progress reports on the development of new scenarios and on the IPCC Peace Prize Scholarship Fund. [IISD RS Coverage] [IPCC 31 Website]