IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX)

Abstract

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report is a unique collaboration between the scientific community and policymakers. The IPCC was established in 1988 by two United Nations Organisations, the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme, and was later endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 43/53.1 IPCC reports are mandated to present policy-relevant, comprehensive, objective and balanced assessments of the scientific, technical and socioeconomic information relevant for understanding the risks of response to climate change. Reports are based on available scientific information relevant to all aspects of climate change, its impacts and options for avoiding, preparing for and responding to impacts. IPCC reports are never policy prescriptive. The latest full assessment (the fourth) was published in 2007.2 The fifth Assessment Report is due for publication in 2014.3 Following the completion of the Fourth Assessment Report, many governments, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and other organisations indicated a need for more information on the extent to which climate change could alter the risks of extreme weather and climate events, and on options for managing these risks.4 The 30th Session of the IPCC held 21–23 April 2009 in Antalya, Turkey requested Working Group I (science of climate change) and Working Group II (impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability) to prepare a Special …