Around 600 experts from around the world have begun the work on the next major UN climate report, as the international consensus on global warming is challenged by US President Donald Trump, who without providing any evidence, deems the science a “hoax”.
French Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut, whose country is hosting the meeting, told the scientists that their “extremely precious” work is crucial as multilateralism has weakened.
“Too many people deny the results of your work,” she told the experts from more than 100 countries gathered for the opening of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting.
Their work faces hurdles in the face of a US administration whose president called climate change the “greatest con job ever” and a “hoax” during a speech at the United Nations in September.
The previous IPCC report, released in 2023, had warned that the world was on track to exceed the 1.5C warming threshold by 2030. The UN now says that the safer limit will be breached earlier than feared, greatly increasing the risk of violent storms, floods, and droughts, and irreversible changes to nature.
The meeting in France launches a process that will culminate with the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report (AR7), due to be published in 2028 or 2029.
“IPCC reports are going to continue to underpin climate policies and climate action at every level, including international negotiations,” IPCC chairman Jim Skea told the gathering.
The work of scientists may be denied, belittled, or even called names by those who don’t want to be accountable or responsible to the planet and future generations of humans who will inhabit it, but science, as long as it is supported by facts and reviewed by peers, will always be able to prove its worth. Those who continue the work that provides the necessary basis for science-based policies and action need to be able to drown out the noise and keep working for the good of the planet and humanity.
Hopefully, with support from the sectors, leaders, and governments that value their contribution, the embattled scientists will carry on despite all the challenges they face.*
