Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Supporting material prepared for consideration by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This supporting material has not been subject to formal IPCC review process. Preface The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) completed its Second Assessment Report in 1995. The IPCC has three Working Groups that focus on different aspects of climate change, viz. natural science, impacts, and mitigation. However, there are several issues that are common to these working groups, such as the consistent use of terms and conceptual frameworks. For the Third Assessment Report (TAR), the IPCC recognizes the importance of consistency within the output of the three Working Groups in dealing with these 'cross-cutting' issues. The cross cutting issues selected for the TAR include: (a) Perspective on development, equity and sustainability (DES) (b) Costing methods (c) Frameworks for decision making, including cost-benefit analysis (d) Uncertainties (e) Integrated assessment (f) Scenarios (g) Biogeochemical/ ecological feedback (h) Sinks Guidance papers have been prepared for the first four issues in order to help TAR authors in making more consistent use of terms and concepts in their chapters. Issues (e) to (h) are to be covered mainly by the Special Reports. report also includes the summaries and conclusions of the following IPCC Expert Meetings, which were held to deepen understanding of the issues among authors as well as to facilitate the completion of guidance papers As confirmed through telephone calls and the two email conferences on cross cutting issues (conducted between January-March 1999, and in January 2000), the purpose of these Guidance Papers is not to prescribe but to promote mutual understanding among authors. They are intended to provide clear and policy-neutral guidance for authors. Therefore, this report is essentially for facilitating the work of TAR authors and reviewers in their drafting and review process. At the same time, however, it is expected to be useful for preparation of the future IPCC reports on climate change issues. Introduction The IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR) is now in the drafting and reviewing process to be completed by the middle of 2001. As part of the TAR process, four guidance papers have been prepared on the following cross-cutting issues: costing methodologies, uncertainty and decision analysis framework (DAF), development, equity, and sustainability (DES). This user's guide has been prepared to assist authors of the TAR in applying the guidance papers on the cross cutting issues to the various chapters of the TAR. This guide …