Five researchers from UCL have been appointed to leading roles in the United Nation’s next major climate assessment report, drawing on their expertise in climate science, governance, finance, and policy.
They will contribute to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Seventh Assessment Report, known as AR7, which comprehensively reviews the current state of climate science, its impacts, and potential responses. The report is spread across three Working Groups (WGs), which assess the scientific basis of the climate system and climate change, the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change, and options for mitigating climate change respectively.
The reports, produced every five to seven years, are regarded as the most authoritative source of information on climate change. They are used by governments around the world to shape policy and guide negotiations such as the COP climate summits.
The UCL researchers and experts selected are:
Dr Shipra Jain, lecturer in Meteorological Risk (UCL Risk and Disaster Reduction), will act as a Coordinating Lead Author in AR7 WGI, co-authoring Chapter 8 on "Abrupt changes, low-likelihood high impact events and critical thresholds, including tipping points, in the Earth system."
Dr Thaisa Comelli, Senior Research Fellow in Urban Risk and Resilience (UCL Risk and Disaster Reduction), will serve as Lead Author on AR7 WGII Chapter 1 which provides the "Point of departure, framing and key concepts" for the WGII report.
Professor Lisa Vanhala, Professor of Political Science (UCL Political Science) and Pro-Vice Provost of the UCL Grand Challenge of the Climate Crisis, will participate in the IPCC WGII as Coordinating Lead Author on a historic chapter on losses and damages from climate change. This is the first time this subject has been given dedicated space in an IPCC assessment.
Professor Nadia Ameli, Professor of Climate Finance (The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources), will be a Lead Author on WGIII Chapter 7 on "Finance", where she will contribute her expertise at the intersection of climate science and financial systems to the IPCC.
Professor Yacob Mulugetta, Professor of Energy and Development Policy (UCL Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy) will co-author AR7 WGIII Chapter 3 on "Projected futures in the context of sustainable development and climate change." It will be his third cycle as an IPCC author.
These researchers are amongst the 664 total picked for this Assessment Report round, selected from a global pool of 3,771 nominees.
IPCC Chair Jim Skea said: "The appointment of the author teams means that work on the Seventh Assessment Report on the state of climate science can now begin. The author teams, drawn from several thousand excellent nominations, ensure outstanding expertise across a range of disciplines."
The IPCC itself does not carry out new research but instead assesses the latest published science to provide a neutral and comprehensive view of what is known. Its reports are produced by hundreds of scientists and researchers worldwide and go through multiple rounds of extensive review.
The reports will take some time to produce. The selected researchers will now start to collate and assess relevant scientific literature and drafting their respective reports. Final drafts of the Working Group Reports are expected to start being published in mid-2028, while the concluding Synthesis Report, which combines the findings into a single volume, will appear in late 2029.
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