A number of high-level outreach events were organized across geographical regions with the aim to disseminating the findings of the IPCC AR6 Special Reports. There are three IPCC Special Reports, namely: (1) Special Report on 1.5ºC Global Warming (SR15), (2) Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) and (3) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC). The geographical regions include, Africa, Asia, South America, North America, Central America and the Caribbean, South West Pacific and Europe.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no travel was possible as a result of a number of lockdown and health restrictions in place in various countries. The outreach events in 2020 and 2021 were held in a virtual format. For each event, speaker(s) from the IPCC scientific community were identified to participate in the virtual event in addition to other speakers and presenters. The events also covered a wide range of audiences, including youth, academia, policymakers, journalists, media, economists and the business and financial communities.
The Summary for Policymakers (SPM) for the three Special Reports, namely: Special Report on 1.5ºC Global Warming (SR15), Special Report on Climate Change and Land and Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate were translated into the other five UN languages i.e. Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish by the translation service available at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The SPMs were also published in the other 5 UN languages. The electronic version of the SPMs are also available on the IPCC website (www.ipcc.ch).
Videos on the three Special Reports have been produced in-house and serve as an informative communication tool for the dissemination of the findings of the Special Reports at outreach events. The videos are available on the IPCC website (www.ipcc.ch).
The potential impacts include: (1) broader awareness of the science of climate change, the impacts of climate change and what can be done to prevent or limit climate change and address impacts thereof, also at the stakeholder level. This improved knowledge would allow for better informed and more efficient policy-making on climate change, and risk management be it through adaptation or mitigation, in developing countries.
(2) The principal impact of the action will be to enhance policy-making with respect to climate change, including in developing countries. The main audience of IPCC reports is policymakers, international, national, regional and local. IPCC reports are policy-relevant, without being policy-prescriptive. The contributions of Working Groups, on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, and on mitigation will be of particular practical relevance to policy-makers in a range of areas, from disaster risk management to policy on renewables.
(3) Dissemination of the AR6 report will support developing countries’ own national climate assessments or policies, or provide a key resource where countries do not have the capacity to conduct these assessments themselves. This should inform legislation, regulation and policy in general in developing countries. The principle of balance in the Outreach Programme will ensure that the AR6 is communicated across all geographies and to a range of different audiences.
