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IFCA's vicedirector, José Manuel Gutiérrez, will coordinate a chapter of IPCC's next report on climate change


IFCA's vicedirector and researcher José Manuel Gutiérrez is among the Spanish experts selected by the IPCC to prepare the next report on climate change. Specifically, he will coordinate the chapter developing the regional climate change Atlas, a cross-cutting activity that involves coordination with IPCC's Working Groups I and II.








The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published the names of the scientists and researchers who have been invited to participate in the Sixth Report (AR6) on the state of this phenomenon and its impacts. José Manuel Gutiérrez, researcher at the Institute of Physics of Cantabria (IFCA), is one of three Spaniards to coordinate some of the chapters of the new report. Another 14 Spaniards have been chosen as authors of different chapters, within the group of 721 experts from 90 countries that will prepare this next report of the highest body of climate science on climate change.  

Established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the IPCC works to advise countries on climate change by producing periodic reports in which researchers and experts conclude on the state of climate science. The sixth report will serve to inform policy makers, international negotiators and other actors on all aspects of climate change.  

The three working groups set up will carry out an in-depth, science-based study of the real state of climate change. The experts, nominated by governments and IPCC observer organizations, will work as lead author coordinators, lead authors or review editors.

In Working Group I, dedicated to analysing the physical aspects of the climate system, the coordinator of the main authors of the chapter entitled Atlas will be the researcher from the Institute of Physics of Cantabria, José Manuel Gutiérrez. Francisco Doblas-Reyes, researcher at the National Supercomputing Centre in Barcelona, will also coordinate a chapter and Sergio Vicente Serrano, researcher at the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology, will be the main author of another chapter.

In Group II, responsible for the impact of warming and the possibilities of adaptation in Europe, the IPCC has chosen Elena Ojea (University of Vigo), Marta Rivera-Ferre (University of Vic), Vanesa Castán (University of Sheffield, nominated by the United Kingdom), María Tirado (University of California-Los Angeles, nominated by the United States) and Laura Ramajo (Universidad Adolfo Ibañez de Chile). Jofré Carnicer (University of Barcelona), Cristina Linares (National School of Public Health of the Carlos III Institute), José Manuel Moreno (University of Castilla-La Mancha) and Sergio Faria (Basque Centre for Climate Change) will also work in this group.

Finally, in Group III, dedicated to analysing options for reducing emissions, there will be Erika Mata, from the Swedish Institute for Environmental Research IVL, and Luisa Cabeza, from the University of Lleida, in the chapter on reducing emissions in the building sector. Xabier Labandeira, from the University of Vigo, will participate in the national and regional mitigation policies programme, and Alejandro Caparrós, from the Institute of Policies and Public Goods of the CSIC and Esther Badiola, from the European Investment Bank (nominated by Luxembourg) will participate in the international cooperation programme to combat global warming. Laura Díaz, from the University of Cambridge, will work on innovation and technologies to combat global warming.

Out of the 721 elected, 33% are women (12% more than in the previous report) and 44% have been nominated by developing countries. The authors of the teams have been selected from thousands of excellent nominations that the IPCC has received to achieve the necessary expertise in a wide range of disciplines. Of all the Spaniards chosen, six work abroad and have been nominated by other countries. The three IPCC working groups leading the assessment will complete their respective contributions to AR6 in 2021, and the synthesis report will then be completed in early 2022.

The Sixth Report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will update knowledge on climate change, its impacts and risks, and possible response options. The conclusions will be available for the first collective review of efforts towards final compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement.



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