IPCC meeting ends without deal on AR7 publication timeline amid delay push

Mixed · 2The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) held a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the week of 13 October 2026 to discuss its seventh assessment report, known as AR7. 1 2 Right · 1The meeting ended on 16 October without an agreement on a timeline for publishing the report, according to four sources familiar with the matter cited by Reuters; the IPCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 2 Mixed · 2AR7 had been scheduled for 2028, in time for the UN climate summit Cop33 late that year, where governments are due to assess progress under the 2015 Paris agreement. Reuters described the Addis Ababa meeting as seen by many as the last chance to agree publication dates before those talks. 1 2

Left · 1The Guardian reported that a group of countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, and including India and China, was pressing for publication to be pushed back to 2029. It said they argue that this would give developing countries more input into the scientific findings. 1 Right · 1Reuters likewise named India, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China as pressing for more time, so that scientists from less-resourced countries can make meaningful contributions. 2 Mixed · 2Many poor and vulnerable countries oppose a delay. The Guardian said ministers from 34 members of the High Ambition Coalition, together with the EU and the Least Developed Countries grouping, called on 9 October for AR7 to be expedited. Reuters described a coalition of 30 countries, including European, Latin American and small-island states, alarmed that the reports might not be ready for the 2028 talks. 1 2

Left · 1Marshall Islands minister Jess Gasper said: “We cannot allow political interests to determine which science the world is willing to hear.” Sierra Leone's environment minister Jiwoh Emmanuel Abdulai said the Paris agreement can only deliver if the best available science guides negotiations. 1 Left · 1Claudio Angelo of Brazil's Observatório do Clima said the equity argument was being “weaponised” by some big developing countries. He agreed that climate models are mostly built in the global north but said an extra few months would not fix that. The Guardian also reported that some environmental NGOs are sympathetic to calls for more developing-country science, and that some may back a delay. 1 Right · 1Reuters said the impasse has lasted nearly three years and could leave countries to decide the next phase of action without consensus on critical issues, including how far some warming might be reversible. It described the dispute as reflecting rifts among wealthy industrialised nations, major emerging economies and poorer nations over how to share the burden of responding to warming. 2

Mixed · 2IPCC assessments carry weight because they are written by hundreds of international experts and approved by every member state. The Guardian noted that the summaries for policymakers need approval from all participating governments, and that it has previously uncovered involvement of Saudi-controlled oil interests in IPCC assessments. The Guardian said it had approached Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, India and the IPCC for comment. 2 1