IPCC Special Reports on Climate Change and Land, and on the Ocean and Cryosphere

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. In the second half of 2019, IPCC published two Special Reports one on Climate Change and Land, and the other on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

The IPCC special report on Climate Change and Land was published on 8 August 2019. The report highlights that land plays an important role in the climate system, shows how managing land resources sustainably can help address climate change and stresses the negative effects of land degradation. The report sets out options to tackle land degradation, and prevent or adapt to further climate change. It also examines potential impacts from different levels of global warming.

Another IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate was approved on 24 September 2019. The report highlights the urgency of prioritising timely, ambitious and coordinated action to address enduring changes in the ocean and cryosphere. The report provides new evidence for the benefits of limiting global warming to the lowest possible level, in line with the Paris Agreement, to limit the scale of ocean and cryosphere changes.