Archived: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Fifth Assessment Report

In 2008, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) launched its fifth assessment cycle, which will culminate with the release of the Fifth Assessment Report. The Fifth Assessment Report will provide an update of knowledge on the scientific, technical and socio-economic aspects of climate change and will be the most comprehensive assessment of knowledge on climate change since 2007 when the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report was released.

The Fifth Assessment Report will be made up of four reports: one each from the IPCC’s three Working Groups and a synthesis report, which will integrate findings from across all three of the Working Group reports. The reports will be approved and released by the IPCC in 2013 to 2014 according to the following schedule:

• Working Group I: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis - September 23-26, 2013
• Working Group II: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability - March 25-29, 2014
• Working Group III: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change - April 7-11, 2014
• Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report - October 27-31, 2014.

Canadian contributors to the Fifth Assessment Report

The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report is being prepared by hundreds of experts from around the world. Twenty eight Canadian experts have lead roles in preparing chapters of the Report (Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors and Review Editors), and many other Canadians are participating as contributing authors and reviewers.

The following is a list of Canadians serving in lead roles in the Fifth Assessment Report.

Working Group I: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis

• George Boer (Environment Canada), Lead Author, Chapter 11: Near-term Climate Change: Projections and Predictability
• Gregory Flato (Environment Canada), Coordinating Lead Author, Chapter 9: Evaluation of Climate Models
• Howard Freeland (Fisheries and Oceans Canada), Review Editor, Chapter 3: Observations: Oceans
• John Fyfe (Environment Canada), Review Editor, Chapter 14: Climate Phenomena and their Relevance for Future Regional Climate Change
• Nathan Gillett (Environment Canada), Lead Author, Chapter 10: Detection and Attribution of Climate Change: From Global to Regional
• Glenn Milne (University of Ottawa), Lead Author, Chapter 13: Sea Level Change
• Theodore Shepherd (University of Reading), Chapter 11: Near-term Climate Change: Projections and Predictability
• Andrew Weaver (University of Victoria), Lead Author, Chapter 12: Long-term Climate Change: Projections, Commitments and Irreversibility
• Xuebin Zhang (Environment Canada), Lead Author, Chapter 10: Detection and Attribution of Climate Change: From Global to Regional
• Francis Zwiers (Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium), Review Editor, Chapter 11: Near-term Climate Change: Projections and Predictability

Working Group II: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

• Michael Brklacich (Carleton University), Review Editor, Chapter 9: Emergent Risks and Key Vulnerabilities
• Ian Burton (University of Toronto), Lead Author, Chapter 20: Climate-resilient Pathways: Adaptation, Mitigation, and Sustainable Development
• William Cheung (University of British Columbia), Lead Author, Chapter 6: Ocean Systems
• Graham Cogley (Trent University), Lead Author, Chapter 3: Freshwater Resources
• Stewart Cohen (Environment Canada), Lead Author, Chapter 2: Foundations for Decision Making
• Debra Davidson (University of Alberta), Lead Author, Chapter 26: North America
• Paul Kovacs (Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction), Lead Author, Chapter 26: North America
• Liza Leclerc (Independent Consultant), Lead Author, Chapter 17: Economics of Adaptation
• Monirul Mirza (Environment Canada), Lead Author, Chapter 2: Foundations for Decision Making
• Linda Mortsch (Environment Canada), Review Editor, Chapter 26: North America
• Terry Prowse (Environment Canada), Lead Author, Chapter 28: Polar Regions
• Daithi Stone (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Lead Author, Chapter 18: Detection and Attribution of Observed Impacts
• John Stone (Carleton University), Lead Author, Chapter 28: Polar Regions

Working Group III: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

• Hashem Akbari (Concordia University), Lead Author, Chapter 9: Buildings
• Erik Haites (Margaree Consultants Inc.), Lead Author, Chapter 16: Cross-cutting Investment and Finance Issues
• Danny Harvey (University of Toronto), Lead Author, Chapter 9: Buildings
• Matthew Paterson (University of Ottawa), Lead Author, Chapter 13: International Cooperation: Agreements and Instruments
• Jake Rice (Fisheries and Oceans Canada), Lead Author, Chapter 5: Drivers, Trends and Mitigation