IPCC suspends meeting without timetable for next climate assessment

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suspended its meeting in Addis Ababa without agreeing on a timetable for the three working-group reports that will form its Seventh Assessment Report. The question has remained unresolved for nearly three years, and the panel said discussion of both the schedule and its budget would resume at the earliest opportunity.

The session ran beyond its planned finish, after which many delegates from least-developed countries and small-island states had to leave, the IPCC said in an account reported by Reuters. Climate Action Network, whose representative attended the meeting, separately confirmed that governments had failed to agree on the workplan while noting some progress on possible options and participation.

The timing matters because governments will conduct the next UN global stocktake of progress under the Paris Agreement in November 2028. A coalition of 30 countries wants the assessment available before then. India, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China have argued for more time so researchers from less-resourced countries can participate meaningfully. The suspended meeting does not cancel AR7, but it leaves uncertain whether the assessment can inform the 2028 review and when a reconvened session will settle the dispute.