India: Concerned over bid to rush IPCC report

India along with other developing countries has flagged serious concerns over attempts by developed nations to shorten the timeline for the delivery of the seventh assessment cycle report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), people familiar with the matter said.

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The 60th session of the IPCC, held in Istanbul between January 16 and 20, was fraught with intense debates on how and when the panel will inform the world about the state of the crisis. While the meeting, attended by 195 member countries, was held to draw out a schedule for the 7th, and possibly the most important cycle with time running out on meeting the Paris goal of 1.5°C, observers said the meeting ended with the IPCC bureau failing to arrive at a consensus on delivery of reports.

According to the schedule, the final Synthesis Report of this cycle is expected by the end of 2029.

"Many developing countries were concerned that the agenda of the developed countries was to rush the IPCC AR7 for completion in less than five years (four and a half years or less) and therefore, compromise on the quality of the reports. Some developed countries also shared these concerns, notably Russia. Many other developed countries were initially for a longer timeline like the developing countries but slowly fell in line with the US, which was pushing for an early timeline," a senior official from India's delegation told HT.