US skips climate meet, fanning fears that it may abandon UN framework

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s meeting in Hangzhou, China opened on Monday with reports that the US has withdrawn from the seventh assessment cycle presently underway.

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI: With the Trump administration announcing its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, its absence in Hangzhou suggests that the US could withdraw from the UN Climate Convention itself.

IPCC, the main UN body for assessing the science related to climate change represented by hundreds of leading scientists globally, did not comment on US's withdrawal immediately.

Responding to a query from HT on how the US absence would impact progress of IPCC's work, they said: "All 195 IPCC member countries receive invitations to IPCC Plenaries. The composition of delegations and their attendance of these meetings are decisions made by respective governments. As the IPCC sessions are closed, we do not discuss the presence, absence or attendance of delegates. The list of delegates will be published, as usual, in the report of the meeting in due course."

This means US scientists won't participate in IPCC's review and the US won't contribute funding. The panel is meeting to finalize outlines for the Seventh Assessment Report (AR7) and the Methodology Report on Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage, due in 2028.

On Monday, in his opening speech, Jim Skea, IPCC chair, acknowledged the contribution from IPCC members so far. "Both support for the science that powers our assessments and generous voluntary contributions. Government support ensures the scientific integrity and continuity of the IPCC as the most authoritative and policy-relevant voice on climate science globally," he said.