EU presses Cop31 to keep IPCC climate reports on 2028 timetable

The European Union has pledged to defend climate science at the Cop31 summit in Antalya, Turkey, accusing some governments of trying to undermine the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as negotiations approach their halfway point.

The dispute is over when the IPCC publishes its next major assessments. Brussels and dozens of other countries want the reports published in time for a major review of global climate action in 2028, while Saudi Arabia, China and India are among those pushing to delay their release until 2029.

"We will fight for this outcome to be there," senior EU climate official Diana Acconcia told reporters on Friday, acknowledging that bridging the differences would "not be so easy." She said some parties were trying to undermine "what science is telling us" because they do not want to do what it takes to address climate change. "It is as simple as that," she added.

The reports in question form the IPCC's seventh assessment report, part of a series of comprehensive scientific evaluations published roughly every seven years that bring together the latest research on rising temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions. Pierre Friedlingstein, a climate scientist at the University of Exeter who has contributed to previous assessments, backed the EU position: "Updated figures are more appropriate than figures that are seven years old." He added that fresh evidence could help accelerate political decisions, though this might not suit governments reluctant to strengthen their climate commitments.

The impasse has already disrupted the panel's own work. An IPCC meeting in October failed to produce an agreement on the publication timetable, forcing discussions to be suspended until 1 December. IPCC chairman Jim Skea warned at the opening of Cop31 that the deadlock was creating operational difficulties and threatening the organisation's reputation, and urged governments to use the Antalya summit to help secure an agreement when talks resume.

Countries seeking a delay argue that developing nations need sufficient time to examine and absorb thousands of pages of complex findings before they are used in international negotiations. That position is not shared by all developing countries: the Alliance of Small Island States and the Least Developed Countries group, representing more than 70 nations, have already backed publication in 2028.

Any decision at a UN climate summit requires consensus among nearly 200 participating countries, giving opponents considerable influence over the outcome in Antalya.