COP31 Impasse Over IPCC Climate Report Timetable
Saudi Arabia and other nations clash with the EU and UN at COP31 over whether to delay IPCC climate reports until after 2028.
A dispute over the publication timetable for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports has created an impasse at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkey. Saudi Arabia, India, Russia, China, and Kenya are pushing to delay reports until after 2028, claiming a faster turnaround would overwhelm government reviewers and compromise scientific rigor.
Conversely, the European Union, several small developing nations, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres are advocating for the reports to be released before the 2028 global stocktake to ensure climate policies are informed by the latest science. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore alleged that fossil fuel interests are attempting to undermine the IPCC to avoid accurate emissions data.
IPCC Chair Jim Skea urged member governments to find a consensus to provide clarity and certainty for the report authors. Prime Minister Feleti Teo of Tuvalu warned that the body is being undermined by politics, stating that survival demands collective actions be guided by science. The negotiations are further complicated by the United States' withdrawal from the IPCC under the Trump administration, which has removed a traditional mediating influence from the talks.
