Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to Release Synthesis Report of Sixth Assessment Report

1. Background

The IPCC held its 58th Session in Interlaken (Swiss Confederation) from March 13, 2023 (Mon.) to 20 (Mon.). The session approved the SPM for the Synthesis Report of AR6 and adopted the main body of the Synthesis Report. The Synthesis Report was the first of its kind to be compiled in nine years, the last one having been for the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) in 2014.

The IPCC released the SPM for the report at 22:00 (JST) on March 20 (Mon.). For an overview of the SPM (provisional translations of the headline statement at the beginning of each session), please see the attachment.
The Government of Japan will translate the approved SPM for the AR6 Synthesis Report into Japanese and publish the translation on the Ministry of the Environment's website in late April.

○ Outline of the 56th Session of the IPCC and the 14th Session of Working Group III

(1) Period

From March 13, 2023 (Mon.) to March 20 (Mon.)
Note: Originally planned to be five days, ending on March 17 (Fri.)

(2) Venue

Interlaken (Swiss Confederation)

(3) Participants

More than 650 people attended, including delegates from national governments and representatives of international organizations, among them the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat. A total of 16 people attended from Japan, among them representatives from the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Japan Meteorological Agency.

2. Future schedule

The release of the Synthesis Report marks the end of the Sixth Assessment Cycle. The Japanese ministries and agencies involved supported the work toward compiling AR6, forming an IPCC domestic liaison group to do so. The Government of Japan also proactively contributed to the work, including reviewing the report and discussing it at the sessions.
A new chair will be elected at the 59th Session this July, and the Seventh Assessment Cycle will begin.

Related Material

• SYNTHESIS REPORT OF THE IPCC SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT (AR6)

Division in Charge

Global Environmental Affairs Office, Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau