The European Union demands at COP 31 that the new IPCC climate reports be published before 2028. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and India advocate publication in 2029.
On Friday (13) the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, defended the anticipation. In October, the impasse at the IPCC suspended the definition of the calendar until December 1st.
Negotiators say that governments fear that data will show that their actions are insufficient. Small island states and 70 other countries support disclosure before 2028.
The European Union (EU) has promised to "fight" for new scientific reports on climate change to be published before 2028, the year in which the next global assessment of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is scheduled.
The dispute over the timetable for releasing the documents involves countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and India, which argue that publication should only take place in 2029.
The controversy reached COP31, the climate conference held in Antalya, Turkey, and threatens to interfere with negotiations in the second week of the event. The EU and dozens of other countries argue that releasing studies early will allow governments and institutions to make decisions based on the latest scientific information.
The impasse involves the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the main international body responsible for evaluating scientific research on global warming.
Created in 1988 on the initiative of the United Nations (UN), the panel publishes reports every seven years, bringing together studies on climate change and its impacts.
The EU's representative for climate affairs, Diana Acconcia, said the bloc would defend early publication, although she acknowledged that it would be difficult to reach an agreement.
"There are some parties that try to undermine what the science tells us, because they are not willing to do what is necessary to address climate change," Acconcia told the press. She also lamented the polarization of the debate.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, praised the work of the IPCC on Friday (13), which he classified as "extraordinary". He also advocated that the report be published, preferably, before the global assessment scheduled for 2028.
Why is publishing reports important?
IPCC documents bring together and evaluate available scientific knowledge about climate change. The information serves as a basis for governments to define policies and measures to combat global warming.
For Pierre Friedlingstein, a scientist at the University of Exeter, in the United Kingdom, and author of previous panel reports, political decisions must consider the most recent scientific data.
"It's better to have updated data than data from seven years ago," he told AFP during COP31. According to him, new evidence can help guide government decisions, but this update is not of interest to all countries.
Some negotiators interviewed by AFP in Antalya said that governments fear that the new data will highlight the distance between the climate measures they are adopting and what would be necessary to limit global warming.
Calendar deadlock
At the last IPCC meeting in October, countries were unable to agree on the publication schedule. As a result, the session was suspended until December 1st, and the calendar remains undefined.
On the first day of COP 31, the panel's president, Jim Skea, acknowledged that the impasse poses difficulties for the organization's functioning and could harm its reputation.
The expectation of a solution during the conference is low. This is because decisions need to be approved by consensus among the almost 200 participating delegations.
Countries in favor of delay argue that developing nations need more time to analyze the thousands of pages that make up the scientific reports.
On the other hand, the alliance of small island states and the group of Least Developed Countries — two blocs that represent more than 70 developing countries — advocated that the documents be published before the 2028 global assessment.
