{"id":2906,"date":"2013-10-09T07:35:48","date_gmt":"2013-10-09T14:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatepolicyinitiative.org\/?p=2906"},"modified":"2026-04-12T19:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:23:23","slug":"a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/","title":{"rendered":"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week\u2019s release of the IPCC Working Group I\u2019s contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5)<\/a> prompted a moment of self-reflection for the climate community.<\/p>\n

It reported incremental gains in the scientific community\u2019s confidence in its findings, with a few important tweaks to past findings. For example, it is now extremely likely (rather than just very likely) that human influence has been the dominant cause of observed warming since the mid-20th<\/sup> century (see C2ES<\/a>\u2019s table of increasing certainty). The Working Group also significantly revised the upper bound of their sea level rise estimates (see Nature\u2019s News Feature<\/a> on this topic).<\/p>\n

However, there is a feeling that we have reached a point of diminishing returns in our current lines of inquiry. As a recent Nature editorial<\/a> pointed out, comprehensive assessments of climate science may no longer represent the best use of our resources; continued investment in the IPCC process as it stands may result in smaller policy-relevant returns over time. We should feel a great sense of achievement and satisfaction at having reached this point. However, we may also need to sit back in our chairs, grab some old-fashioned writing implements, and reframe our questions.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s think for a moment about the audience for the IPCC. Mitigation and adaptation policymakers around the world are struggling to address two big questions: How do I evaluate my policy options and how do I act in the absence of certainty?<\/p>\n

As a community, our most pressing issue is not how to resolve the remaining uncertainties in climate science, but rather, how to make sound decisions based on the information we do have.<\/p>\n

This is a big question. However, to take advantage of this moment of self-reflection, I\u2019ve begun a \u201cwish list\u201d of items for the IPCC to consider addressing as it grows and changes. Each of these items requires the rigorous involvement of the science community, but is aimed more explicitly at enabling decisions and action.<\/p>\n

CPI will be updating this policy \u201cwish list\u201d over the course of the IPCC AR5 releases. In the spirit of WG1, these first items offer suggestions for climate science that is \u201cpolicy-ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Uncertainty:<\/b> We need rigorous thinking and aggregation across disciplines about how to productively make decisions in the face of uncertainty. For example, adaptation policymakers often use scenario planning to bracket uncertainty about the future. The IPCC\u2019s Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), which replace the older Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, provide a common starting place for these exercises. How can we develop and share improved methods of managing uncertainty?<\/li>\n
  2. Targets and indicators:<\/b> Multiple options for global climate change targets exist, such as global mean temperature, atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and cumulative emissions (see, for example, CPI\u2019s work on tracking emissions and mitigation actions<\/a>). In addition, there are many datasets that could (and do) serve as indicators of how well or poorly we are managing climate change.\u00a0 Which targets and indicators are best suited for specific policy needs?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Last week\u2019s release of the IPCC Working Group I\u2019s contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) prompted a moment of self-reflection for the climate community. It reported incremental gains in the scientific community\u2019s confidence in its findings, with a few important tweaks to past findings. For example, it is now extremely likely (rather than just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"programs":[],"regions":[],"topics":[1202,1226],"collaborations":[],"class_list":["post-2906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","topics-measurement-reporting-and-verification","topics-policy-and-regulation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science - CPI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"id_ID\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science - CPI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week\u2019s release of the IPCC Working Group I\u2019s contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) prompted a moment of self-reflection for the climate community. It reported incremental gains in the scientific community\u2019s confidence in its findings, with a few important tweaks to past findings. For example, it is now extremely likely (rather than just […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CPI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimatePolicyInitiative\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-09T14:35:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-12T19:23:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CPI Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@climatepolicy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@climatepolicy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Ditulis oleh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CPI Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimasi waktu membaca\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 menit\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CPI Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0d0235f40837757def4043ebace63a7d\"},\"headline\":\"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-09T14:35:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-12T19:23:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":509,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"id\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science - CPI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-09T14:35:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-12T19:23:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"id\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/id\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/\",\"name\":\"CPI\",\"description\":\"Climate Policy Initiative works to improve the most important energy and land use policies around the world, with a particular focus on finance.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"id\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Climate Policy Initiative\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"id\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/CPI_logo_cmyk_transparent.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/CPI_logo_cmyk_transparent.png\",\"width\":1728,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Climate Policy Initiative\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ClimatePolicyInitiative\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/climatepolicy\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/climate-policy-initiative\\\/?lipi=urn:li:page:d_flagship3_search_srp_all;GvyQ8DliSYaW9eZhdq8RBQ==\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCE8V0iDgBU8mreZdBegVCcA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Climate_Policy_Initiative\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/pt-br\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0d0235f40837757def4043ebace63a7d\",\"name\":\"CPI Staff\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\\\/id\\\/author\\\/cpistaff\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science - CPI","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/","og_locale":"id_ID","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science - CPI","og_description":"Last week\u2019s release of the IPCC Working Group I\u2019s contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) prompted a moment of self-reflection for the climate community. It reported incremental gains in the scientific community\u2019s confidence in its findings, with a few important tweaks to past findings. For example, it is now extremely likely (rather than just […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/","og_site_name":"CPI","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimatePolicyInitiative","article_published_time":"2013-10-09T14:35:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-12T19:23:23+00:00","author":"CPI Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@climatepolicy","twitter_site":"@climatepolicy","twitter_misc":{"Ditulis oleh":"CPI Staff","Estimasi waktu membaca":"3 menit"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/"},"author":{"name":"CPI Staff","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/#\/schema\/person\/0d0235f40837757def4043ebace63a7d"},"headline":"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science","datePublished":"2013-10-09T14:35:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-12T19:23:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/"},"wordCount":509,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"id"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/","url":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/","name":"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science - CPI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-10-09T14:35:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-12T19:23:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"id","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/a-wish-list-for-ipcc-policy-ready-climate-science\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Wish List for IPCC: \u201cPolicy-Ready\u201d Climate Science"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/","name":"CPI","description":"Climate Policy Initiative works to improve the most important energy and land use policies around the world, with a particular focus on finance.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"id"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/#organization","name":"Climate Policy Initiative","url":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"id","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/CPI_logo_cmyk_transparent.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/CPI_logo_cmyk_transparent.png","width":1728,"height":720,"caption":"Climate Policy Initiative"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimatePolicyInitiative","https:\/\/x.com\/climatepolicy","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/climate-policy-initiative\/?lipi=urn:li:page:d_flagship3_search_srp_all;GvyQ8DliSYaW9eZhdq8RBQ==","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCE8V0iDgBU8mreZdBegVCcA","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Climate_Policy_Initiative"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/pt-br\/#\/schema\/person\/0d0235f40837757def4043ebace63a7d","name":"CPI Staff","url":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/author\/cpistaff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"programs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/programs?post=2906"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=2906"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=2906"},{"taxonomy":"collaborations","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collaborations?post=2906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}