PARIS, Oct 17, 2026 - The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has failed to agree on a publication date for its next major assessment of global warming following a week of difficult negotiations in Addis Ababa, a senior French climate envoy said. Report BSS/AFP
Benoit Faraco, France’s climate envoy, said a group of countries had pushed to postpone the report beyond 2028, the timeline favoured by many European nations and other supporters of a science-based climate policy.
In a LinkedIn post, Faraco said a broad coalition of developed and developing countries from all five continents had defended the timeline proposed by scientists against efforts to delay the assessment.
He warned that the deadlock was not new and risked wasting valuable time in the global response to climate change.
The timing of the IPCC’s seventh assessment report is particularly significant because countries want its scientific findings to inform international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and assess progress towards global climate goals.
Some countries, including Saudi Arabia, India and China, have argued that postponing publication until 2029 would give developing nations more time to examine and absorb the findings.
When the IPCC meeting opened on Monday, panel chair Jim Skea urged governments to overcome their differences, warning of the organisational and reputational consequences of failing to reach an agreement.
Last week, ministers from more than 30 countries signed a letter criticising efforts they said were at odds with the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The signatories warned that separating the UN climate policy process from the scientific evidence provided by the IPCC would undermine international cooperation and weaken global efforts to address the climate crisis.
The letter was backed by European and other industrialised countries, as well as representatives of least developed countries, small island states and emerging economies.
Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, expressed frustration over the failure to reach an agreement, stressing that IPCC findings were essential for protecting lives and livelihoods in vulnerable countries.
She said proposals addressing inclusivity, the relevance of climate science to national planning and the need for scientific evidence to inform the next global stocktake had been repeatedly dismissed.
Shreeshan Venkatesh of the Climate Action Network also expressed deep disappointment, saying governments had sufficient time to reach an agreement on such a critical issue. He called for the negotiations to resume as soon as possible.
He emphasised that renewed talks were particularly urgent as climate impacts intensify worldwide, disproportionately affecting communities that have contributed least to global warming.
IPCC assessments provide the scientific foundation for international climate negotiations and national climate policies. The panel generally publishes major assessments every five to seven years, with its sixth assessment report released in 2021.
The failure to agree on the next report’s timeline raises concerns about whether its findings will be available in time to inform upcoming international assessments of progress on climate action.
