The IPCC has survived crises before — it can do so again. Credit: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/Sipa USA/Alamy

When the most recent meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), held in Addis Ababa, ended earlier this month, its conclusion drew negative media headlines. The United Nations body — the world’s forum for climate scientists — had failed, not for the first time, to agree a timetable for its next comprehensive review of the science of global climate change.

Global emissions slow — but world hurtles towards 2 °C of warming

Many countries would like the review, known as the Seventh Assessment Report (AR7), to be published in 2028. This would be in time for a UN climate meeting called the Global Stocktake, at which countries assess their progress towards meeting climate pledges. A number of nations, including some European countries and small island states, want the report to be published ahead of the stocktake.…