Petro-states and major developing nations push to postpone key IPCC climate report

During a meeting in Addis Ababa, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is confronting a campaign by Saudi Arabia, Russia, India and China to push its seventh assessment report (AR7) back to 2029, claiming that developing nations need greater influence over the findings. The report, originally scheduled for 2028 to inform the UN climate summit Cop33, is critical for assessing progress toward the Paris agreement's 1.5°C target.

Forty-four ministers from the High Ambition Coalition, the EU and the Least Developed Countries grouping have called for an expedited release, warning that political interference could endanger vulnerable countries. Marshall Islands minister Jess Gasper and Sierra Leone's Jiwoh Emmanuel Abdulai emphasized that science must remain independent. Observatório do Clima's Claudio Angelo criticized the equity argument, noting that wealthier nations could produce their own models. Delaying AR7 could weaken the global response as temperatures already exceed the 1.5°C threshold.