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From climate facts to climate risks: IPCC experts reflect on science for policy

Author(s): Rolf Lidskog

Thursday 15  |   13:30-14:00

Room: TP54

Session: Environment risk and expertise

The IPCC has successfully built its epistemic authority for policy-relevant science, but the question is whether it needs to change its work as the international community and nation states now face the challenge of putting agreements and policies into practice. While there have been many proposals on how to develop science for policy and how to further develop global environmental assessments, little research has been done on the scientific experts involved in these assessments. This paper analyses the views of IPCC experts on the type of knowledge needed to guide policy. The empirical material consists of an interview study with experts involved in the IPCC, from its first assessment (1990) to the most recent (2023). The data from the interviews are analysed thematically using NVivo. The analysis shows that there are tensions in the way knowledge, uncertainty, and risk are viewed. It finds a crucial difference between those who focus mainly on knowledge certainties, and those who have a pronounced risk perspective, including societal risks. Finally, the paper discusses the implications for the IPCC of using a risk approach in its knowledge assessments.