This is an announcement of opportunity to recommend experts to the U.S. Government for nomination as lead authors or reviewers who will prepare the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Experts are needed in a wide range of fields that span the broad areas of the physical science of climate change; impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability assessment; and mitigation of climate change. As explained in greater detail below, your recommendations need to be received at the Climate Change Science Program Office (CCSPO), which is coordinating the U.S. nomination process, by 12:00 noon on Monday January 5, 2004. The remainder of this announcement provides background information and describes how to submit recommendations.

The IPCC

The IPCC was established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 1988. Its role is to provide comprehensive, objective, open, and transparent scientific and technical assessments of knowledge related to climate change, its potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation.

The expert nomination process

Approximately 180 governments and organizations participate in the IPCC process. These governments develop and approve plans for reports, nominate and approve lead authors and reviewers, comment on drafts, and approve the final drafts and related summaries. At the 21st session of Panel (Vienna, Austria, 3 and 6-7 November 2003), delegates accepted the overall outline and the work program for the Fourth Assessment Report. In preparing for the drafting stage of the AR4, the IPCC has requested that governments and participating organizations nominate experts to serve as lead authors and reviewers of the various chapters of the report. Governments are free to identify nominees in any manner. The U.S. Government has chosen to consult broadly in identifying potential experts and thus is soliciting recommendations from any interested Federal, academic, non-governmental, or private sector entities. Unfortunately, IPCC has only recently issued its request for nominations and has also set an early deadline for their receipt. Thus the time available for making recommendations is limited.

The IPCC will review the nominations from all participating governments and organizations and make final decisions based upon the merit of the nominees. Given the number of individuals that are typically nominated in this process, there is no guarantee that a nominee will be selected for participation.

Typically, participants in the IPCC process volunteer their time. Travel and subsistence costs for non-Federal participants are provided if requested by the participant through an interagency travel fund administered through the US-sponsored Working Group I Technical Support Unit (TSU) in Boulder, Colorado. Participation costs for Federal authors/reviewers will need to be covered directly by their agency or department. Nominated individuals should agree in advance to fulfill the role for which they are nominated, should they be selected to do so by IPCC. Nomination by the U.S. to the IPCC does not imply a commitment by the U.S. Government to provide financial support for participation (other than travel costs for non-Federal experts, if requested).

How to recommend experts

1. Refer to the IPCC website for detailed background information and the necessary forms to ensure a complete nomination. Partial nomination packages will not be considered. These web pages identify the substantive areas covered in each of the volumes and chapters of the report, and the various author and reviewer roles in the process. This information can also be accessed via the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) web site. It is important to note that the time commitment required to carry out different roles in the IPCC process varies greatly. Convening Lead Authors and Review Editors would normally require the greatest level of effort, while serving as a contributing author would require the smallest commitment level. This is described in greater detail in the information from the IPCC at either of the above websites (see Tasks and Responsibilities).

2. Make sure that any of the experts that you wish to recommend are willing to serve in the role for which they are nominated.

3. Nominations to be considered within the U.S. Government nomination process must be submitted to the Climate Change Science Program Office (CCSPO) by noon on Monday, January 5, 2004, and *not* directly to the IPCC Secretariat. Complete the posted MSWord nomination form [as of 20 Jan 2004, document no longer available] - one for each nominee including an up-to-date CV, identification of the relevant 4AR Working Group/chapter, and the role for which the individual is being nominated. Send this information as email attachments to ipcc_nominations@usgcrp.gov by 5 January 2004. To repeat, copies of the nomination form are available online here or from the IPCC [as of 20 Jan 2004, document no longer available on this site] . Please be sure to provide all the requested information because we will not have enough time to contact individuals for information that is missing. Incomplete forms will not be considered.

What happens next?

In a process coordinated through the Climate Change Science Program, technical experts and managers of relevant science and technology programs within the U.S. government will review the recommendations and develop an integrated slate of nominees for forwarding to IPCC through the U.S. State Department, the official point of contact for IPCC matters.

For further information

David Allen of the Climate Change Science Program Office is serving as the coordinator of this nomination process. Mr. Allen can be reached at 1 202 419 3486 or dallen@usgcrp.gov. Consult the CCSP website or the IPCC website for additional information and status of the nomination process as writing teams are selected in the spring of 2004.

See also:  Request U.S. nomination of experts for consideration as coordinating lead authors, lead authors, contributing authors, expert reviewers, and review editors for the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  Federal Register notice (page 69430, 12 Dec 2003) issued by U.S. Climate Change Science Program and Department of State.