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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Working Group III: Mitigation of Climate Change

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Bullet Information on SRES     The goal of the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) is to provide a basis for analysis of potential future climatic changes and associated impacts as well as a reference for socio-economic analysis of long-term mitigation options. Details can be found in the Terms of Reference. Information on the progress until spring 1998 is provided in a progress report. The actual report will be written from autumn 1998 until spring 1999 according to the time schedule. The tentative template scenarios have been quantified by 6 modeling teams represented in the writing team, 2 from the United States, 2 from Europe, and 2 from Japan. Although the storylines, the input assumptions, and the interpretations of the results have been developed in close collaboration with the members of the writing team from developing regions, economies in transition, and industrial and environmental non-governmental organizations, the goal of the “open process” is to widen participation even further. Its organization is sponsored by the US and Netherlands governments.


Bullet Goal of the Open Process     The goal of the SRES open process is to support the writing team in developing a comprehensive, up-to-date and balanced report by inviting three types of input from scenario experts:
  • new scenario quantifications based on the template scenarios
  • general suggestions to improve on the work of the SRES writing team

According to the rules of IPCC, reports should be based on the published literature. This implies that the first two types of contributions have to be clearly referenced, while the latter type of contribution should be published before the finalization of the SRES report, that is by late 1999. If you decide to participate, please follow the link "join open process". Scenario submissions have to be submitted according to a specific format to facilitate their acceptance.


BulletOrganizations     The open process is implemented by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University (CIESIN) in close collaboration with the IPCC Technical Support Unit of Working Group III at the National Institute of Public Health and Environment (RIVM) and the Energy Research Foundation (ECN) in the Netherlands, and the International Institute of Systems Analysis (IIASA) - the home institution of the SRES convening lead author, Dr. Nebosja Nakicenovic - in Austria. It is financially sponsored by the governments of the United States and the Netherlands and IIASA. The website has been developed in consultation with a small editorial board from the above institutions and Dr. P. Shukla from the Indian Institute of Management. The results of the open process will be evaluated by the SRES writing team, including a mid-term review at their October, 1998 meeting in Beijing, China.


Please note that the data and information posted under the "Open Process" are for historical information only. They were preliminary information released in 1998-1999 as part of the SRES open process and for use in analysis to be contained in the IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR). For final data (version 1.1) please go back to home page and follow the link.