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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 77 (Tuesday, April 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 22571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09126]

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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 8704]

Call for Expert Reviewers to the U.S. Government Review of the 
Synthesis Report (SYR) of the Fifth Assessment Report of the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

SUMMARY: The United States Global Change Research Program, in 
cooperation with the Department of State, request expert review of the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Second Order Draft 
(SOD) Synthesis Report (SYR) of the Fifth Assessment (AR5). More 
information on the report can be found at http://www.ipcc-syr.nl/.
    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (http://www.unep.org/) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) (http://www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html) established the IPCC in 1988. In 
accordance with its mandate and as reaffirmed in various decisions by 
the Panel, the major activity of the IPCC is to prepare comprehensive 
and up-to-date assessments of policy-relevant scientific, technical, 
and socio-economic information for understanding the scientific basis 
of climate change, potential impacts, and options for mitigation and 
adaptation. The IPCC develops a comprehensive assessment spanning all 
the above topics approximately every six years.
    The First Assessment Report was completed in 1990, the Second 
Assessment Report in 1995, the Third Assessment Report in 2001, and the 
Fourth Assessment in 2007. Three working group volumes and a synthesis 
report comprise the Fifth Assessment Report. Working Group I assesses 
the scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change; 
Working Group II assesses the vulnerability of socio-economic and 
natural systems to climate change, potential negative and positive 
consequences, and options for adapting to it; and Working Group III 
assesses options for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and otherwise 
mitigating climate change. The Synthesis Report (SYR) synthesizes and 
integrates material contained with IPCC Assessment Reports and Special 
Reports. The SYR is to be based exclusively on material contained in 
the three Working Group Reports and Special Reports produced during the 
5th or previous Assessment Cycles. The SYR is to be written in language 
accessible to non-technical users and guide readers to underlying 
materials if they wish to explore topics in greater depth.
    Procedures for the IPCC and its preparation of reports can be found 
at the following Web sites: http://www.ipcc.ch/organization/organization_review.shtml -.UEY0LqSe7x8 http://ipcc.ch/organization/organization_procedures.shtml.
    In October 2010, the IPCC approved the outline for the SYR of AR5 
(http://www.ipcc.ch/meetings/session32/syr_final_scoping_document.pdf). Authors were nominated and selected in March of 2012. 
All IPCC reports go through two broad reviews: a first-order draft 
reviewed by experts, and a second-order draft reviewed by both experts 
and governments. The SOD of the SYR for the AR5 will be available for 
review beginning on 21 April 2014. As part of the U.S. Government 
Review of the SOD of the SYR for the AR5, the U.S. Government is 
soliciting comments from experts in relevant fields of expertise.
    Experts may now register to review the draft report at: http://review.globalchange.gov; the report will be available for download once 
it is released on 21 April 2014. To be considered for inclusion in the 
U.S. Government submission, comments must be received by 5PM EDT 
Monday, 19 May 2014. The United States Global Change Research Program 
will coordinate collection and compilation of U.S. expert comments and 
the review of the report by a Review Committee of Federal scientists 
and program managers in order to develop a consolidated U.S. Government 
submission, which will be provided to the IPCC by 13 June 2014. 
Instructions for registering as a reviewer, the process of the review 
itself and details on how to submit comments, as well as the SOD of the 
report will be available at: http://review.globalchange.gov. Experts 
may choose to provide comments directly through the IPCC's expert 
review process, which occurs in parallel with the U.S. government & 
expert review.
    More information on the IPCC's comment process may be found at 
http://www.ipcc.ch/activities/activities.shtml and http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/ar5/review_of_wg_contributions.pdf.
    To avoid duplication, those participating in the U.S. Government & 
Expert Review process (via http://review.globalchange.gov) should not 
also participate in the Expert Review process that submits comments 
directly to the IPCC Secretariat.
    Comments to the U.S. government review should be submitted using 
the web-based system at: http://review.globalchange.gov. This 
certification will be published in the Federal Register.

Trigg Talley,
Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change, IPCC Focal Point for the 
United States, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2014-09126 Filed 4-21-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-09-P
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