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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 62 (Monday, April 1, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19565-19566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07505]

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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 8265]

Call for Expert Reviewers to the U.S. Government Review of the 
Working Group II Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Impacts, Adaptation & 
Vulnerability.

SUMMARY: The United States Global Change Research Program, in 
cooperation with the Department of State, request expert review of the 
Second Order Draft of the Working Group II Contribution to the Fifth 
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 
(IPCC), Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability.
    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World 
Meteorological Organization (WMO) 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. 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#.UEY0LqSe7x8http://ipcc.ch/organization/organization_procedures.shtml
    In October 2009, the IPCC approved the outline for the Working 
Group II contribution to the 5th Assessment Report (Working Group II 
Table of Contents: http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/

[[Page 19566]]

AR5/AR5--documents/doc20-rev1.pdf). Authors were nominated starting in 
January 2010 and selected in May 2010. 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 
Second Order Draft of the Working Group II contribution to the 5th 
Assessment Report will be available for review beginning on 29 March 
2013.
    As part of the U.S. Government Review of the Second Order Draft of 
the Working Group II Contribution to the 5th Assessment Report, the 
U.S. Government is soliciting comments from experts in relevant fields 
of expertise (Again, the Table of Contents for the Working Group 
contribution can be viewed here: http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/AR5_documents/doc20-rev1.pdf)
    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, 29 March 2013. To be considered for inclusion in the 
U.S. Government submission, comments must be received by 01 May 2013.
    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 24 May 2013. Expert comments 
received within the comment period will be considered for inclusion in 
the U.S. Government submission. Instructions for registering as a 
reviewer, the process of the review itself and submission of comments--
as well as the Second Order Draft of the report--are 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 review. More information on the IPCC's comment process can 
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 Review should 
not also participate in the Expert Review process which 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.

    Dated: March 27, 2013.
Trigg Talley,
Director, Office of Global Change, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2013-07505 Filed 3-29-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-09-P
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