France calls for the IPCC's role in international climate action to be protected

Following the 65th plenary session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) from 12 to 16 October 2026, France expresses its concern over persistent difficulties in adopting a publication timetable for the Seventh Assessment Report that would enable its three volumes to feed into the Paris Agreement’s second global stocktake.

With the climate emergency requiring international action to be stepped up, any delay in making the IPCC’s scientific knowledge available risks weakening States’ ability to adopt, in good time, the decisions necessary for achieving the Paris Agreement targets.  

Defending the independence of science against obstruction efforts

Since 2023, the IPCC has been preparing its Seventh Assessment Report, comprising three volumes devoted to the physical bases of climate change, to its impact and to adaptation and mitigation. This work is a crucial benchmark for international climate negotiations and the Paris Agreement’s global stocktake, organized every five years.

France reiterates that science must remain the foundation of climate multilateralism. It deplores repeated attempts to delay the IPCC’s work and question its ability to provide States with independent, thorough, relevant expertise to inform their decisions.

Defending science is a political and diplomatic priority for France, which for many years has been lending the IPCC financial support and contributing to its work through the commitment of its scientific community. This commitment was demonstrated in particular by the hosting in Paris of the first meeting of all the Seventh Assessment Report’s main authors, in December 2025.  

Protecting the IPCC’s contribution to the Paris Agreement’s second global stocktake

At this 65th plenary session France, along with its partners in countries from the South and North, upheld the timetables proposed by the co-chairs of the IPCC’s three working groups, ensuring the robustness and scientific consistency of the Assessment Report’s three volumes and making all these volumes available to States in time for the Paris Agreement’s second global stocktake, so that States may benefit from essential expertise when it comes to collectively assessing the progress made and stepping up their efforts in the face of climate change.

The lack of consensus – not only about the timetable but also about proposed inclusiveness measures and the budget for ensuring that the IPCC’s work continues – sends a more-than-alarming signal.

France will go on championing the continuation of this work, along with its partners, in order to guarantee the relevance of the IPCC’s publications to international decision-making, and safeguard the independence and integrity of its expertise. It will promote these priorities at political level, during COP31 in particular.

Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, said: “The IPCC’s 65^th plenary session in Addis Ababa demonstrated that a very large majority of countries, ranging from the most industrialized to the most vulnerable, demand the same thing: independent science that is published in time and useful for taking action. On this issue, there isn’t really any divide between North and South, but rather between those who accept the facts and are resolved to confront them and those who seek to exploit them to protect their short-term interests. France will always be on the side of science.”

Monique Barbut, Minister for the Ecological Transition, Biodiversity and International Climate and Nature Negotiations, said: “Science must not be an adjustment variable in climate negotiations. The IPCC plays a vital role in informing States’ decisions and giving full scope to the Paris Agreement. Delaying the publication of its work means risking depriving the international community of the knowledge it needs in order to act. France will go on championing independent scientific expertise and the IPCC’s full contribution to international climate action.” 

Philippe Baptiste, Minister for Higher Education, Research and Space, said: “Science provides a foundation on which collective decisions must be taken. In this sense, the IPCC’s work is essential in the context of climate change. By mobilizing the most robust scientific knowledge, it forms an essential basis for guiding research, informing government action and developing responses commensurate with the challenges and the emergency.”