What Does the IPCC Do?

Written By Teacher: Liz Ransom

As a High School Spanish teacher and student newspaper advisor, Liz has taught for over 20 years and has served as World Languages Department Chair and K-6 summer camp activities leader. She has worked in Ohio, Maine, New Jersey, Maryland, and Chile.

Climate education doesn’t aim to teach students what to think, but rather how to think. More than ever, students need to be able to evaluate claims and identify credible sources. By learning about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), students can practice critical thinking skills across multiple disciplines, from social studies to science. This Teacher Guide on COP28 provides many engaging resources and activities related to the IPCC. Middle school students can use the IPCC in this lesson about climate change claims.  High school ELA students can learn how to debunk junk science in this journalism lesson.

Written By: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

The MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, a part of MIT Climate HQ, provides the public with nonpartisan, easy-to-understand, and scientifically-grounded information on climate change and its solutions.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) collects, reviews, and summarizes the best information on climate change and its impacts, and puts forward possible solutions. The IPCC was created by the United Nations Environment Programme in 1988 and is widely considered the world’s top authority on climate science. Its reports are written for policymakers and scientists, but they are available to everyone. They often provide useful knowledge and data for teachers and journalists, like an encyclopedia.

How does the IPCC write its reports?

All IPCC reports are written by volunteer groups of hundreds of scientists around the world. The IPCC has 195 participating countries, all of which nominate scientists to represent them in panel meetings. These representatives then recruit experts to write the reports. The experts are divided into three groups. One focuses on the physical science of climate change, one on the effects climate change will have on people and the planet, and one on ways to slow or prevent climate change. There is also the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, which tracks different countries’ greenhouse gas emissions and whether they are reducing those emissions.