The scoping meeting for the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities in the Seventh Assessment Report of the IPCC is set to take place in Riga, Latvia on April 16. This meeting will bring together scientists, academics, and experts to outline the structure, focus, and framework of the report. The Special Report on Climate Change and Cities will be the only special report included in AR7.
Participants at the scoping meeting will include leading climate scientists and city experts who will utilize a vast amount of knowledge produced by scholars, city networks, and IPCC authors. This includes the Summary for Urban Policymakers, a city-focused summary of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report. The period leading up to the Riga meeting is crucial for experts to expand their knowledge, stimulate their creativity, and test the narratives that will shape the report.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is hosting a special discussion that will bring together IPCC authors, climate policy experts, and writers who use fiction and narrative to explore the intersection of science and policy. The discussion will provide an overview of the forthcoming Special Report, showcase readings from the Invisible Cities project, where authors collaborate with the science and policy communities to craft new fictional representations of cities facing climate challenges, and engage in a broader conversation on the impact of narratives on climate action.