Chapter 7 Australian Participation in the IPCCC

Third Assessment Report > Synthesis Report

The structure and style of the TAR Synthesis Report differed considerably from that of the Second Assessment Report. The report addressed nine specific questions, which were initially posed by Parties to the UNFCCC through the SBSTA and finessed by the IPCC. The nine questions were aimed at providing additional information that was particularly relevant to negotiations within the UNFCCC, drawing on material from within the three Working Group reports and Special Reports.

In brief summary form, the nine questions (in their final sequence as submitted for approval) assessed:

1. the issue of how to interpret Article 2 of the UNFCCC, specifically what constitutes "dangerous" anthropogenic interference with the climate system;

2. quantification and attribution of observed changes in the Earth’s climate system since the pre-industrial era, as well as an analysis of observed changes in socioeconomic sectors, ecological systems and human health that may be attributable to climate change;

3. what future changes in the climate system and associated impacts are projected to occur within the next 25 to 100 years in the absence of explicit international action to limit climate change;

4. understanding on the linkages between increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and changes in climate variability and extreme climatic events, and thresholds and non-linearities in the climate system and ecosystems;

5. the time delays and inertias inherent in the natural and social processes associated with climate change and development;

6. the implications of different stabilisation levels of greenhouse gas concentrations on the climate system and associated impacts, and the benefits of the extent and timing of different mitigation policies;

7. the costs and benefits of the suite of policies, practices and technologies that are available to limit greenhouse gas emissions in both the short and long-term;

8. the scientific and policy linkages amongst a number of local, regional and global environmental issues; and

9. the most robust conclusions and the most significant information gaps in the TAR.