The selection of authors for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report has been confirmed. Professor Benjamin Horton has been invited to be a review editor. This year, Prof Horton will start on the next comprehensive assessment of the science related to climate change.

The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) will inform policymakers, international climate negotiators, and other stakeholders about the latest knowledge on all aspects of climate change. It will also update our knowledge on climate change, its impacts and risks, and possible response options, and play an important role in implementing the Paris Agreement.

Prof Horton will now review the existing scientific literature and prepare drafts of the report on the basis of the outlines of the Working Group contributions already agreed by the Panel. In 2021, the three IPCC Working Groups will finalise their respective contributions to the AR6 report. A Synthesis Report will then complete the AR6 cycle in early 2022, integrating all the Working Group contributions and the findings of the three special reports that are currently underway. The conclusions will be available in time for the first Global Stocktake, a periodic review of collective progress towards achieving the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.