[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 25 (Monday, February 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 6651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-2648]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 7320]


Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report Review

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: The United States Global Change Research, in cooperation with 
the Department of State, request expert review of the Special Report on 
Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters To Advance Climate 
Change Adaptation (SREX) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change (IPCC).

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SUMMARY: The IPCC was established as an intergovernmental body under 
the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the 
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988. In accordance with its 
mandate and as reaffirmed in various decisions by the Panel, the major 
activity of the IPCC is to prepare comprehensive and up-to-date 
assessments of policy-relevant scientific, technical, and socio-
economic information for understanding the scientific basis of climate 
change, potential impacts, and options for mitigation and adaptation. 
More information about the IPCC can be found at http://www.ipcc.ch.
    The IPCC develops a comprehensive assessment spanning all the above 
topics approximately every six years. In addition to these 
comprehensive assessments, the IPCC periodically develops Special 
Reports on specific topics. The Preparation of Special Reports follows 
the same procedures as for the Assessment Reports. Governments develop 
and approve plans for reports, and nominate scientists and experts as 
lead authors and reviewers. Authors prepare the reports, which go 
through several stages of review, following which member governments at 
a session of the IPCC accept them. Member governments also approve the 
executive summaries of the reports (known as a ``summary for policy 
makers'') in detail at the time that they accept the overall report. 
Principles and procedures for the IPCC and its preparation of reports 
can be found at the following Web sites:
     http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/extremes-sr/extremes_documents/ipcc-principles-appendix-a.pdf (pdf)
     http://ipcc.ch/organization/organization_procedures.shtml
    In April 2009, the IPCC approved the development of a special 
report on ``Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to 
Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX).'' The SRREX is being 
developed under the leadership of the IPCC Working Group II. This 
report will exclusively focus on events and disasters that are related 
to climate change. The IPCC 4th Assessment Report identified and 
demonstrated the usefulness of taking a risk perspective in order to 
identify ways in which civil society can promote sustainable 
development while reducing the risk of climate-related damages and 
taking advantage of opportunities that climate change will offer. This 
Special Report aims to assess policies, measures and tools and practice 
for managing the risk of extreme events to advance effective 
adaptation.
    All IPCC reports go through two broad reviews: a ``first-order 
draft'' for experts, and a ``second-order draft'' for experts and 
governments. The IPCC Secretariat has informed the U.S. Department of 
State that the second-order draft of the SREX is available for expert 
and government review on February 7.
    The approved outline of the report has a total of nine chapters. 
The early sections of the report discusses new dimensions in disaster 
risk, exposure, vulnerability and resilience, the determinants of risk, 
and changes in climate extremes and their associated impacts on the 
natural environment, human systems and ecosystems. The following 
section of the report discusses risk management at the local, national 
and international including cross-scale integrations. The report then 
outlines synergies between disaster risk management and climate 
adaptation as critical components for a resilient and sustainable 
future. The report closes with cases studies on extreme events, 
vulnerable populations and settings, and management approaches.
    As part of the U.S. Government Review of the SREX, the U.S. 
Government is soliciting comments from experts in relevant fields of 
expertise. The Global Change Research Program will coordinate 
collection of U.S. expert comments and the review of the report by 
panels of Federal scientists and program managers in order to develop a 
consolidated U.S. Government submission. Expert comments received 
within the comment period will be considered for inclusion in the U.S. 
Government submission. Instructions for review and submission of 
comments are available at http://www.globalchange.gov/srexreview.
    To be considered for inclusion in the U.S. Government collation, 
comments must be received by midnight March 7th, 2011. Comments 
submitted for consideration as part of the U.S. Government Review 
should be reserved for that purpose, and not also sent to the IPCC 
Secretariat as a discrete set of expert comments. Comments should be 
submitted using the Web-based system at: http://www.globalchange.gov/srexreview.
    This certification will be published in the Federal Register.

    Dated: February 1, 2011.
Christo Artusio,
Deputy Director, Office of Global Change, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2011-2648 Filed 2-4-11; 8:45 am]
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