“Climate Change 2007 – Mitigation of Climate Change”, the third volume of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), provides an in-depth analysis of the costs and benefits of different approaches to mitigating and avoiding climate change.

In the first two volumes of the “Climate Change 2007” Assessment Report, the IPCC analyses the physical science basis of climate change and the expected consequences for natural and human systems. The third volume of the report presents an analysis of costs, policies and technologies that could be used to limit and/or prevent emissions of greenhouse gases, along with a range of activities to remove these gases from the atmosphere. It recognizes that a portfolio of adaptation and mitigation actions is required to reduce the risks of climate change. It also has broadened the assessment to include the relationship between sustainable development and climate change mitigation.

At regular intervals of five or six years, the IPCC presents comprehensive scientific reports on climate change that assess the existing scientific, technical and socioeconomic literature. The rigorous multi-stage review process of the reports, the broad and geographically-balanced participation of experts from all relevant fields of knowledge and the thousands of comments taken into account guarantee a transparent and unbiased result.

As an intergovernmental body established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, the IPCC has the responsibility of providing policymakers with objective scientific and technical findings that are policy relevant but not policy prescriptive.