Two researchers, Letícia Cotrim and Luciana Prado, both from the Faculty of Oceanography at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj), will act as authors of the report for the seventh Assessment Cycle of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body. They are part of the select group of 664 experts from 111 countries chosen by the organization.
According to Uerj, only 18 Brazilian researchers are part of the new IPCC cycle, and the state university is the only Brazilian institution participating with two women, “highlighting both the scientific excellence of the university and the importance of female presence in strategic spaces for the formulation of global policies based on scientific evidence.”
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The IPCC report is one of the main international references on the climate crisis, endorsed by all UN signatory countries and used to guide governmental decisions, international agreements, and adaptation and mitigation strategies. The document recommends public policies and actions but does not oblige nations to adopt the measures it contains.
In each assessment cycle, the selected experts analyze the most recent scientific knowledge on topics such as the physical indicators of climate change, its impacts and associated risks, and possible responses through adaptation and mitigation.
The first meeting of the lead authors and coordinators of the three working groups for the seventh cycle took place in the first week of December in Paris.
The three IPCC working groups address key dimensions of climate change. Working Group 1 focuses on the physical basis of climate; Working Group 2 analyzes impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation; and Working Group 3 covers greenhouse gas mitigation. The seventh Assessment Cycle will conclude in 2028 with the release of the Synthesis Report.
As a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Brazil can nominate scientists to serve on the panel, with the IPCC selecting candidates based on their area of expertise, specialties, and scientific output. Professors Letícia Cotrim and Luciana Prado were chosen, respectively, as coordinating author and lead author of Working Group 1.
Letícia Cotrim, from the Department of Chemical Oceanography, previously served as a lead author in the sixth Assessment Cycle (2018–2021). She is now one of the three coordinating authors of Chapter 4, which covers advances in understanding Earth system processes and climate-related changes.
“Within the scope outlined by the IPCC for this chapter, aspects of the functioning of terrestrial, marine, and coastal ecosystems, as well as their interactions with the atmosphere and cryosphere (polar and high-mountain regions with glaciers), are included,” explains the professor.
For Luciana Prado, from the Department of Physical Oceanography and Meteorology, being selected to join the IPCC represents an important milestone in her career, given the large number of applications worldwide for the seventh cycle. The professor explains that she will contribute to Chapter 2, which will describe climate changes observed in recent decades from a global perspective - a kind of global diagnosis.
“My role involves compiling studies on past climates; it is paleoclimatology. By examining these situations, we can better understand how the climate system works and make more accurate future projections,” adds Prado.
The next meeting of the IPCC authors is scheduled to take place in April 2026 in Santiago, Chile.
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