Professor Alessandro Tagliabue, of the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Liverpool, has been selected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to contribute to the Seventh Assessment Report (AR7). Professor Tagliabue is one of 664 authors chosen from a pool of 3,771 nominees from 111 countries.
Professor Tagliabue was nominated by the United Kingdom and appointed by the IPCC Bureau and will serve as a Lead Author on Chapter 4: Advances in process understanding of Earth system changes for the Working Group 1 report.
A leading expert in ocean biogeochemical cycling, Professor Tagliabue investigates the processes controlling nutrient and carbon cycling in the ocean and how these interact with marine ecosystems.
He previously served as a Lead Author on the IPCC’s Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC, 2019), contributing to the chapter “Changing Oceans, Marine Ecosystems, and Dependent Communities” and participating in the governmental review process. You can read his thoughts on his contribution here.
With author teams now confirmed, the process officially begins: experts will assess relevant scientific literature and draft chapters according to outlines agreed by the IPCC at its 62nd session in Hangzhou, China (February 2025). The first Lead Author meeting is scheduled for early December 2025 in Paris.
The three Working Group reports—Physical Science Basis (WG I), Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability (WG II), and Mitigation (WG III)—are expected to be released starting mid-2028, with the final Synthesis Report due for approval by late 2029, concluding the seventh assessment cycle IPCC+1.
Commenting on his appointment, Professor Tagliabue said: “I am deeply honoured to join the author team for the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report. It is a privilege to help contribute to and communicate the latest science on the changing climate of our oceans and cryosphere—and the risks this poses to vulnerable communities worldwide. I look forward to working alongside colleagues from around the globe to assess our collective understanding and inform effective mitigation and adaptation strategies.”
About the IPCC
The IPCC, established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), is the United Nations body responsible for assessing climate science. Its assessments are the gold standard for informing global climate policy, providing evidence-based analysis of climate change, its impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation
Professor Tagliabue reflected on his contribution to the sixth IPCC: https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2019/12/03/viewpoint-reflections-on-authoring-ipcc-oceans-and-climate-change-report/