The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was
jointly established by the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) in 1988 to: (i) assess available information on the science,
the impacts, and the economics of, and the options for
mitigating and/or adapting to, climate change; and (ii) provide,
on request, scientific/technical/socioeconomic advice to the
Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since
then, the IPCC has produced a series of Assessment Reports,
Special Reports, Technical Papers, methodologies, and other
products that have become standard works of reference, widely
used by policymakers, scientists, and other experts