**Media Advisory**

Scoping Meeting for the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C

UNITED NATIONS–Understanding the consequences of warming above 1.5 degrees, and options to avoid it, is of particular importance to the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), whose members are vulnerable to sea level rise and other extreme impacts. The group strongly advocated for the inclusion of 1.5 degrees C in the Paris Agreement and continues to urge the world to accelerate the deployment of climate solutions before 2020, a prerequisite for achieving that climate goal.

“We now know that 2015 set a number of ominous milestones: Greenhouse gases were the highest on record; Global surface temperature was the highest on record; Global sea level rose to a record high; among others. And all this at an average warming of just over 1 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels today. Keeping warming below 1.5 degrees demands the full effort of the entire international community and the IPCC Special Report is an integral part of the process.”

-Thoriq Ibrahim, Minister of Environment and Energy for the Maldives and Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States

WHEN: 15-18 August 2016

WHERE: World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

WHAT: As part of the Paris Agreement, the UNFCCC invited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to develop a Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways. This scoping meeting will set the groundwork for proceeding with the report.

CONTACT: Amjad Abdulla, Vice Chair of Working Group 3 on mitigation at the IPCC, will be at the meeting and available for interviews with reporters. Email: abdulla.amjad@gmail.com