Signal IPCC Chair Keynote at London Climate Week 2026 — U.S. Paris Withdrawal Takes Effect

Summary

IPCC chair Sir Jim Skea delivered multiple keynote addresses during London Climate Action Week 2026, including at the IIGCC Summit (positioned at the center of the week, focused on scaling investment into energy systems, industrial transformation, resilience and nature) alongside speakers Sarah Kapnick of J.P. Morgan and Francesco d'Avack of S&P Global, plus a fireside chat with IIGCC's CEO on the status of the net-zero transition and how the IPCC's Seventh Assessment Report (AR7) will shape future climate policy. He also briefed science and environment journalists via the Science Media Centre and delivered a keynote at a joint ODI-FAO event on "Just Transition in Agrifood Systems." Around the same time, the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement took effect, a development seen as shifting global climate leadership toward China. The IPCC's seventh assessment cycle, formally begun in July 2023, continued in parallel, with expert registration opening on 6 July 2026 for review of the Working Group I First Order Draft. The cycle covers three Working Group reports plus a Synthesis Report scheduled for release by late 2029, and touches on Paris Agreement goals, emission scenarios and the exceedance of 1.5°C of warming.