Report of the 21st Session of the IPCC Page: 1

                                
__      INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
WMO                                                                                             UNEP
REPORT OF THE 21ST SESSION OF THE IPCC
(Vienna, Austria, 3 and 6-7 November 2003)
1.      OPENING OF THE SESSION
1.1     Call to order
1.1.1  The Chair, Mr Rajendra K. Pachauri called the session to order at 10.30 hrs on Monday, 3
November 2003.
1.1.2  The Session was attended by over 440 persons (Attachment A).
1.2     Opening Addresses
1.2.1  The Chair gave his opening address, outlining the issues faced by the Panel in preparing for
the Fourth Assessment Report and highlighted the rigorous efforts undertaken thus far in scoping
the structure and contents of the report.
1.2.2 Mr Josef Prll, the Austrian Federal Minister of Environment welcomed the IPCC to
Vienna and delivered a keynote address outlining key climate change issues, their relevance for
Austria and measures taken in Austria in response to climate change.
1.2.3  The Executive-Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Mr Klaus
Topfer addressed the Session on key climate and environmental change issues and links among
them.
1.2.4  The Deputy Secretary-General of the WMO, Mr Michel Jarraud addressed the Session on
key climate change issues.
1.2.5  Ms Joke Waller-Hunter Executive Secretary of the United Nation Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) spoke on the key scientific and technical issues for the Convention
process.
1.3    Working Arrangements
1.3.1  The Chair confirmed the working arrangements to be 10.00 to 13.00 hours for the morning
sessions and 15.00 to 18.00 hours for the afternoon sessions.
1.4    Approval of the Agenda
1.4.1  The draft agenda (Attachment B) was adopted, noting that it could be changed at any time
throughout the Session.
1.4.2  One delegation expressed concern about the arrangements for Working Groups meeting in
parallel sessions, which could limit the ability of specific delegations to participate fully in the
sessions of the three Working Groups. However, the Chairman and the acting Secretary explained
the past precedent for holding such parallel sessions, and noted that advice on that matter was
circulated well in advance and the IPCC Trust Fund allowed for funding of one developing
country/EIT delegate per Working Group.

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