Working Group II

Working Group II (WGII) is one of three working groups of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), alongside Working Group I (physical science basis) and Working Group III (mitigation). WGII focuses on the consequences of climate change for ecosystems, biodiversity, human communities, infrastructure, food and water systems, health, and economies — and on how societies can adapt to those consequences.

Each IPCC assessment cycle produces a WGII contribution report, drafted by hundreds of volunteer scientists nominated by governments and observer organizations. The report passes through expert review, government review, and final line-by-line approval of its Summary for Policymakers by member governments in plenary. The most recent contribution, released in February 2022 as part of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), was titled Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. It introduced or sharpened concepts including climate-resilient development, key risks, Reasons for Concern, and maladaptation, and it concluded that roughly 3.3–3.6 billion people live in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change.

WGII reports are widely cited in international negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including in the Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement, and in domestic adaptation planning, National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and litigation. The group is co-chaired by two scientists, traditionally one from a developed and one from a developing country, and is supported by a Technical Support Unit (TSU) hosted by a volunteering government.

For Model UN delegates and researchers, WGII material is most useful when arguing about impacts on specific regions or sectors, limits to adaptation, loss and damage, and the distributional dimensions of climate risk — areas where WGI (physics) and WGIII (mitigation pathways) provide less direct evidence. Citations should reference the specific chapter and the AR cycle (e.g., "IPCC AR6 WGII, Chapter 8").