Partners’ Breakfast meeting on the Community of Practice (CoP) for coordinated engagement in the IPCC process

IPCC National Focal Points (NFPs) are central to coordinating national engagement in the IPCC process, including mobilizing relevant expertise, organizing national inputs, and facilitating access to credible evidence on Africa across different stages of the assessment cycle. In practice, however, these connections are often weak or fragmented, making it difficult to mobilize expertise efficiently, access relevant literature and sustain engagement across IPCC milestones. An African Community of Practice (CoP) for coordinated engagement in the IPCC process will provide a long-term support mechanism linking NFPs with government institutions, universities, research and scientific communities, and practitioners. The CoP will help build and maintain an accessible multidisciplinary pool of African experts, make evidence on Africa easier to access, strengthen preparedness for IPCC processes, and sustain collaboration beyond the current Seventh Assessment Cycle (AR7). The model will operate at national, subregional and continental levels, allowing countries to draw on wider expertise and peer support where national capacity is limited, while keeping NFPs at the centre of national coordination. Establishing an effective CoP will require collaboration with institutions that hold significant scientific expertise, research networks, and evidence repositories on Africa. Rather than duplicating parallel systems, the approach is intended to connect and build on existing initiatives, databases and partner platforms. It is against this backdrop that AGNES will convene a partners’ breakfast meeting on the CoP approach for coordinated engagement in the IPCC proces