The Science Diplomat Playbook
The IPCC opens its next climate assessment to scrutiny as AI researchers gather in Korea and biodiversity talks enter their final days.
Issue No. 17 | Monday, August 10, 2026
Good morning,
Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.
The lead
The next global climate assessment enters a critical stage.
On Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change opens the First Order Draft of the Working Group I contribution to its Seventh Assessment Report to expert review, beginning a nearly two-month process of scrutiny of the scientific foundation for the world’s next major assessment of climate change.
Experts from around the world will be invited to examine the draft for accuracy, balance, clarity and comprehensiveness, identify relevant scientific literature and propose revisions. It is the first formal review stage before the Working Group I assessment is eventually completed.
“Expert review is a cornerstone of the IPCC assessment process. The diverse knowledge, perspectives and expertise provided by reviewers help strengthen the scientific quality, policy relevance and credibility of our reports,” said applied meteorology expert Xiaoye Zhang, who co-chairs Working Group I.
The process offers an unusually clear view into how scientific authority is constructed internationally. IPCC assessments are not simply written by scientists and presented to governments. Drafts undergo successive rounds of expert and government review, with comments considered and documented before reports are approved and released.
That architecture has helped make the IPCC one of the most consequential interfaces between science and international policy. Its assessments inform national climate policies and international negotiations, including the global stocktake under the Paris Agreement.
The review beginning this week concerns the physical science basis of climate change: observed and projected large-scale changes, climate processes and feedbacks, and regional climate information. The eventual Working Group I report will form part of the Seventh Assessment Report, with its synthesis report scheduled for release by late 2029.
Elsewhere, the international AI research community gathers in South Korea for KDD 2026, bringing together researchers and industry around advances in data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
And in Nairobi, negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity enter their final days as governments consider how to accelerate progress toward the 2030 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Major processes to watch
IPCC — Expert review begins for the next climate assessment
The First Order Draft of the Working Group I contribution to the Seventh Assessment Report opens for expert review on Monday.
Experts will examine the assessment’s treatment of the physical science of climate change through Oct. 2. Reviewers can comment on its accuracy, balance and comprehensiveness, suggest scientific literature and recommend revisions before the draft moves into subsequent stages of the IPCC assessment process.
The exercise is a central part of the institutional machinery through which the IPCC establishes the scientific foundation used by governments in climate policymaking and international negotiations.
South Korea — KDD puts AI’s expanding role in science on display
Researchers and industry leaders gather in Jeju for KDD 2026, one of the major international conferences in data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
This year’s meeting introduces a dedicated AI for Sciences track, bringing AI methods into fields ranging from climate and environmental science to health, materials science and physics. The broader program also includes work on responsible AI, privacy, fairness and algorithmic accountability, alongside sessions examining the next generation of AI development.
The meeting offers a view of the research frontier shaping international debates over AI governance—and of AI’s rapidly expanding role within science itself.
Convention on Biological Diversity — Nairobi talks enter their final days
Governments conclude two weeks of negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity on Wednesday.
Following scientific and technical discussions in the first week, the Subsidiary Body on Implementation is considering financing, capacity-building, biodiversity mainstreaming and other measures intended to accelerate progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The meetings feed directly into preparations for COP17 in Yerevan in October, where governments will conduct the first global review of progress since adopting the framework in 2022.
Middle East — Hormuz talks advance but shipping crisis persists
Iran and Oman say talks over navigation through the Strait of Hormuz have reached their final stages, including plans for a new shipping route through the strategic waterway. But the negotiations have yet to produce a reopening of the strait. The U.S. military says it has now redirected 55 commercial vessels away from Iranian ports under its naval blockade, while Tehran says there is no possibility of restarting direct negotiations with Washington under current conditions.
The diplomatic opening comes as the regional conflict continues to spread. Houthi forces have claimed new attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and Yemeni government positions, while Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed a mutual-defense pact that treats an attack on one as an attack on all.
Security Council watch — Middle East and Red Sea return to focus
Strategic waterways remain in focus at the Security Council this week as tensions surrounding the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz continue.
On Tuesday, the Council holds a briefing on the Middle East focused on escalating violence in the West Bank. On Thursday, U.N. Special Envoy Hans Grundberg and humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher are expected to brief on Yemen, followed by closed consultations.
Council members are also expected to continue closely following developments involving Iran and Lebanon and disruption to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. The Yemen meeting comes as Houthi attacks and threats to shipping have renewed concerns about security in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab.
Signals
The IPCC review process illustrates how international scientific authority is built through repeated scrutiny rather than a single act of expert consensus.
AI is becoming scientific infrastructure as well as an object of governance, extending deeper into fields from climate science and health to physics and materials research.
The biodiversity negotiations move from diagnosing inadequate progress toward the harder question of what governments are prepared to change before 2030.
The Hormuz talks show how technical arrangements can become channels for diplomacy even while the larger political conflict remains unresolved.
On the calendar
Aug. 9–13 — KDD 2026 (Jeju, South Korea)
Researchers and industry specialists gather for a major international conference on data science and AI, including a new track devoted to AI for scientific discovery. → Program
Aug. 10 — Diplomacy Day, Locarno Film Festival (Locarno, Switzerland)
Diplomats, academics, civil society and cultural figures examine how culture and cross-sector partnerships can contribute to international cooperation. → Program
Aug. 10–Oct. 2 — IPCC Working Group I First Order Draft expert review (Global)
Experts worldwide review the first draft of the physical-science contribution to the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. → Review information
July 27–Aug. 12 — Convention on Biological Diversity (Nairobi)
Parties conclude two weeks of deliberations centered on the first global assessment of progress against the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. → Agenda
Closing
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