AbstractThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has become the de facto voice of the mainstream scientific community, as the world seeks to understand the findings of climate science and their relevance to public policy. The IPCC has been immensely influential in the debate over anthropogenic climate change, and it has affected efforts to limit the emissions of gases that increase the greenhouse effect and cause global warming. The IPCC was established in 1988 to provide an authoritative assessment of results from climate science as an input to policymakers. Its mandate is to assess research, not to do research. Its reports are policy-relevant but not policy-prescriptive. Thousands of scientists throughout the world have contributed to the IPCC effort. This talk provides an IPCC participant's view of what the IPCC is and how it works.