Mapping the epistemic geography of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (1995–2022)

This paper maps the epistemic geography of the mitigation working group (WGIII) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It thus contributes to the study of the science-policy interface of the IPCC and its authors. We mapped the WGIII authors’ scientific publications and created visual networks based on bibliographic coupling of the IPCC authors of Assessment Reports 2–6. We found that, over time, the scientific community behind integrated assessment models (IAMs) has gained greater prominence in the epistemic geography, and today most of the IPCC WGIII authors rely on IAMs as a way to analyze the impacts of mitigation efforts. Subsequently, we discuss the consequences of this development for climate knowledge, climate policy, and the crowding out of other relevant academic approaches, theories, and qualitative data. We conclude by suggesting a more comprehensive approach to the methodological approaches in the IPCC assessments. • A mapping of the Epistemic Geography of the IPCC WGIII authors is conducted. • A novel approach to analyzing epistemic communities and -geographies is developed. • The community behind Integrated Assessment Models has become increasingly prominent. • By overcrowding the author base with one approach, other perspectives are excluded.