An Examination of the Least Developed Countries in the IPCC AR5 WGII

The Fifth Assessment Report of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was released in 2014. It examines the impacts of climate change, inherent vulnerabilities and adaptation responses across the globe. The Least Developed Countries are identified as being particularly vulnerable to climate change due to economic and capacity barriers. This paper examines the LDCs within the IPCC report to highlight how climatic impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation are portrayed for these countries. It illuminates a need for a greater focus on the LDCs by the IPCC and for further research concentrated on the LDCs in general, in order to enhance the state knowledge on LDCs and appropriately guide related policy.