Representatives of 195 member nations are meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, this week to approve the release on Friday of a roughly 30-page summary of the scientific evidence for climate change aimed at policymakers worldwide.

"The world is awaiting the outcome of this session with great expectation," IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri said in a speech on Monday opening the final review of the summary in Stockholm. Pachauri cited the report's "obvious significance in respect of the current status of global negotiations and the ongoing debate on actions to deal with the challenge of climate change."

In draft versions of the report, scientists said they are "virtually certain" that humanity's fossil-fuel-related emissions drove the warming of the Earth's atmosphere by about 1.44