The IPCC work is shared among three Working Groups, a Task Force and a Task Group. The activities of each Working Group and of the Task Force are coordinated and administrated by a Technical Support Unit.
 
The IPCC Working Group I (WG I) assesses the physical scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change. The main topics assessed by WG I include: changes in greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere; observed changes in air, land and ocean temperatures, rainfall, glaciers and ice sheets, oceans and sea level; historical and paleoclimatic perspective on climate change; biogeochemistry, carbon cycle, gases and aerosols; satellite data and other data; climate models; climate projections, causes and attribution of climate change.
 
The IPCC Working Group II (WG II) assesses the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change, negative and positive consequences of climate change, and options for adapting to it. It also takes into consideration the inter-relationship between vulnerability, adaptation and sustainable development. The assessed information is considered by sectors (water resources; ecosystems; food & forests; coastal systems; industry; human health) and regions (Africa; Asia; Australia & New Zealand; Europe; Latin America; North America; Polar Regions; Small Islands).
 
The IPCC Working Group III (WG III) assesses options for mitigating climate change through limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing activities that remove them from the atmosphere. The main economic sectors are taken into account, both in a near-term and in a long-term perspective. The sectors include energy, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture, forestry, waste management. The WG analyses the costs and benefits of the different approaches to mitigation, considering also the available instruments and policy measures. The approach is more and more solution-oriented.
 
The Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI) was established by the IPCC to oversee the IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme (IPCC-NGGIP). The core activity is to develop and refine an internationally-agreed methodology and software for the calculation and reporting of national GHG emissions and removals and to encourage its use by countries participating in the IPCC and by parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The NGGIP also established and maintains an Emission Factor Database.
 
The Task Group on Data and Scenario Support for Impacts and Climate Analysis (TGICA) was established to facilitate co-operation between the climate modeling and climate impacts assessment communities. It aims at facilitating wide availability of climate change related data and scenarios for climate analysis and impacts, adaptation, vulnerability, and mitigation research. The TGICA does not develop itself any emission, climate, or other types of scenarios, not does it make any decision regarding the choice of scenarios in the preparation of the IPCC reports. It does not undertake any modeling or research. One of its main activities is the coordination and oversight of the IPCC Data Distribution Centre (DDC), which provides timely information and data to the international climate research community, in particular consistent data sets and guidance material.