United Nations review of how world assesses risk of climate change
The head of the United Nations (UN) has announced a review of how the world examines the risk of global warming following a series of scandals around the science of climate change
By Louise Gray | telegraph.co.uk | 10 Mar 2010
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up by the UN to assess the risk to the world of rising global temperatures. It won a Nobel Peace Prize for its 2007 report that concluded mankind is most likely responsible for the warming.
But the report included an erroneous claim that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035. There have also been questions about the use of non-peer reviewed or "grey literature" to back up some of the claims around global warming. Sceptics also claim that emails stolen from the University of East Anglia cast doubt on the science of global warming in a scandal known as "climategate".
Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the UN, insisted that the case for man made global warming is sound.
“Regrettably, there were a very small number of errors [in the report],” he said. “[But] I have seen no credible evidence that challenges the main conclusions of that report. The threat posed by climate change is real.”
However he said there needs to be complete public confidence in the science of global warming following the earlier mistake or "glaciergate" as it has become known.
He announced an independent review will be carried out by the InterAcademy of Council, an organisation that represents national science academies around the world. The review will look at how the IPCC, that is run by volunteer scientists and relies on input from thousands of people around the world, comes to its conclusions.
Mr Ban hinted that some changes in the way the IPCC reports are compiled might be necessary to avoid future mistakes.
"We need to ensure full transparency, accuracy and objectivity, and minimise the potential for any errors going forward," he said.
Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the IPCC, has come under pressure to resign and his role will be examined by the review.
He insisted the IAC will be independent and improve public confidence in the science of climate change in the long run.
“It is critically important that the science we bring into our reports and disseminate on a large scale is accepted across the globe, by governments, businesses and civil society,” he said.
“We expect that this review will help us strengthen the entire process by which we carry out preparation of our reports."
The IAC is hosted by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam and includes Britain's Royal Society, and more than a dozen other national science academies. The review will be funded by the UN, although it will be independent. A panel of experts has yet to be announced. The review should be finished by the end of August.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment