UN Secretary-General asks IPCC to go under the scanner
March 11th, 2010 - 2:03 pm ICT by ANILondon, March 11(ANI): Reports indicate that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the world’s science academies to review work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which had made a major goof-up regarding on the melting of the Himalayan glaciers.
The IPCC has been under pressure over errors in its last major assessment of climate science in 2007.
The review was demanded by world governments at last month’s meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) Governing Council.
According to a report by BBC News, the review work will be co-ordinated by the Inter-Academy Council, which brings together bodies such as the UK’s Royal Society.
The Inter-Academy Council will convene a panel of experts to conduct the review, and will be run independently of UN agencies.
Robbert Dijkgraaf, the council’s co-chair, said that the review panel will be chosen so that it includes both inside knowledge of the IPCC and outside perspectives.
“The panel will look forward and will definitely not go over all the vast amount of data in climate science,” he said.
“It will see what are the (IPCC’s) procedures, and how can they be improved, so we can avoid certain types of errors,” he added.
But, Ban said that the overall concept of man-made climate change was robust, and action to curb emissions badly needed.
“Let me be clear - the threat posed by climate change is real,” said Ban, speaking at UN headquarters in New York.
“I have seen no credible evidence that challenges the main conclusions of (the IPCC’s 2007) report,” he added.
Rajendra Pachauri, the IPCC’s chair, welcomed the review.
“The IPCC stands firmly behind the rigour and reliability of its Fourth Assessment Report from 2007, but we recognise that we can improve,” he said.
“We have listened and learned from our critics, and we intend to take every action we can to ensure that our reports are as robust as possible,” he added.
The Inter-Academy Council has been asked to finalise its conclusions by August, in time that its recommendations can be discussed and adopted at October’s IPCC meeting. (ANI)
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