Beijing, 11 March 2010

The UN has placed its scientific panel on climate change under an independent review. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said an international scientific body will review the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) following errors in a report that has been key to international climate talks. Ban told reporters that the Amsterdam-based Interacademy Council, which includes heads of 15 leading science academies from around the world, will carry out the review “completely independently of the United Nations.”

The UN’s secretary-general defended the overall work of the IPCC, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, despite “a very small number of errors'' in its fourth assessment report.

“I have seen no credible evidence that challenges the main conclusions of that report,'' Ban said.

Ban also defended the role of IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachuari, who has been accused by critics of manipulating elements of the report and being slow to respond to errors identified by other scientists.

Mistakes in the fourth assessment report, which was published in 2007, have been seized upon by those who claim scientists are exaggerating or fabricating evidence of manmade global warming.

The UN intends that the independent review should present its findings by August, so that it can be digested before ministerial UN climate talks begin in Mexico in November.

The UN said in a press release that the review will examine every aspect of how the IPCC’s reports are prepared, including the use of non-peer reviewed literature and the reflection of diverse viewpoints on various aspects of climate change.

It added that the Interacademy Council will look at how the IPCC is structured, including how the panel is managed.

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By John McGarrity , Point Carbon

www.pointcarbon.com