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Statement by Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Response to the Report by the
InterAcademy Council (IAC) on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
UNEP welcomes the independent review of the IAC, requested by the United Nations Secretary General and the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
We will now study the findings and recommendations and look forward to how governments will respond when they meet at the upcoming IPCC plenary in the Republic of Korea in October.
UNEP's initial response to this thorough report, conducted by the leading body representing many of the world's distinguished scientific academies, is that it re-affirms the integrity; the importance and validity of the IPCC's work while recognizing areas for improvement in a rapidly evolving field.
The IAC did not review the fundamental science of climate change but was tasked with reviewing the processes, procedures and management of the IPCC in part to minimize errors as the body moves forward.
As the IAC points out in its preface to today's report, several recent reviews including by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the United States National Research Council�carried out following concern over alleged errors in the 2007 fourth assessment of the IPCC�concluded that the key findings remain unaffected.
The thousands of scientists involved in the fourth assessment of the IPCC concluded that it is over 90 per cent certain that human beings and their activities are contributing to climate change.
The IAC has today outlined a series of recommendations that can strengthen the administration; management, functioning and work of the IPCC, co-hosted by UNEP and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), as it undertakes its crucial fifth assessment.
These recommendations underscore that the IPCC remains the premier body for undertaking the risk assessment needed in such a complex field where knowledge- especially in respect to likely regional impacts- remains imperfect and where new knowledge is constantly being generated.
