UN climate change panel urged to review methods

Feb 16, 2010, 11:58 GMT

Stockholm - The United Nations was Tuesday urged to review the working methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), following recent disclosures of mistakes in the organization's reports.

The call was made by Gunnar Oquist, permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that awards the Nobel prizes for physics and chemistry, as well as the economics prize.

One mistake published in an IPCC report in 2007 claimed that Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035.

'The IPCC has in some cases apparently jumped to conclusions based on deficient data,' Oquist told the Svenska Dagbladet daily.

In order to maintain the climate change panel's credibility, it needs to review how the mistakes were made and address them, he said.

The IPCC does not conduct original research, but assesses findings in scientific publications. Often these reports are subjected to peer-review and editorial processes.

Although he did not call for IPCC head Rajendra Pachauri to resign, Oquist noted that disclosures of this kind usually have consequences.

The IPCC in 2007 shared the Nobel Peace Prize for its work on climate change with former US vice president Al Gore. The peace prize is awarded by a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament.