UN climate body 'needs reform after basic errors'

THE UN's climate body should undergo a series of fundamental reforms to guard against a repeat of a catalogue of errors in its major report.

The Inter Academy Council has recommended changes to the management structure of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) after mistakes were found in its last major assessment of climate science in 2007.

The body has faced growing criticism since its 2007 "Fourth Assessment" report, which wrongly claimed that 55 per cent of the Netherlands is below sea water - and exaggerated the pace of Himalayan glaciers melting.

But yesterday's report showed that concerns over the glacier claim had been raised by reviewers - but had not been considered seriously enough by the IPCC.

"The IPCC should encourage review editors to fully exercise their authority to ensure that reviewers' comments are adequately considered by the authors and that genuine controversies are adequately reflected in the report," the group, which was led by former Princeton University economics professor Harold Shapiro, said.

It also warned that the panel should only make predictions when it has solid scientific evidence and avoid straying into policy advocacy.

But environmentalists said that the mistakes had undermined the environmental lobby in the eyes of the public.

"This is a very long report with hundreds of pages," said Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland. "It is not surprising that at the end of the day, there are a few errors in what they quote. It has given great ammunition to the sceptics, which is a shame, when it was acknowledged that the conclusion - that the world is warming - is correct."

In July, a Dutch inquiry into the report said it found "no errors that would undermine the main conclusions" on probable impacts of global warming.