Another exoneration: IPCC head cleared of financial wrongdoing by KPMG
To go along with the recent string of exonerations that have been given by public enquiries concerning the hacked CRU emails and the vindication of Michael Mann's conduct by PSU, now accusations of financial impropriety made against Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, have also been refuted in an investigation by KPMG. The Sunday Telegraph, which first broke the story, has removed it and offered an apology.
Dr Pachauri has received a sum total of £0 for his work as IPCC chair (yes, far from a socialist plot to install world government, the IPCC is a tiny group co-ordinating the work of thousands of scientists that can't even afford to pay its own chair). And his entire income is under £50,000. More details are found here, with intelligent discussion here.
But like all such retractions, it is too little, too late. The smear did its job, spreading popular doubt about the work of the IPCC around the time of increased global attention on the issue due to the Copenhagen conference.
Yet of all the accusations against climate science flying around at the end of last year, the worst that have been substantiated were a reference to an incorrect date on one page of the IPCC's 2007 report (which ran to thousands of pages), some personal nastiness in private emails and possible evasion of FOI requests by a scientist under siege from dozens of such requests. No consensus has collapsed, no climatologists have been shown to have been fraudulent, no studies have been fatally undermined, no new theory to explain the data has gained wide acceptance. It is still the case that over 97% of the most active climatologists agree that human emissions are the primary culprit for a significant and ongoing rise in global temperatures and shift in climate patterns.
Moral: don't believe every breathless scandal dished out by the popular media, especially when the source is a blogger with an unimpressive track record and the target is a highly politicised figure. But then, most of you knew that already.
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NB Note that I am not saying that the IPCC is without room for improvement. A major report is due out tomorrow that will make recommendations. It will be interesting to see what it says.
And Michael Mann, perhaps one of the best known climatologists in the world, has had another good outcome in a court case brought against him by the attorney general of Virginia.
The report is now out. The main conclusion begins like this:
“The Committee concludes that the IPCC assessment process has been successful overall and has served society well. The commitment of many thousands of the world’s leading scientists and other experts to the assessment process and to the communication of the nature of our understanding of the changing climate, its impacts, and possible adaptation and mitigation strategies is a considerable achievement in its own right. Similarly, the sustained commitment of governments to the process and their buy-in to the results is a mark of a successful assessment. Through its unique partnership between scientists and governments, the IPCC has heightened public awareness of climate change, raised the level of scientific debate, and influenced the science agendas of many nations. However, despite these successes, some fundamental changes to the process and the management structure are essential, as discussed in this report and summarized below.”
Here is a sensible reaction to the report, with links to more.
Milan on reforming the IPCC.
CP: Wash Post's take.
Monbiot: Zombie myths that refuse to die.
How to properly reform the IPCC. ;-)
Nature: Climate panel must adapt to survive.
Interview with chief author of the report on the reform of the IPCC. Dispells a few myths, including the idea that the report calls on Pachauri to resign.
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