We need power to prescribe climate policy, IPCC scientists say

(The Guardian, 7 Dec 2023) Exclusive: Five IPCC report authors say scientists should be allowed to make policy prescriptions and potentially oversee implementation.

Senior climate experts are calling for an overhaul of the structure and powers of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in despair at the slow pace of climate action.

Five lead authors of IPCC reports told the Guardian that scientists should be given the right to make policy prescriptions and, potentially, to oversee their implementation by the 195 states signed up to the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC).

Their call came after it emerged that the United Arab Emirates had been planning to use its position as Cop28 host to strike oil and gas deals .

Sonia Seneviratne, an IPCC vice-chair and coordinating lead author since 2012, said: “At some point we need to say that if you want to achieve this aim set by policymakers then certain policies need to be implemented.

“As climate change becomes worse and worse, it is becoming more difficult to be policy relevant without being prescriptive.”

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The Guardian, 7 Dec 2023: We need power to prescribe climate policy, IPCC scientists say