Still no consensus on greenhouse gas emissions

Letter

The Australian

17^th December 2007

Square bracketed references omitted by Editorial

Your reporters at the UN climate conference suggest the US has been playing a spoiling role in opposing the inclusion in the Bali declaration of scientific advice contained in the IPCC report ( " Wong leads last-ditch talks on climate deal ", 15-16/12).However, [ serious] questioning of that advice is not confined to the US.

Over 100 [ highly qualified ] scientists from a number of countries, including Australia, wrote to the UN secretary-general on December 13 pointing out that "it is not established that it is possible to significantly alter global climate through cuts in human greenhouse gas emissions", that [tens of ] thousands of scientists are not involved in formulating IPCC advice, and that there is no expert consensus view. They also state that the IPCC's conclusions "are quite inadequate as justification for implementing policies that will markedly diminish future prosperity."

In these circumstances, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is to be congratulated for refusing to commit Australia to specific targetted emission reductions by 2020. [He should now institute an inquiry to try to resolve the differences between scientists on this important issue].