Independent Summary for Policymakers released today

The Fraser Institute has released its Independent Summary for Policymakers.

News Release:

London, UK - An independent review of the latest United Nations report on climate change shows that the scientific evidence about global warming remains uncertain and provides no basis for alarmism.

In 2006, independent research organization The Fraser Institute convened a panel of 10 internationally-recognized experts to read the UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) draft report and produce an Independent Summary for Policymakers. The result, released today, is a detailed and thorough overview of the state of the science. This independent summary has been reviewed by more than 50 scientists around the world and their views on its balance and reliability are tabulated for readers.

While a lot of effort goes into producing the large IPCC reports, its complex message is often obscured by its accompanying Summary for Policymakers. That summary report does not come from the scientific community. Instead it is developed through political negotiations by unnamed bureaucrats from various governments. Critics of past summaries point out they downplay and gloss over areas of uncertainty and data limitations,” said Dr. Ross McKitrick, coordinator of the independent review and senior fellow with The Fraser Institute.

The debate around climate change has become highly politicized and alarmist. So we asked a team of highly qualified scientists to look at the IPCC report and produce a summary that they felt communicates the real state of knowledge. Our intent with this document is to allow people to see for themselves what is known and what remains highly uncertain within climate change science.”

Read the Executive Summary or download the full Independent Summary for Policymakers.

Independent Summary for Policymakers

A Policy Briefing of another sort, presented by the Fraser Institute.

(LON, UK) Climate Change Without the Spin: An Independent Summary for Policymakers of the New IPCC Report

Date: February 5, 2007

Speaker(s):
Dr. Ross McKitrick
Senior Fellow, The Fraser Institute

Event Brochure: IPCC Flyer.pdf

Event Outline:
On February 2, 2007, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release its Fourth Assessment Report on the science of climate change. In past reports, most attention has been focused on the Summary for Policymakers, a negotiated text that is not produced by the scientific community itself, and which has been criticized for inadequately communicating the complexity and uncertainty of the underlying science.

Last year, the Fraser Institute convened a panel of internationally-recognized expert scientists to produce an Independent Summary for Policymakers (ISPM), a detailed and balanced overview of the new IPCC report. The ISPM has since been reviewed by approximately 50 scientists around the world.

The ISPM is not a critique of or a response to the IPCC report. Instead, it aims to make the science that went into the underlying report accessible to the general public. It is, in essence, a summary of climate change science written and reviewed by scientists.

Please join several of the ten co-authors of the ISPM, along with a number of authorities in the area of climate change policy, for the global launch and presentation of the Independent Summary for Policymakers. This document will be concurrently distributed globally through the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World Network.

***Confirmed VIP Guests***
Lord Nigel Lawson
David Henderson, former Head, Economics and Statistics Department, OECD
Dr. Andrei Illarionov, former economic advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin

Note: Dr. McKitrick is co-author of Taken by Storm.