That Time When an IPCC Report Clashed with ExxonMobil's Climate Denial Spending Spree

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Our latest DeSmog UK epic history post recalls how the IPCC COP 6 was held in the midst of the ExxonMobil fundingย splurge.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reconvened in Bonn, Germany in 2001 for the sixth Conference of the Parties (COP).

Michael Mannโ€™s hockey stick took centre stage of the IPCCโ€™s third report, appearing twice in the synthesis report and another two times on the Working Group I Summary forย Policymakers.

The public were already aware of the graph; President Bill Clinton had previously paid homage to the image in his final state of the union address, but Mannโ€™s iconic image provided a rare chance for the scientific community to powerfully communicate its message to the world, and the IPCC made full use of theย opportunity.

Speaking to theย Naysayers

IPCC chair Professor Robert Watson (pictured) was frequently quite outspoken in public. At the time, he stated that โ€œChina has done more, in my opinion, than a country like the United States to move forward in economic development while remaining environmentally sensitive,โ€ just days after President George W. Bushโ€™sย inauguration.ย 

Now, with the Kyoto Protocol lost, following Bushโ€™s swift withdrawal from the agreement, Watsonโ€™s introduction to UN delegates on 29th July 2001 unambiguously squared up to theย naysayers:

โ€œThe question is not whether climate will change in response to human activities,โ€ the bearded climatologist told the assembled delegates, โ€œbut rather howย much.โ€ย 

The power of the image outshone the sceptic noise; Watson held his own. As the public debate became bogged down in minutiae, he cautioned that โ€œthe only long-term solution is to decarbonise the energyย system.โ€

Hand-Picked IPCCย Chair

But, in April 2002, Watson was removed as IPCC Chair. Britain voted for Watson to stay, the US for him toย leave.

Environmental groups immediately cried โ€œExxon!โ€ but their accusation was not confirmed until documents were released under Freedom of Information, revealing a fax from Exxonโ€™s bullish science chief โ€˜Randy Randolโ€™ to President Bush only a week after hisย inauguration.

Randol asked: โ€œCan Watson be replaced now at the request of the U.S.?โ€ According to him, Watson had been โ€œhand-picked by Goreโ€ using the IPCC to further his โ€œpersonalย agendaโ€.ย 

The fax also called for the firing of two other officials who worked on the US National Assessment on Climate Change whom Randol considered โ€œClinton/Gore carry-overs with aggressive agendasโ€: Drs Rosina Bierbaum and Mike MacCracken. The two subsequently left theย panel.

In the face of these job losses, Randol was not without constructiveย advice.

Dean of sceptics, Dr Richard Lindzen was appointed co-lead of Working Group I, along with Dr John R. Christy, a climatologist who had been hired for a handful of Exxon- and Koch-funded think tanks, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Cato, Heartland and the Marshallย Institute.

Next time, the DeSmog UK epic history series will look back at the fruits of ExxonMobil’s labour bloomed in US energyย policy.

Photo: Future Earth via creativeย commons

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