Climate Science Denier 'Should Have Been Challenged', BBC Admits

picture-25876-1571179299.jpg
on

The BBC has acknowledged that climate science denier Nigel Lawson โ€œshould have been challengedโ€ over incorrect scientific statements made on its flagship news and current affairs programme earlier thisย year.

Lawson appeared on the Today programme in August and incorrectly claimed thatย Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change โ€œhas confirmed that there has been no increase in extreme weather eventsโ€ and โ€œaccording to the official figures, during this past 10 years, if anything, mean global temperature, average world temperature, has slightlyย declinedโ€.

The BBC‘s complaints unit today said the interview breached editorial guidelines, and that the organisation accepts that the statements โ€œwere, at the least, contestable and should have been challengedโ€, the Guardian reports.

Bob Ward, policy director of the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics, told the Guardian: โ€œThere needs to be a shift in BBC policy so that these news programmes value due accuracy as much as dueย impartiality.

โ€œAs well as taking account of the rights of marginal voices like Lord Lawson to be heard, the BBC should also take account of the harm that its audiences can experience from the broadcast of inaccurateย information.โ€

The climate science denial campaign group, the Global Warming Policy Forumย (GWPF), of which Lawson is founder and chairman, apologised for the errors on twitter three days after the interview after scientists pointed out the mistakes.

The GWPF has a long history of campaigning against climate change policy in the UK and at the international level. It supported President Trump’s promised withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, saying the deal was โ€œpushed through against the declared will of Americaโ€™s electedย representativesโ€.

It most recently courted controversy by inviting former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott to deliver the group’s annual lecture. In the speech, Abbott repeated a number of familiar climate science denial tropes, including that global warming was โ€œprobably doing goodโ€ for theย planet.

Climate scientists criticised the speech for being โ€œfull of falsehoods, miscomprehension, andย basicย untruths.โ€

Get Weekly News Updates

picture-25876-1571179299.jpg
Mat was DeSmog's Special Projects and Investigations Editor, and Operations Director of DeSmog UK Ltd. He was DeSmog UKโ€™s Editor from October 2017 to March 2021, having previously been an editor at Nature Climate Change and analyst at Carbon Brief.

Related Posts

Analysis
on

The Reform chair has long expressed his admiration for the DOGE chief, and is now trying to replicate his policies in local government.

The Reform chair has long expressed his admiration for the DOGE chief, and is now trying to replicate his policies in local government.
on

Farageโ€™s right-hand man has been accused of awarding himself sweeping, unchecked authority within the party.

Farageโ€™s right-hand man has been accused of awarding himself sweeping, unchecked authority within the party.
on

Australiaโ€™s Woodside approves $17.5 billion LNG project just days before Trump social services budget cuts, leaving locals facing โ€œharsh economic reality.โ€

Australiaโ€™s Woodside approves $17.5 billion LNG project just days before Trump social services budget cuts, leaving locals facing โ€œharsh economic reality.โ€
on

Even as the mood at Edmontonโ€™s annual expo turned cautious, industry still bet on public dollars to keep its net zero dream alive.

Even as the mood at Edmontonโ€™s annual expo turned cautious, industry still bet on public dollars to keep its net zero dream alive.