"IPCC Future Hinges on Greater Relevance, Amid Tricky Politics"

"The unique intergovernmental panel has forged scientific consensus on climate change by steering clear of hot-button issues. Will new leadership find a way to address the most critical issues for curbing global warming?"

"While news was breaking that the IPCC chairman had been caught up in a sexual harassment scandal, two-dozen climate science experts were meeting in Berlin to discuss a question likely of far greater importance to the panel's future:

Was the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change capable of tackling the most critical questions the world faces as it grapples with global warming? Or was the IPCC hopelessly hamstrung by politics?

'The IPCC is at a crossroads,' said a memorandum developed by the group, led by scientists from Harvard, Stanford, and leading academic institutions in Italy and Germany. Although the academics praised the IPCC for performing important functions 'in a scientifically-informed manner,' they said the panel 'does not always address the most critical issues, and it is at risk of losing the participation of the world's best scientists due to the burdens that participation involves.'

The key recommendation from the group, which included social scientists who had seen their work deleted from last year's IPCC summary reports, was that the panel should find a way to better integrate social sciences like economics and international relations into its work."

Marianne Lavelle reports for The Daily Climate March 2, 2015.