Some 827 climate change experts will help put together the fifth assessment report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change due in 2014. About 30 percent of the authors will come from the developing world, while 25 percent are females.
The panel released June 23 the list of the specialists, who come from the fields of meteorology, physics, oceanography, statistics, engineering, ecology, social sciences and economics.
IPCC for much of this year drew flak for its fourth assessment, which was released in 2007, due to inaccuracies such as the overstated rate of melting of the Himalayan glaciers.
The panel assured that, for the selection of the authors who will prepare the fifth assessment, “particular attention has been given to relevant expertise to ensure that IPCC author teams consist of leading experts in the respective fields with a range of scientific views on climate change,” according to an IPCC statement.
Some 3,000 scientists were nominated for the posts.
The U.N. is contributing to international cooperation in dealing with climate change in the areas of climate financing, food security, women and climate change, water security, and the Montreal Protocol, according to U.S. top official Maria Otero.
Climate change “is not a problem [the U.S.] can solve alone. There is an urgent need for a global approach to meeting this challenge,” the U.S. undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs said June 23 at the NY-Alesund Symposium.
