经济学人下载:气候之争

A new row about the IPCC
政府间气候变化专门委员会的新争吵

A climate of conflict
气候之争

The world’s climate experts must work harder to avoid conflicts of interest
全球的气候专家们必须要竭尽全力以避免利益之争

Jun 23rd 2011 | from the print edition | International

PANELS of experts assessing scientific investigations tend to be messy affairs, particularly when their customers are governments. People with expertise in one field, such as renewable energy, may have a bias towards it. Summaries of their work are the result of political negotiations. And findings are further boiled down in an attempt to win media coverage.

那些评估科学考察的专家小组越发地变得复杂了，尤其是当他们的客户是政府时更是如此。在某个领域，如可再生能源方面拥有专业知识的人或许对此有偏见。他们的工作摘要是政治谈判的结果。这样的发现可以进一步归结为试图赢得媒体的报道。

Much of this can be seen in a new “special report” on renewable energy by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was released last week. Possible conflicts of interest, revealed by Steve McIntyre, a blogger, have led to another controversy about the panel—only 18 months after its embarrassment over an incorrect claim about the imminent demise of the Himalayas’ glaciers.

从新的有关可再生能源的“特别报告”中就可以看到以上的大部分情况，该报告是在上周由政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC，以下简称气候委员会）发布的。一个叫史帝夫．麦因特（Steve McIntyre）的博客透露，可能的利益纷争已经又引发了一场关于专家小组的争议——这距离上次关于喜马拉雅山冰川即将消失的错误言论仅有18个月的时间。