国际英语新闻：UN orders independent review of its climate body

UNITED NATIONS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations announced on Wednesday that it would finance an independent review of its panel on climate change, which faces accusations of scientific misinformation and potential financial conflicts of interest.

The scientific organization InterAcademy Council (IAC) will conduct a comprehensive review of the procedures and processes of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)," said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"It will be conducted completely independently of the United Nations," said Ban.

Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Rajendra Pachauri speaks at a joint press conference with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (not pictured) at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, March 10, 2010

Britain's Sunday Telegraph and others have unearthed problems and inaccuracies in the IPCC's landmark 2007 climate report. For example, the report concluded that the Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. It was based on a decade-old interview with a glaciologist, who later claimed he was misquoted. The panel expressed "regret" for the mistake.

Without disclosing the price tag for the study, co-chair of the IAC Robbert Dijkgraaf told reporters that the United Nations will finance support for the review panel, such as travel expenses.

However, he did not know what accountability mechanisms would be put in place to establish independence from the UN despite the financial link.

"We will have to look into this," he said. The IAC, which is multinational organization of the world's science academies, is currently led by two-chairs, Dijkgraaf of the Netherlands and Lu Yongxiang of China.

The intergovernmental body was created in 2000 to provide scientific-based advise to international organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank.