Scientists want climate commission

A group of scientists is urging the Government to form a royal commission to investigate climate change.

In an open letter to MPs, the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition believed the public was being given "incomplete, inaccurate and biased information" about the effects of greenhouse gases.

"This information is often tainted by the emotional arguments of the environmental movement and seldom stands up to objective scientific analysis," the group said.

The coalition, which includes former MetService chief meteorologist Dr Augie Auer, wants an independent royal commission which would, among other things, examine the credibility of climate change models, and review the diplomatic implications of not aligning climate change policies with Australia and the US.

Acting chairman, energy consultant Bryan Leyland, said it was important the Government's policies on climate change, which were being reviewed at the moment, be founded on valid scientific evidence, "rather than on the questionable projections of flawed computer models and discredited temperature assessments".

"Costly mistakes have already been made. Our commitments under the Kyoto Protocol may cost the nation over $1 billion more than originally estimated. We cannot afford to make such mistakes again.

"The present misinformation circulating about global warming resembles the recent hysteria surrounding genetic modification."

He cited an example of the United States House Committee of Energy and Commerce's "discrediting" of the Mann hockey-stick graph, which projects a rise in global temperatures. The Mann report is widely cited as evidence of global warming.

The coalition believed the Government relied too heavily on advice from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to develop its global warming policies. It quoted a recent Wall Street Journal editorial which said, "climate research often more closely resembles a mutual-admiration society than a competitive and open-minded search for scientific knowledge".

But Niwa scientist Dr David Wratt, who is also a bureau member of the IPCC, said the IPCC's advice comes with "amazing scientific input" from the world's top climate scientists.

The IPCC report due next year would be a better way of getting an overall assessment of climate change science than a royal commission, he said.

Climate Change Minister David Parker rejected the proposal for a Royal Commission, saying that "by far the majority" of climate scientists in the world agreed there was no longer any doubt the climate was changing due to human activity.

"It is now a matter of how quickly it changes, not if or when."

Even if climate change wasn't occurring, policies would still make sense.