108 national and international environmental organizations sent a letter to the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to raise their concerns about the selection of authors for the special report on the impacts of global warming, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will present next year. One of the selected authors (proposed by the US government) works for ExxonMobil, another for the Saudi oil company SaudiAramco. The signatories criticize that this selection does not correspond to the internal policy of the IPCC. It would actually constitute a violation of IPCC’s own conflict of interest policy.

May 2, 2017

Civil Society Letter to the IPCC Chair, Dr. Hoesung Lee and the IPCC Bureau

Re: Conflicts of interest of authors on the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels

April 27, 2017

Dear IPCC Chair and IPCC Bureau Members,

We, the undersigned organizations, are active in the international climate negotiations and climate discussions at national, regional and/or international levels. We are writing to express our deepest concern that senior employees of two major oil companies (ExxonMobil and SaudiAramco) are included among the authors for the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.

As you well know, the role of the IPCC, as stated in paragraph 2 of the Principles Governing IPCC Work, is to assess, on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis, the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human induced climate change, its potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation. Despite the important work the IPCC does to inform policy makers of the now-overwhelming scientific evidence of human induced climate change, the climate crisis is deepening.

The delayed and inadequate responses to this crisis can be attributed in part to lobbying by businesses with vested interests in the fossil-fuel-driven economy. Disturbingly, the role of business has gone beyond mere lobbying: to delay urgently needed climate action, several companies have financed climate change skepticism and denial. This is well documented and the subject of multiple judicial investigations.

The two aforementioned companies are the second- and third-largest corporate emitters of greenhouse gases worldwide.

Read the full letter here.