Climate Science at the Policy Interface : the IPCC and its Critics

Abstract

This thesis seeks to explore the field of climate change in the nexus between science and policy, exemplified by a case study of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This assumingly established and trusted organization has experienced criticism with regard to their assessment reports, and statements from the IPCC have become politicized in the climate science debate. It then becomes a challenge for policy conductors and legislators to utilize the knowledge provided by the IPCC, when implementing policies in regard to the debate. This threatens the IPCC’s authority and position as a counseling body. In this thesis it is argued that their position is challenged due to the IPCC’s role as a boundary organization (Gieryn, 1999), which ultimately results in a boundary breaching. The report Climate change assessments – Review of the processes and procedures of the IPCC (IAC, 2010) by the InterAcademy Council is used as a basis for answering the research questions in this thesis. Keywords: IPCC, climate science, boundary organization, InterAcademy Council, STS.