Summary of John McLean: Putting the IPCC in Context | Tom Nelson Podcast #76

00:00:00 - 00:35:00

In this podcast episode, John McLean provides context for the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He questions the precautionary principle adopted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) when it comes to environmental threats and highlights its problematic nature when the science behind it is incorrect or disputed. McLean also discusses several issues that the UNEP became involved with, including acid rain and DDT, and how their demands were ultimately questionable and costly. He notes that the establishment of the IPCC was already accompanied by a decided view that man was the main cause of climate change. McLean highlights that the IPCC's role is to find and present evidence supporting their decision, but it doesn't consider all possible causes of climate change, and the media tends to report their information uncritically. He also questions the autocratic management style of some individuals within the UN bodies and advocates for a more cooperative approach.

• 00:00:00 In this section, John McLean discusses the roots of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which go back to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972. The Canadian Morris Strong led the establishment of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which played a significant role in creating the IPCC. McLean explains that the UNEP adopted the precautionary principle, that threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage like a full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation. However, McLean points out that this principle is problematic if the science relied upon is incorrect or highly disputed. Additionally, the UNEP became involved with the issue of acid rain, and researchers in Canada found no evidence of pollution leading to tree deaths. The UNEP also raised concerns about ozone depletion based on a single scientific paper.
• 00:05:00 In this section, John McLean questions the commonly held belief that the use of CFCs caused a hole in the ozone layer. There is, in fact, no hole, just a thinning of the ozone layer; and this only happens at certain times of the year. While CFCs have been present in the stratosphere for the entire year, the amount of ozone over the Arctic is actually greater than that over the Antarctic. McLean argues that there are several reasons to doubt the claims made by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and questions whether the Montreal Protocol, which was ratified over 30 years ago to address the use of CFCs, has truly fixed the issue. Despite UNEP's claims of success, McLean suggests that there is no sign of the fall being fixed, and similarly to the issue of acid rain, the public has had to bear the cost of switching to new refrigerants for air conditioning and refrigeration.
• 00:10:00 In this section, John McLean discusses the issue of DDT and the role of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organization (WHO) in banning DDT for agricultural spraying due to negative publicity and claims that it persisted in the soil. However, DDT was found to be safe and effective in controlling malaria, and its ban led to the death of millions of people. McLean questions the UNEP's demands and claims, which were ultimately very questionable, and caused the world to take false and expensive actions. McLean then delves into how the UNEP became interested in climate change and commissioned various investigations on CO2 emissions causing warming.
• 00:15:00 In this section of the video, John McLean discusses the context in which the IPCC was created. He explains that several conferences were held in the 80s by the UN, WMO, and ICSU on climate change, but their conclusions were inconclusive. In 1987, a Swedish think tank organized a conference, the executive summary of which claimed that "if the present trend of greenhouse gas emissions continue during the next hundred years, a rise of global mean temperature could occur that is larger than any experience in human history." McLean notes the use of speculative language in this conclusion, and points out that it was two events in the following year that really accelerated climate alarmism: James Hansen's testimony to Congress and a conference in Toronto. However, McLean argues that Hansen was wrong in his claim that the heat wave was due to carbon dioxide, and instead attributes it to droughts and El Nino.
• 00:20:00 In this section, the speaker discusses the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the already-decided view that man is the main cause of climate change. The IPCC was created after a conference where Mansfield, representing the UN Environment Program (UNEP), argued that climate change would have profound impacts on the world and requires broad international cooperation. Mustafa Tolba, who had alienated many close US allies in Latin America during the ozone negotiations, was not favored to run the climate change control with the same degree of control as he had with ozone. The IPCC's real role was to find and present evidence to back up the decision that the cause of climate change is man-made. Various representatives of countries expressed their urgency to solve the problem, but some expressed doubts and asked for more research.
• 00:25:00 In this section, John McLean discusses the role of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in assessing and presenting scientific information relevant to understanding the scientific basis, risk, and potential impacts of human-induced climate change, and options for adaptation and mitigation. However, he highlights that the IPCC doesn't consider all possible causes of climate change, and the media tends to report their information uncritically. Moreover, the UN agencies are rarely challenged, and our opinions are influenced by what the media supplies to us. McLean notes that there are problems in getting involved in agencies like the UNEP and IPCC, who put certain obligations or impressions on governments and pressure them to take a position that aligns with the decision made by the UN agency.
• 00:30:00 In this section, the guest speaker discusses the management style within certain UN bodies, including the UNEP and IPCC. He suggests that the autocratic style of management used by some individuals, such as Tolba of the UNEP, is not effective and creates problems. The speaker advocates for a more cooperative approach, which involves investigating problems thoroughly before considering possible solutions. This approach would involve using evidence to understand problems and their causes, as well as looking at potential countermeasures and associated costs and benefits. The speaker questions whether this approach could be applied to climate change given the resistance that might be encountered. The conversation also briefly touches on the fluctuations of the ozone hole and the potential relationship with temperature.
• 00:35:00 In this section, John McLean suggests that he does not have a clear idea as to what is currently happening with the ozone layer, but suggests that cosmic rays could be a possible explanation. He explains that the IPCC adopted a lot of listening from the UNEP on how to approach the issue and that they may change to a more continuous style of report in the future. McLean also states that some people predict that there will be a cooling period, but those kinds of predictions may not be accurate since they are not testable. Lastly, McLean believes that there is a lot of good science being ignored because the UNEP has brainwashed the world into thinking CO2 is a major cause of climate change.