Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/wmo1deboer041008.html
UNITED NATIONS, April 10 -- The UN's point man on climate change, Yvo de Boer, on Thursday told the Press he was unaware of comments to the BBC by the secretary-general of the UN World Meteorological Organization Michel Jarraud that the world has not gotten hotter since 1998. "I have not read the articles," he said when Inner City Press asked him. "If I get then and I were to read them, I'd be happy to respond." Video here, from Minute 48:57.
After the press conference, Inner City Press e-mailed him the articles, but nothing. From another UN source, WMO's back-tracking response arrived, in which "in response to media inquiries," Jarraud is quoted that "For detecting climate change you should not look at any particular year, but instead examine the trends over a sufficiently long period of time." De Boer in the press conference affirmed that the IPCCC has "pointed to, no, has shown" that temperatures have risen "since the Industrial Revolution."
The more troubling part of the controversy, from an independent media perspective, is that BBC while initially standing behind its quoting of Jarraud ended up not only changing its story, but not leaving any mark that it had done so. The piece's author Roger Harrabin is quoted in this UK environmentalists' account, and it does not look good. Following threats, he says, "we have changed the headline and more."
While leaving the UN briefing room, de Boer opined that he has in the past asked for headlines to be fixed. But what about the "and more"? We'll await his or the UN's response.
On straight environmental, and independent media, issues Inner City Press asked de Boer about the calls in Bangkok for the UN's International Maritime Organization and ICAO do to more on climate change. De Boer said both of these agencies -- and the WMO, see above -- are expert, but that some countries don't feel they've gone far enough. He pointed out that ships can use fuel or water as ballast, and can fuel-up anywhere, making enforcement difficult. Video here, from Minute 39:10. That and the exclusive jurisdiction of the flagging nation... To be continued.
