ABSTRACT
The driver for climate change legislation has been (largely) the information contained in the Assessment Reports of the IPCC. This dependence places incredible importance on the accuracy of the information. However, there was a problem: the issue was not if a mistake would be made, but when. There were four fundamental weaknesses within the IPCC:
scope of the literature assessment and review
time pressure from the climate negotiations
dilution of scientific expertise by forced regional representation
lack of formal qualifications and standard operating procedures within the IPCC.
