Climate Science Is Skewed to Rich Country Interests, Say Researchers

Lack of interest in issues affecting poor countries such as adaptation informs global climate deals, argues international panel of scientists

The dominance of experts in rich countries is hurting efforts to develop effective global climate policies.

That’s the view of 10 scientists in a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, who call for more funding for researchers and institutes in the developed world.

They say it’s hard for poorer nations to work out what fair climate targets look like when most of the research and data is generated by experts in the US, Europe, and other wealthy regions.

Too much focus on greenhouse gas cutting strategies and not enough on how vulnerable regions can cope with extreme weather events is one result of this imbalance, they say.

“Southern countries may have limited abilities, on the one hand, to pose evidence-based questions as to whether Northern countries’ NDCs [climate plans] to global mitigation goals/targets are equitable,” they write.

Equally, a lack of institutional and local expertise makes it hard to “accept positions put forward by Northern countries and justified by Northern research that Southern countries may perceive as biased towards Northern countries’ vested interests,” they add.

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