China, US, Russia looking to tone down UN climate report

Some of the world’s biggest polluters have threatened to derail a new UN-backed global climate report, questioning its scientific basis and working to tone down its language before the report is released later this week, according to delegates at the climate conference in Brussels Wednesday.

The United States, Russia and China have reportedly taken the lead in seeking modifications to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report’s final draft, compiled by hundreds of scientists assessing global literature on climate change, must still be approved by government representatives meeting at a four-day summit in Brussels.
Russia has been most vocal in its opposition to the IPCC report, which examines the impact of climate change on human society and is the second of three instalments to be released this year by the IPCC. The US has also threatened to prevent the report from being released and both countries have questioned its credibility.

Monsters and Critics