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Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Source: Reuters -
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The head of the UN's panel of climate scientists strongly defended findings that humans are warming the planet, after critics said leaked emails from a British university had undermined evidence.
Saudi Arabia told delegates on the opening day of the biggest ever climate conference that the email row, dubbed "climategate", had undermined the case for action but US and European negotiators dismissed its impact.
Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said that its findings were "subjected to extensive and repeated reviews by experts as well as by governments."
The IPCC concluded in 2007 that it was at least 90% certain that humans were to blame for global warming.
But climate change sceptics have seized on a series of hacked emails written by climate specialists, accusing them of colluding to suppress others' data and enhance their own.
"The evidence is now overwhelming that the world would benefit greatly from early action," Pachauri told delegates at the opening session of the Dec 7-18 Copenhagen summit.
"Given the wide-ranging nature of (economic) change that is likely be taken in hand, some naturally find it inconvenient to accept its inevitability."
The emails were stolen by unknown hackers and spread rapidly across the Internet. Sceptics say that the emails showed that scientists had manipulated evidence.
Key US negotiator in Copenhagen and former IPCC author Jonathan Pershing condemned criticism of scientists involved and dismissed any longer term impact.
"What I think is unfortunate and in fact shameful, is the way some scientists are being pilloried. The science is incredibly robust. I worry much much more about not acting urgently than I do about what ultimately will be a small blip."
"Not true"
In one email, confirmed by the University of East Anglia as genuine, the head of its Climatic Research Unit (CRU), Phil Jones, said he wanted to ensure one paper was excluded from the IPCC's 2007 report.
The paper did appear in the final report, the university says, and Pachauri defended the scientists named in the row.
"The internal consistency from multiple lines of evidence strongly supports the work of the scientific community, including those individuals singled out in these email exchanges," Pachauri told the 192-nation conference.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, said that the row had undermined the Copenhagen talks, meant to agree a new climate deal, and belief in the science.
"The level of confidence is certainly shaken. We believe this scandal is definitely going to affect the nature of what can be fostered (in Copenhagen). The size of (economic) sacrifices must be built on a secure foundation of information which we found now is not true," said chief Saudi negotiator Mohammad Al Sabban.
Another British climate research centre, the MetOffice Hadley Centre, said it plans to publish this week data from more than 1,000 locations around the world to boost transparency and underpin evidence that the world is warming.
