Commentators

Commentators

Politicians, academics, lobbyists, environmental charities, columnists, oil companies and activists jostle for our attention on the issue of climate change. The media promotes and quotes commentators without always being clear about their expertise or interests in global warming.

Climate change is such a significant issue that we need to listen to voices from across the political spectrum and people with different expertise to understand the issue. So who do we listen to, and how can we distinguish between sound advice based on good science and vested interests?

FAQs

  • What are commentators?

    There are thousands of competing voices discussing climate change. Newspapers and television programmes often quote "experts" without explaining their expertise. Commentators jostle for our attention and can often give very contradictory views on even the simplest of facts.

    These commentators are not themselves climate scientists - who we have decided to feature in a separate section on the site. To make matters even more complex and fraught, the big oil companies have funded thinktanks and lobbyists who in turn publish papers and give comment in the media which challenges the scientific consensus on climate change.

  • Why do you split up scientists and commentators?

    Climate change is a global issue which has a major impact on almost every aspect of life. Politicians are discussing green taxes, businesses will be affected by climate legislation, and academics from diverse disciplines have studied very different aspects of climate policy.

    A wide variety of people have strongly held opinions and can make perfectly valid and important contributions to debates around government policy and legislation. But this is a different form of expertise than scientific expertise in a climate-science related discipline. Because of this, we make a distinction.

  • Who do the commentators consist of?

    Commentators on the climate change debate, and on climate science specifically, encompass a wide variety of people and institutions and come from across the political spectrum. They include media organisations and individual commentators, environmental organisations, politicians and businesses. Most governments and businesses and the majority of mainsteam media organisations agree with the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is happening and is human-induced. Some commentators, commonly known as 'climate sceptics' or 'climate deniers', question the consensus. Sceptic commentators and lobbyists include a network of think tanks, bloggers and journalists, many of whom are closely associated with each other.

  • How much influence do the commentators have?

    The media has a huge impact on the way that the climate debate has taken shape in the UK, as it has in the US, Australia and around the world. Comment articles in newspapers and blogs here are often copied and published thousands of times around the globe. The arguments fomented in the pages of The Guardian or the Daily Telegraph can have a significant impact on how climate change is reported in India and China.

    Large environmental NGOs run public campaigns promoting 'action on climate change', usually combined with lobbying activities aimed at the government. Think tanks on both the left and right of the political spectrum seek to influence the public debate by lobbying and producing research which is aimed at policymakers and the media.

Profiles

  • Benny Peiser
    Benny Peiser

    Dr Benny Peiser is director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, Lord Lawson's climate sceptic thinktank.

  • Bjorn Lomborg
    Bjorn Lomborg

    Bjorn Lomborg is a Danish statistician and author of 'The Skeptical Environmentalist'.

  • Bob Ward
    Bob Ward

    Bob Ward is Policy and Communications Director of the Grantham Research Institute and in this position has been widely quoted in the media on the subjects of climate change and climate scepticism.

Show more profiles

From the Blog

Show more blog posts

Links & resources

  • RealClimate

    RealClimate is a commentary site with the tagline of "climate science from climate scientists."

  • Skeptical Science

    Skeptical Science has a database of the most common 'climate sceptic' arguments against the scientific assessment of climate change, and simple, intermediate and advanced rebuttals for each one.

  • Climate Progress

    Edited by Joe Romm, former US Assistant Secretary of Energy, Climate Progress discusses climate science, US politics and energy policy.

Show more links & resources