A top US academic has dramatically revealed how government officials forced him to change a hugely influential scientific report on climate change to suit their own interests. Harvard professor Robert Stavins electrified the worldwide debate on climate change on Friday by sensationally publishing a letter online in which he spelled out the astonishing interference. He said the officials, representing ‘all the main countries and regions of the world’ insisted on the changes in a late-night meeting at a Berlin conference centre two weeks ago. Three quarters of the original version of the document ended up being deleted. Prof Stavins claimed the intervention amounted to a serious ‘conflict of interest’ between scientists and governments.

Harvard professor Stavins, big shot with the IPCC tells UK paper The mail that the exec summary for policy makers of the IPCC report was written/edited by, not for the gov officials. -JunkScience.com

And not only do the emails paint a picture of scientists manipulating data, government employees at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are also implicated. One message appeared to show a member of Defra staff telling colleagues working on climate science to give the government a ‘strong message’. The emails paint a clear picture of scientists selectively using data, and colluding with politicians to misuse scientific information.