UN climate chief admits mistake on Himalayan glaciers warning

Jean-Pascal van Ypersele said it was an error that the IPCC included the date in its 2007 assessment of climate impacts and added that it would be reviewed. He said, however, that it did not change the broad picture of man-made climate change.

Climate change sceptics have said that it undermines the credibility of climate science, especially after the revelations contained within the contents of e-mails stolen last year from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit.

Dr van Ypersele said this was not the case.

"I don't see how one mistake in a 3,000-page report can damage the credibility of the overall report," he told the BBC.

"Some people will attempt to use it to damage the credibility of the IPCC; but if we can uncover it, and explain it and change it, it should strengthen the IPCC's credibility, showing that we are ready to learn from our mistakes."

The admission came after the scientists behind the warning said that it was based on a news story in New Scientist, published eight years before the IPCC's 2007 report.


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