When the UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 I couldn't help but thinking about the work I did with the UN climate change program back in the 90s and early 2000s when I was president of the INQUA Volcanism Commission and an officer with the US National Committee of INQUA. I didn't edit or write any of the major reports for the IPCC, but I was an expert reviewer of a paleoclimate chapter in an IPCC report and I wondered if that was enough to be considered part of the IPCC program and to share in the Nobel Peace Prize. In the 1990s and early 2000s I spent a lot time scientific work and on committee work involving the UN climate change program, the UN climate treaty program to reduce carbon emissions the Ford Foundation, NSF, IAVCEI, the PAGES program, the IGBP and the IPCC. So when the IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 I couldn't help wondering----did my small contribution of effort to the IPCC mean I shared in the Nobel Peace Prize? I started paying close attention to my email account and waiting for a letter from the IPCC. I didn't expect to get an actual gold medal in the mail, but I thought I might hear something. But I never did hear from the IPCC. I waited ...and waited. Still nothing. Well, humph--- its not like I cared anyway-- to heck with them.
Eight years go by.
A few weeks ago I did a google search on the IPCC. And I find that in 2012....FIVE YEARS after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize the IPCC issued the following statement about who shares in the award:
2012/12/ST
IPCC STATEMENT
Statement about the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for its work on climate change, together with former US Vice-President Al Gore.
In its citation, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said that the IPCC and Mr Gore shared the prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change". In its announcement the Norwegian Nobel Committee stated that through the scientific reports it had issued over the past two decades, the IPCC had created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming, and that thousands of scientists and officials from over one hundred countries had collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of the warming.
The prize was awarded at the end of the year that saw the IPCC bring out its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).
The prize was awarded to the IPCC as an organization, and not to any individual associated with the IPCC. Thus it is incorrect to refer to any IPCC official, or scientist who worked on IPCC reports, as a Nobel laureate or Nobel Prize winner. It would be correct to describe a scientist who was involved with AR4 or earlier IPCC reports in this way: “X contributed to the reports of the IPCC, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.”
The IPCC leadership agreed to present personalized certificates “for contributing to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the IPCC” to scientists that had contributed substantially to the preparation of IPCC reports. Such certificates, which feature a copy of the Nobel Peace Prize diploma, were sent to coordinating lead authors, lead authors, review editors, Bureau members, staff of the technical support units and staff of the secretariat from the IPCC’s inception in 1988 until the award of the prize in 2007. The IPCC has not sent such certificates to contributing authors, expert reviewers and focal points.
So way down at the very end in the fine print the IPCC says they couldn't be bothered to send certificates to the hundreds (?) of scientists who were expert reviewers or authors or coordinators and focal points for discussions of IPCC reports but these scientists actually were contributors and they (we) actually share in the IPCC award.
OK. Take a deep breath now. These things happen. Sure...Its OK that it took the IPCC five years (FIVE YEARS!!!!) to issue a statement clarifying things, and another three years for me to find out about it, but its OK. IPCC--- all is forgiven. Its not like I cared about it anyway.....oh heck, why pretend I didn't care about it.
I WON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AFTER ALL! I won! I won! I won! I won! I won! I won! Me! Me! I won! Where do I rent a Tux for the ceremony? Book me tickets to Stockholm for the induction ceremonies. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Thank you fellow Nobel prize winner Al Gore. Everyone......I just want thank you all. Sob. Gulp. [chokes up...stumbles off the podium clutching the gold medal to his heart].
The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for its work on climate change, together with former US Vice-President Al Gore.
In its citation, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said that the IPCC and Mr Gore shared the prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change". In its announcement the Norwegian Nobel Committee stated that through the scientific reports it had issued over the past two decades, the IPCC had created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming, and that thousands of scientists and officials from over one hundred countries had collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of the warming.
The prize was awarded at the end of the year that saw the IPCC bring out its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).
The prize was awarded to the IPCC as an organization, and not to any individual associated with the IPCC. Thus it is incorrect to refer to any IPCC official, or scientist who worked on IPCC reports, as a Nobel laureate or Nobel Prize winner. It would be correct to describe a scientist who was involved with AR4 or earlier IPCC reports in this way: “X contributed to the reports of the IPCC, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.”
The IPCC leadership agreed to present personalized certificates “for contributing to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the IPCC” to scientists that had contributed substantially to the preparation of IPCC reports. Such certificates, which feature a copy of the Nobel Peace Prize diploma, were sent to coordinating lead authors, lead authors, review editors, Bureau members, staff of the technical support units and staff of the secretariat from the IPCC’s inception in 1988 until the award of the prize in 2007. The IPCC has not sent such certificates to contributing authors, expert reviewers and focal points.
So way down at the very end in the fine print the IPCC says they couldn't be bothered to send certificates to the hundreds (?) of scientists who were expert reviewers or authors or coordinators and focal points for discussions of IPCC reports but these scientists actually were contributors and they (we) actually share in the IPCC award.
OK. Take a deep breath now. These things happen. Sure...Its OK that it took the IPCC five years (FIVE YEARS!!!!) to issue a statement clarifying things, and another three years for me to find out about it, but its OK. IPCC--- all is forgiven. Its not like I cared about it anyway.....oh heck, why pretend I didn't care about it.
I WON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AFTER ALL! I won! I won! I won! I won! I won! I won! Me! Me! I won! Where do I rent a Tux for the ceremony? Book me tickets to Stockholm for the induction ceremonies. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Thank you fellow Nobel prize winner Al Gore. Everyone......I just want thank you all. Sob. Gulp. [chokes up...stumbles off the podium clutching the gold medal to his heart].
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