The International Conference on Climate Change is a conference series organized and sponsored by The Heartland Institute which aims to bring together global warming skeptics who "dispute that the science is settled on the causes, consequences, and policy implications of climate change." The conference has taken place 10 times between 2008 and 2015. All but two of the events have been held in the United States.
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First conference, March 2008
The first conference was held in New York City. Speakers included climatologist Patrick J. Michaels and physicist S. Fred Singer.
Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change
The conference endorsed the work of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), which is a group of skeptics led by Fred Singer that disputes the positions of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Singer prepared a critique of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report called "Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate". This NIPCC report was published in March 2008 by the Heartland Institute. ABC News said the same month that unnamed climate scientists from NASA, Stanford, and Princeton who spoke to ABC about the report dismissed it as "fabricated nonsense." In a letter of complaint to ABC News, Singer said their piece used "prejudicial language, distorted facts, libelous insinuations, and anonymous smears". Singer also said that the anonymous scientists, "are easily identified as the well-known global warming zealots Jim Hansen, Michael Oppenheimer and Steve Schneider."
Manhattan Declaration
The conference led to the release of the Manhattan Declaration, declaring that carbon dioxide is essential for all life and calling for the immediate halt to any tax funded attempts to counteract climate change. The declaration says "assertions of a supposed 'consensus' among climate experts are false" and recommends "that all taxes, regulations, and other interventions intended to reduce emissions of CO2 be abandoned forthwith."
It was signed by attendees at the 2008 conference described by The Heartland Institute as "world leading climate scientists, economists, policymakers, engineers, business leaders, medical doctors, as well as other professionals and concerned citizens".
Signatories include Fred Singer, Anthony Watts, Piers Corbyn, Ian Plimer, Robert M. Carter, Roy Spencer and David Bellamy.
Subsequent conferences
The second conference was held in New York City with the theme, "Global Warming: Was It Ever Really a Crisis?" The keynote address was given by Czech Republic President Václav Klaus. Other speakers included Jack Schmitt, Richard Lindzen, Stephen McIntyre, Willam Gray, Tom McClintock and Christopher Booker.
The third conference was held in Washington, D.C. The 2009 report of the NIPCC, "Climate Change Reconsidered", was released in conjunction with the conference.
The fourth conference was held in Chicago, Illinois with the theme, "Reconsidering the Science and Economics."
The fifth conference was held in Sydney, Australia.
The sixth conference was held in Washington, D.C. with the theme, "Restoring the Scientific Method."
The seventh conference was held in Chicago, Illinois with the theme, "Real Science, Real Choices." Due to a controversial billboard ad run by the Heartland Institute leading up to the May 2012 conference, there was a drop in attendance and expected speakers Donna Laframboise and Ross McKitrick cancelled in protest. At the end of the seventh conference, Heartland Institute president Joseph Bast announced that there were no plans to continue the conferences, due to flagging participation and funding shortfalls.
The eighth conference was held in Munich, Germany in 2012 in partnership with the European Institute for Climate and Energy.
The 10th conference was held in Washington, DC in June 2015.
Conference Presentations
Videos of most presentations at past ICCC conferences are maintained here. In addition to climate change science topics, presentations cover a variety of topics such as environmentalism, economic impacts, communication, green jobs, and politics.