The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition is an organisation based in New Zealand which has the aim of refuting what it claims are unfounded claims about anthropogenic global warming.
Contents
Beginnings
The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition is a group of scientists, mainly from New Zealand, whose stated aim is to "represent accurately, and without prejudice, facts regarding climate change; to provide considered opinion on matters related to both natural and human-caused climate effects; and to comment on the economic and socio-political consequences of climate change".
The Coalition was formed in April 2006 by the group because of their shared concern "at the misleading information being disseminated about climate change and so-called anthropogenic (man-made) global warming". They hold the position that "climate science is not settled, that the world is not on the brink of a man-made global warming catastrophe".
The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition provides links to a range of material and commentary with significance to the scientific and public debate over climate change issues via its website.
Membership
The chairman of the group is Jack Welch, a former Navy Rear Admiral.
The founding members were:
Events
In July 2006, the Coalition called on the New Zealand government to institute a Royal Commission on climate change because the public were "being given incomplete, inaccurate and biased information about the effects of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere" when "global warming caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases ... cannot be substantiated". The Government refused on the grounds that the majority of climate scientists in the world agree that there is no longer any doubt that climate is changing due to human activity.
In April 2007, the Coalition described the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report as "dangerous unscientific nonsense" and "lacking in scientific rigour".
In March 2008, the New Zealand Listener reported that Owen McShane and Bryan Leyland and the Coalition were lobbying business journalists to cover their questioning of climate change science in order to create an illusion of greater disagreement over the science than actually exists.
In July 2008, the Coalition issued a press release that stated that the premise that "the globe is warming" was "a lie". The release also described the Royal Society of New Zealand's statement on climate change as "an orchestrated litany of lies".
In August 2010, the Coalition commenced legal action against the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, asking the High Court to invalidate its official temperature record, to prevent it using the temperature record when advising Government and to require the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research to produce a "full and accurate" temperature record. In 2012, the High Court declined all claims and ruled that the Coalition pay NIWA's costs. In response to the ruling, the Coalition liquidated the trust fund it administered to handle the court case, in an attempt to avoid financial liability.
Heartland Institute Connections
The Heartland Institute, a conservative/libertarian political think tank that rejects mainstream scientific information about man-made climate change, has funded New Zealand’s most prominent anti-climate-science groups. In 2007, Heartland granted US$25,000 (NZ$32,000) to the NZ Climate Science Coalition. They also gifted the International Climate Science Coalition US$45,000 (NZ$59,000).