Is the IPCC too rigid, too top-down, in its inclusion / exclusion of knowledge domains?
Philosopher and sociologist of science Bruno Latour reflects on the Conference of the Parties (COP) in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the antithesis of top-down organizations. He describes the invention of IPCC in particular as an extraordinary accomplishment. Assembling the expertise of the international scientific community while simultaneously foregrounding perspectives of the Global South, where scientific expertise is less concentrated than in the north, the IPCC as an institution has been remarkably successful in Latour’s view in its efforts to link science not only with diplomacy but with activism in neglected and historically exploited regions.
