NZ climate scientists: world class

Two leading New Zealand climate scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research have been appointed to senior positions with the international scientific body advising the United Nations on climate change.

Pete Hodgson, science minister and Convenor of the Ministerial Group on Climate Change, said the positions attained by Dr Martin Manning and Dr David Wratt were further evidence that New Zealand science, including climate research, is world class.

Dr Manning has been appointed head of technical support for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Group 1 Science Working Group, based in Boulder, Colorado. He has responsibilities for supporting the next big international assessment of climate change knowledge to be published in 2006 or 2007. These assessments guide policymakers worldwide in determining climate change policy and their approach to international negotiations.

"Dr Manning has led and developed NZ's carbon dioxide measuring programme over the last 30 years," Mr Hodgson said. "The results form the most significant record in the Southern Hemisphere and are vital in the assessment of changes in greenhouse gases. Dr Manning and his colleagues are also at the forefront of research into greenhouse gases that lays foundation for future reductions in emissions."

Dr Manning has been has been a member of the IPCC Bureau representing New Zealand and Australia for the last 4 years. The Bureau assesses knowledge about climate change and develops plans for IPCC work.

He will be replaced in the Bureau by fellow NIWA scientist Dr David Wratt, the institute's Principal Scientist for Climate Applications and coordinator of output from NIWA's National Climate Centre. Dr Wratt was a convening lead author for the NZ and Australia chapter in the 2001 IPCC assessment of the impacts of climate change and the options for adaptation.

"Dr Manning, Dr Wratt and other New Zealand scientists with IPCC responsibilities will continue to ensure that the world's policymakers have access to the most up-to-date knowledge of climate change and its impacts in the Southwest Pacific," Mr Hodgson said.

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