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.