Policy Relevance and Neutrality

Mahony, Martin (2023) Policy Relevance and Neutrality. In: A Critical Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 197-206. ISBN 9781316514276

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Abstract

This chapter reviews the history of the IPCC’s efforts to achieve and maintain policy relevance while remaining policy-neutral and staying far away from ‘policy prescriptiveness’. The chapter argues that the boundaries between policy relevance, neutrality and prescriptiveness are a practical achievement – they must be constantly negotiated as the science and politics of climate change evolve. The chapter uses historical case studies to illustrate this point, such as the controversy over the so-called ‘burning embers’ diagram. It ends by discussing recent debates about the IPCC’s new role in the post-Paris Agreement policy landscape. While IPCC actors call for greater policy relevance, observers and critics contend that the IPCC will always and inevitably be policy-prescriptive, even if on a tacit and unintentional level. Achieving even greater policy relevance may therefore mean jettisoning or modifying the aspiration to be policy-neutral.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	social sciences(all),economics, econometrics and finance(all),medicine(all),sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Science, Society and Sustainability
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?... https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cri...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	16 Nov 2022 12:30
Last Modified:	10 Nov 2025 10:31
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/89884
DOI:	10.1017/9781009082099.026

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