A POWERFUL defence of the science of climate change is being launched at the Copenhagen conference as the UN and world leaders push back on claims by climate sceptics and call for deeper cuts in greenhouse gases from wealthy nations.
The chief UN climate official, Yvo de Boer, strenuously defended the scientific reports of the UN's peak scientific body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, saying four successive reports, peer-reviewed by 2500 scientists, had endorsed the finding global warming was almost certainly a result of human activities.
''I do not believe there is any process anywhere out there that is that systematic, that thorough and that transparent,'' he told reporters as the largest climate conference in history began its search for agreement to secure a global treaty that will meet the threat of global warming.
Concerns are being raised in Copenhagen over the impact of climate emails affair which began when sceptics used hacked emails from the University of East Anglia to attempt to discredit climate change science.
In a signal of a push-back from the UN, the head of the panel, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, was given a prominent place in the opening ceremony of the Copenhagen conference to defend the science and will host a special discussion on the email affair this week at the conference.
Mr de Boer and Dr Pachauri also promised the investigation into the sceptic claims would be thorough. ''This process has to be based on solid science and if the quality and integrity of the science is being called into question then that needs to be examined,'' said Mr de Boer.
Also addressing the opening ceremony was the Danish Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, and the Mayor of Copenhagen, Ritt Bjerregard.
Despite the scientific controversy, political momentum is growing around the huge climate conference as 34,000 politicians, observers, lobbyists and media descend on the city. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have also begun arriving and the conference venue for the next two weeks, the Bella Centre, is surrounded by security fencing stretching for kilometres.
With security jitters already apparent, there is a strong police presence as 100 world leaders, including the US President, Barack Obama and the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, meet next week to try to reach an agreement on key issues. These include the size of the cuts wealthy nations are prepared to make to their greenhouse emissions by 2020 and the measures the big polluting developing countries such as China and India will make to curb their soaring emissions.
Also in dispute is the amount of money wealthy countries are prepared to pledge to help poorer countries develop clean energy and adapt to climate change.
In an apparent breakthrough on this issue, Japan is reportedly offering a pledge of some $10 billion to this outcome.
Mr Boer warned negotiators a deal had to be struck. ''Time is up. Over the next two weeks governments have to deliver a strong and long-term response to the challenge of climate change.''
The central aim of any agreement will be to keep the world's temperature rising more than 2 degrees to avoid dangerous climate change. According to the scientific advice of the panel this means halving global greenhouse emissions by 2050.
Mr de Boer said this meant wealthy nations needed to cut their 2020 emissions between 25 per cent and 40 per cent from 1990 levels.
''Part of the purpose of Copenhagen is to make sure the industrialised countries do get into that range,'' he said.
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