Complaint
This edition of The World This Weekend addressed potential impacts of the heatwave across Europe at the time and the extent to which such extreme weather events could be attributed to human-induced climate change. Two listeners objected to the inclusion of a spokesman from the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), claiming the accuracy of their contribution was insufficiently challenged and the financial background of the GWPF omitted. The ECU considered whether the broadcast met the standards of accuracy set out in the 麻豆社 Editorial Guidelines.
Outcome
The programme reflected the agreement among climate scientists that human activity is having a significant impact on the climate and included analysis from a variety of experts in the field. The contribution from the spokesman for the GWPF had to be judged in that context. Listeners were told the GWPF 鈥渙pposes action to reduce emissions鈥 and this stance was reiterated by the guest during his interview. Members of the audience therefore had sufficient information and sufficient context to make an informed judgement. The Editorial Guidelines do not necessarily require detailed financial disclosures for every contributor and the key requirement in this instance, to ensure listeners understood how the GWPF鈥檚 stance differs from the mainstream scientific opinion, was met.
Not Upheld