Technology/Science
Reuters' Hot List of Climate Scientists is Geographically Skewed - Why This Matters By Andrew Emmanuel Okem, Catherine Sutherland|| Debra Roberts|| Marlies H Craig|| Michelle A. North|| Nina Hunter and Rob Slotow
Global South blogspot.com
THE REUTERS HOT LIST of "the world's top climate scientists" is causing a buzz in the climate change community. Reuters ranked these 1,000 scientists based on three criteria: the number of papers published on climate change topics; citations, relative to other papers in the same field; and references by the non-peer reviewed press (for example on social media). The list does not claim that they are the "best" scientists in the world. But the ranking enhances position and reputation, influencing the production, reproduction and dissemination of knowledge. What matters to us, as global South researchers and practitioners working in the field of climate change, is that the geography of this "global" list reveals a striking imbalance. While over three quarters of the global population live in Asia and Africa, over three quarters of the scientists on the list are located in Europe and North America. Only five are listed for Africa. The list includes 130 of the 929 authors who 82
July-August 2021
are contributing to the current reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, arguably the most influential source for climate change policy. Again, the imbalance is stark: 377 (41%) of panel authors are citizens of developing countries (95 from Africa) and only 16 of these are on the Reuters list (only two from Africa). Climate change science dominated by knowledge produced in the global North cannot address the particular challenges faced by those living in the global South. It also misses significant lessons emerging from the global South, for example from the intersection of climate change with poverty, inequality and informality. Reuters maps the 1,000 scientists, making it clear that their location is important, yet it does not reflect on what this portrays. While the list is presented as a neutral, data-driven assessment of the top climate scientists, it is silent on the questions of power, authority and inequality this map raises. Where are the global South scientists, DAWN
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