The free-market Conservative VVD party, the largest party in the current coalition government, has accused the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) of being biased on the subject of climate change and is planning thunderous changes for the weather office - possibly slashing its 60-million-euro subsidy.

VVD MP René Leegte says the KNMI is influenced too much by the research conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Mr Leegte will put forward a motion in parliament today calling on Deputy Environment Minister Joop Astma to privatise the institute. The MP said the subject of privatisation had been broached before, but he would like to put the idea into action.

“Climate alarmists”
Mr Leegte called the IPCC “climate alarmists” and rebuked the Dutch met office for accepting their conclusions on carbon emissions and rising global temperatures so readily, while other research showed different findings. The Conservative MP said 20 percent of KNMI scientists were not objective when it came to research.

Established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change.

Undisputedly objective
Reacting to Mr Leegte’s criticism, KNMI spokesperson Cees Molenaars said the met office and the government were negotiating about the future role of the institute. “Astma has a concrete action plan for the KNMI, which he will probably present to parliament after the summer recess,” he added, “but the objective stance of our meteorological office is undisputed.”

An independent review committee also recently concluded the KNMI is impartial in its approach, following integrity guidelines of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the WMO, argued Mr Molenaars.
 

Hard proof?
Labour Party MP Diederik Samson has said the VVD should not make damaging accusations unless they’ve got hard proof that the KNMI is biased. If the VVD’s accusations are groundless, then they should be withdrawn: “The air around these allegations has to be cleared,” he said.

(jn)

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