Jean-Pascal van Ypersele: The Activist Who Wants to Run the IPCC

Donna Laframboise (Canada)
What did van Ypersele say to his fawning audience? Sounding indistinguishable from a  Greenpeace campaigner, he declared that an absence of political will – rather than technological know-how – is holding back climate change action. He insisted that “humanity needs to reduce its emissions to zero” before the end of the century. Yes, he really said zero. We’re dealing with an extremist, here.
Worst of all, however, is van Ypersele’s towering self-regard. Somehow, this physicist imagines he is invested with moral authority – that it’s his job to scold the rest of us. Our civilization, our economic system, our political leaders are all wrong. We suffer from a “mindset problem.” Changes in “human behaviour” are required. The world needs to be re-designed according to his specifications.
There are many labels one might attach to such thinking. Megalomania. Religious zeal. Messianic delusion. But at the end of the day, what’s clear is that Van Ypersele is just another green activist.
Who thinks he should be running the world’s most important climate change body."