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Heidelberg Appeal

A sham appeal to 'sound science' in the discussion of climate change, which was signed by a large number of prominent scientists. It was sham, not in the simplistic wording of the text, but in the way scientists were conned into signing the document ... and then in the way in which it was used.

SUMMARY ONLY

The Heidelberg Appeal was a document, purported to be signed by a large group of climate-denying scientists, and then presented to the world's media as a counter-measure to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. It was in fact, a deception created and directed by Fred Singer of SEPP, and financed jointly by the asbestos and tobacco industries as part of coaltion of industries involved in an anti-activist measures.

The tobacco industry's interest in climate-change politics is not readily apparent. However, in 1992 they thought it was necessary to support other industries involved in climate-denial for a couple of reasons:

  • it provided a quid-pro-quo with coalition members which allowed them to call on assistance in countering indoor smoking regulations, and
  • the Rio Summit was an international scale landmark in government coordination, and it involved top level politicians in global coordination of environmental and health policies. The companies were fearful that this could be extended to smoking regulations.

    [Some of these hot-links should work}
    • Structure diagram
    • Heidelberg Appeal Network
    • Sourcewatch
    • Wikipedia
    • ICSE
    • HAN
    • SEPP
    • Michel Salomon
    • S Fred Singer
    • S Fred Singer [Map]