I was happy to be interviewed for the @NPR story by @rhersher on the challenges of working virtually on the @IPCC_CH AR6. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/03/893039258/everyone-loves-the-chat-box-how-climate-science-moved-online?t=1596549214617&t=1596571418733

#COVID19 has caused many things, one of which is the struggle to work from home while our children go wild in the background without any school to attend and few friends to play with.

And #IPCC work is already an additional task that we authors do on top of our other work, since we do not get paid for it, nor does it replace other tasks.

At the same time, the #IPCC process is inherently unequal: people who are native English speakers based at northern universities have the biggest advantage. Issues that put others at a disadvantage are: poor internet access, old technology, lack of access to online libraries...

...lack of practice writing in English, heavy teaching loads, limited research opportunities (funding)...the list goes on.

Additional challenges arise if you are a woman, or someone who is not comfortable speaking up in a room full of accomplished scientists - due to personality, or culture, or a number of other things. In short, native English speaking men are the ones that get heard the most.

Add the virtual working challenges noted above to this inequitable situation and you risk marginalising those who feel they have less 'right' to speak up. #IPCC is not unique to this, but given the global product, we need to have everyone's voices, not just the brave few.

@IPCC_CH is trying very hard to even out these imbalances, but they are sadly systemic and widespread in science and research around the world, and difficult to address if we don't go to the root causes, which can be summarised as: racism, sexism and elitism, among other isms.