No line
- 30 Aug 07, 03:26 PM
A number of newspapers have picked up on a debate at the Edinburgh TV festival in a session entitled "How Green is TV?". Broadcasters debated whether TV should make an assumption in their programmes that man-made climate change is happening or not.
Channel Four's "The Great Global Warming Swindle" came in for sustained criticism from delegates for its alleged loose use of facts. In return, Channel Four representatives criticised the BBC for having a "line" on climate change. 
BBC News certainly does not have a line on climate change, however the weight of our coverage reflects the fact that there is an increasingly strong (although not overwhelming) weight of scientific opinion in favour of the proposition that climate change is happening and is being largely caused by man.
BBC news programmes and our website of course reflect alternative views but we do not balance these views mathematically as that is not our judgement about where the argument has now reached.
That is definitely not the same as us propagating a view ourselves about climate change. It's not our job to do that.
In the Edinburgh session the possibility of the BBC doing a "consciousness-raising" event about the subject, possibly called Planet Relief, was raised.
There has been no decision yet about whether there might be such an event, nor what its editorial purpose might be. However it is clear that all BBC programming about climate change - whether about the science itself or the potential policy response by governments - needs to meet the BBC's standards of impartiality.
It is not the BBC's job to lead opinion or proselytise on this or any other subject. However we can make informed judgements and that is what we will continue to do.
Peter Horrocks is head of BBC Newsroom
