Steve,

You’re right, of course. This was the logical end-point of the IPCC process. Once the science had become accepted to the point where everyone agreed that some political action needed to be taken, the IPCC would no longer be needed. If the science is as “settled” as it is claimed, then there’s no need for an intergovernmental panel on the issue any more. It becomes an economic and political question – and governments that aren’t experts on climatology are pretty good at economic analysis and political bargaining. The question then becomes whether the issue should be decided by a massive intergovernmental bureaucracy with enforcement powers or by individual nations meeting every now and then to discuss progress. And that is a question that goes way beyond climate.