Climate chief resists pressure to resign

Friday, February 05, 2010

A controversial error in an international report on climate change does not undermine the scientific case that climate change is the result of human impact, IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri has said.

He pointed to a "huge volume" of science backing the case that human activity is to blame for changes in global temperatures.

The IPCC was forced to apologise for an incorrect claim in a 2007 report that Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035.

Greenpeace UK director John Sauven, said that Pachauri's position was now in question.

"The IPCC needs to regain credibility. Is that going to happen with Pachauri? I don't think so. We need someone held in high regard who has extremely good judgement and is seen by the global public as someone on their side."

However the Indian government have firmly supported the climate change chief.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the country had "full confidence" in the IPCC and its chairman.

Environment Minister, Jaram Ramesh, previously critical of the scientific body, said that the government backed him unequivocally.

UN climate change envoy Yvo de Boer has also affirmed that errors in the IPCC report on Himalayan glaciers should not detract from the overall conclusions drawn in the study.

Speaking in Delhi, he acknowledged some mistakes had been made, but said the science behind global warming "remains robust" and that the report itself was underpinning political decision-making in a serious way.

Pachauri has also faced criticism following reports that he profited from carbon trading as a result of links between The Energy Research Institute (Teri) which he heads and private organisations.

However Pachauri said that any money he gained from advising companies went to Teri, which aims to provide solar power to people without access to electricity.
"Not a single penny goes into my pocket," he said.

And speaking in Dehli, he underlined the importance of moving on from the controversy.

"The fact is that we have clearly shown that the impacts of climate change, if we don't take action, are going to become progressively serious. It is not only the warming of the Earth's system, it is also disruption in terms of extreme events."