Pachauri rejects claims that findings on peaks based on essay

February 02, 2010 05:15 pm | Updated December 04, 2021 10:48 pm IST - New Delhi

IPCC chief R.K. Pachauri at a press conference in New Delhi on January 23, 2010.

IPCC chief R.K. Pachauri at a press conference in New Delhi on January 23, 2010.

U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chief R.K. Pachauri on Tuesday dismissed as “unfounded and baseless”, claims that its findings on disappearing ice from the world’s mountain peaks were based on a doctoral student’s essay.

“The allegations (that the finding was based on an essay by a student and an article in a magazine) are totally unfounded and baseless. I maintain that the IPCC monitoring systems are still robust and solid,” Mr. Pachauri told PTI .

The IPCC’s credibility has come under attack in the past few days for picking a report that the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035 from a science magazine without peer-reviewing it, a fault later admitted and regretted by the climate body.

“Yes, there was only this error which we accepted and corrected as well when it was brought to our notice. I still maintain that the IPCC monitoring systems are still robust and solid,” he said.

On allegations over scientific errors regarding Amazon forests and disappearance of ice from world’s mountain peaks, he said, “The IPCC is correct on its claim on both issues.”

A U.K. media report had questioned the IPCC’s decision to cite a WWF report to support its claim that 40 per cent of Amazon forests could disappear due to declining rainfall and even be replaced by tropical savannah.

The newspaper has also accused the IPCC of citing a magazine article by Mark Bowen drawn from anecdotes, and another, a dissertation written by a professional mountain guide and climate change campaigner Dario-Andri Schworer.

Mr. Pachauri has called a “pack of lies” the allegations that he was enjoying profits as IPCC chairman as well in holding the post of director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

“Every single payment that I receive goes to TERI. The extra money that my organisation generates goes into the ‘Lighting a Billion Lights’ campaign that TERI has launched. These allegations are nothing but a pack of lies,” he had said at a press conference a few days ago.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.