Pachauri-led UN panel to face inquiry on climate report

LONDON: Indian scientist R K Pachauri-led UN panel on climate change will face an independent international review after a series of allegations of errors in its report on global warming hit its credibility.

Environment and Climate ministers, who held a closed door meeting in Bali last night, have insisted that an independent review should be carried out following reports of mistakes in IPCC's last report, and a row surrounding Pachauri's robust response to his critics, reports said.

If Pachauri's management is found to be at fault, his position could become untenable, The Daily Telegraph reported from Bali.

The report said that participants in the unprecedented meeting - held at the annual assembly of Governing Council of the UN Environment Programme's Governing Council in Bali - were sworn to secrecy over the decision and it is only expected to be announced after its detailed scope and composition have been worked out by UNEP and the World Meteorological Organisation, the two UN agencies that oversee the IPCC's work.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and its chairman Pachauri have come under attack over errors in their report on climate change. The panel was awarded the Nobel Prize last year for its work highlighting the dangers of climate change.