Pachauri's IPCC report faces fresh questions

LONDON: The UN climate panel headed by Rajendra Pachauri faced fresh allegations with a British paper claiming that the data contained in its report on the potential of wave power and drop in north Africa's crop output by half were not properly substantiated.

The Sunday Telegraph, which is carrying on a campaign against Pachauri, claimed it has discovered a series of new flaws in the report, even as Pachauri's predecessor said he "cannot be personally blamed" for the errors.

The latest discrepancies, relate among others to the claim that global warming could cut crop production in rain- fed north Africa by up to 50 per cent by 2020, that has been quoted by Pachauri and UN chief Ban Ki-moon in speeches.

This weekend Chris Field, the new lead author of the IPCC's climate impacts team, told the newspaper that he could find nothing in the report to support the claim.

The paper claimed it has discovered a series of new flaws in the IPCC report, including the publication of inaccurate data on the potential of wave power to produce electricity around the world, which was wrongly attributed to the website of a commercial wave-energy company.

It also came out with claims in the report that were allegedly based on information in press releases and newsletters, new examples of statements based on student dissertations and more claims which were based on reports produced by environmental pressure groups.


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