Govt vows to fight any bid to unseat R K Pachauri

NEW DELHI: Reiterating New Delhi’s unequivocal support for IPCC chairman R K Pachauri, the Centre on Monday made it clear that it would fight any attempt to unseat him. In the meantime, Mr Pachauri has ruled out any possibility of resigning as the boss of the Nobel Prize winning climate change panel.

Responding to questions on the Himalayan glaciers in the Rajya Sabha, environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who had been accused by the IPCC boss of indulging in ‘voodoo science’, came to Mr Pachauri’s defence. “We have full confidence in the chairman of IPCC. The prime minister and I have, time and again, publicly and categorically backed the IPCC chairman. We will fight any attempt to unseat him,” Mr Ramesh said.

The minister said that what the government had objected to was the ‘panic and alarm’ created by IPCC’s fourth assessment report which said that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035. The report was based on poorly substantiated estimates of recession. “In drafting the paragraph on the subject in question, the clear and well established standards of evidence, required by IPCC procedures, were not applied properly,” Mr Ramesh said.
Making it clear, that the objections raised were not about the IPCC chair, Mr Ramesh said that India’s objection was to the language and the “political use of the IPCC report” to pressure India to make concessions in negotiations and take on emission commitments. “India’s objections to the report were upheld and we were vindicated,” the minister said.

There has been intense pressure on Mr Pachauri to resign. Sources said that there is no provision for the removal of the IPCC chair, which is why there has been pressure on Mr Pachauri to resign.

However, there has been some relief for the embattled climate change panel chief as heads of states and governments rallied around him and offered support. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who recently announced the Amsterdam-based Inter-Academy Council would review the working of the IPCC, too gave Mr Pachauri is full backing.

Reiterating his faith in Mr Pachauri’s stewardship of IPCC, Mr Ban Ki-moon stressed that despite “a very small number of errors” in the IPCC’s fourth assessment report, he has “seen no credible evidence that challenges the main conclusions of that report.”

Taking comfort in the support he has got, Mr Pachauri said, “the IPCC has already instituted an inquiry. It will reveal the entire thing once the probe is completed.”