In the last decade, there has not been a climate conference of note that did not have a speech, a presentation or a warning about global warming by Rajendra Pachauri. Until last week, the Indian was the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. On Tuesday, Pachauri stepped down from the post he held for 13 years following an allegation of sexual harassment by an employee at his Delhi organisation The Energy and Resources Institute.
Pachauri has easily been one of the most recognisable faces of action against climate change. The former industrial engineer had the distinction of accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC along with Al Gore for their work in the field. Pachauri was at the fore in international climate change meetings convened in Copenhagen, Cancun, Doha and Lima, urging world governments to agree on ways to curb global warming. Decisions at these political conferences are driven by the scientific findings and analysis of the IPCC.
Pachauri’s abrupt exit from the intergovernmental panel comes at a crucial time as climate negotiators prepare to hammer out a deal in Paris in December. This, many believe, will be the last chance to have a mechanism that prevents the world from warming more than 2 degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels.
Minimum disruption
The IPCC’s work, however, will continue with minimum disruption, say climate scientists who have worked with the panel. “As far as the IPCC is concerned the main work is done by 3,000 scientists around the world who are looking at various questions regarding climate change,” said Rengaswamy Ramesh, geoscientist with the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad and a lead author for the panel’s fourth and fifth assessment reports. “I don't think any one person from any particular country is going to make a big difference. The science and output is not going to change much.”
The IPCC’s fifth assessment report issued the most dire warning yet on the consequences of leaving climate change unchecked. South Asia itself is looking at a 2-4 degree Celsius rise in temperature over the next 50 years. Countries like India will have more nights recording temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius and extended periods of heat, more rain, warming and humidity and less soil moisture. All this would result in declining food productivity and worse outcomes for human health.
Some are wary
Climate sceptics might still use the allegations against Pachauri to attack the panel’s work, warned Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, while speaking to The Guardian newspaper. “There will no doubt be some climate change ‘sceptics’ who seek to use Dr Pachauri’s resignation as an opportunity to attack the IPCC [but its most recent report] is the most comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the causes and potential consequences of climate change that we have ever had, and that remains true with or without Dr Pachauri as chair,” Ward said.
Govindasamy Bala, lead author on the report and atmospheric scientist from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, said that there was a bank of leaders at the IPCC, any one of whom could take charge of the climate panel. “The probable names, like Thomas Stocker [from Switzerland] and Chris Field [from the US], are already being projected and they are fantastic scientists.”
Pachauri’s second term as IPCC chairman was to end in October. Till a new name is announced, the panel has appointed vice chair Ismail El Gizouli as acting chair.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Pachauri has easily been one of the most recognisable faces of action against climate change. The former industrial engineer had the distinction of accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC along with Al Gore for their work in the field. Pachauri was at the fore in international climate change meetings convened in Copenhagen, Cancun, Doha and Lima, urging world governments to agree on ways to curb global warming. Decisions at these political conferences are driven by the scientific findings and analysis of the IPCC.
Pachauri’s abrupt exit from the intergovernmental panel comes at a crucial time as climate negotiators prepare to hammer out a deal in Paris in December. This, many believe, will be the last chance to have a mechanism that prevents the world from warming more than 2 degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels.
Minimum disruption
The IPCC’s work, however, will continue with minimum disruption, say climate scientists who have worked with the panel. “As far as the IPCC is concerned the main work is done by 3,000 scientists around the world who are looking at various questions regarding climate change,” said Rengaswamy Ramesh, geoscientist with the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad and a lead author for the panel’s fourth and fifth assessment reports. “I don't think any one person from any particular country is going to make a big difference. The science and output is not going to change much.”
The IPCC’s fifth assessment report issued the most dire warning yet on the consequences of leaving climate change unchecked. South Asia itself is looking at a 2-4 degree Celsius rise in temperature over the next 50 years. Countries like India will have more nights recording temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius and extended periods of heat, more rain, warming and humidity and less soil moisture. All this would result in declining food productivity and worse outcomes for human health.
Some are wary
Climate sceptics might still use the allegations against Pachauri to attack the panel’s work, warned Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, while speaking to The Guardian newspaper. “There will no doubt be some climate change ‘sceptics’ who seek to use Dr Pachauri’s resignation as an opportunity to attack the IPCC [but its most recent report] is the most comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the causes and potential consequences of climate change that we have ever had, and that remains true with or without Dr Pachauri as chair,” Ward said.
Govindasamy Bala, lead author on the report and atmospheric scientist from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, said that there was a bank of leaders at the IPCC, any one of whom could take charge of the climate panel. “The probable names, like Thomas Stocker [from Switzerland] and Chris Field [from the US], are already being projected and they are fantastic scientists.”
Pachauri’s second term as IPCC chairman was to end in October. Till a new name is announced, the panel has appointed vice chair Ismail El Gizouli as acting chair.