The Inter-Academy Council (IAC) has strongly criticised both Dr Rajendra Pachauri and also the leadership he provided to the IPCC. Following the controversy that erupted over some of the findings of the IPCC, the IAC, comprising of leading academicians and scientists, was asked to conduct an independent investigation into the functioning of all aspects of the IPCC.
The IAC’s report released in Washington on Saturday was critical of both Mr Pachauri’s leadership as also of some of the procedures and operational guidelines adopted by IPCC which they felt called for greater transparency.
The IAC felt the whole issue of use of “grey literature” from unpublished or non-peer reviewed sources needed greater clarity.
The review report also stressed that the term of a chairman should be limited to one term rather than he being allowed two terms thereby allowing for new perspectives to emerge.
Mr Pachauri, defending himself at a press conference after the IAC review was published, pointed out that the IAC review was the seventh review published on the IPCC in 2010.
While the IAC review was limited to the IPCC’s processes and procedures, the other reviews looked directly at the science of climate change.
None of these other studies — none — found flaws with the fundamental science of climate change Mr Pachauri emphasised.
“By overwhelming consensus, the scientific community agreed that climate change was real. Greenhouse gases have increased markedly as a result of human activities and now far exceeded pre-industrial values,” he stressed.
On the question of duration of his tenure, Mr Pachauri said that a decision on this issue would be taken only after a full meeting of the IPCC in Korea in October later this year.