Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) Chief of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Rajendra Pachauri should not resign succumbing to media pressure, according to Yvo De Beer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“I hope he doesn’t resign. He has led the scientific community in a very dedicated manner. The question really is how fast the glaciers are melting,” De Beer told reporters here.

He said that the findings (about the error in the 2007 IPCC report) “have just concluded that the titanic would sink a few hours later”.

Pachauri has held that he will not resign over a mistake in a key climate change report that claimed Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035.

The Indian scientist has also been targeted by some British papers with personal attacks on his lifestyle.

To this, De Beer said: “In my language there is a saying, tall trees collect a lot of wind… well Pachauri is a very tall tree.”

The UNFCCC official, however, admitted that the mistakes made by the IPCC had made it easy for “skeptics to question the scientific community”.

“But other points of criticism (refuting the scientific community’s alarm bells on climate change) are unfounded,” De Beer said.

Commenting on the widespread allegations by media distrusting the scientific community, De Beer said: “I wish I knew if there was a concerted attack on the scientific community and where it is coming from. But what you have certainly seen around the world is that as the stakes are getting higher and governments become more serious about addressing climate change… the companies that feel threatened by ambitious action are becoming more and more concerned.”

“We (should) move forward in a way that addresses the issue but doesn’t lead to serious economic constraints… that may be the underlying cause motivating the reporting that is trying to point out weaknesses,” he added.