High Noon for Pachauri - by Richard... Thursday, December 17, 2009

High Noon for Pachauri - by Richard... Thursday, December 17, 2009

Given his involvement in a huge variety of extra-mural activities, whenever the chairman of the IPCC, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, makes a pronouncement on climate, it would be wise to assess where his true interests lie.

This most certainly should have been the case in early November, when the Indian environment ministry – with the support of its minister - published a detailed reportof a scientific study, arguing that there was no evidence climate change had shrunk Himalayan glaciers.

Vijay Kumar Raina, the geologist who authored the report, admitted that some "Himalayan glaciers are retreating. But it is nothing out of the ordinary," he said, "Nothing to suggest as some have said that they will disappear."

Retreating glaciers, of course, are a central part of the iconography of the warmist movement. Only the previous year, UNEP, one of the IPCC's parent organisations, had announced that the world's glaciers were "continuing to melt away" with the latest official figures showing "record losses". It was, therefore, hardly surprising that the study was immediately denounced. But what was surprising was the vehemence of the attack – by no lesser person than Dr Pachauri, ostensibly in his role as chairman of the IPCC.

Speaking to The Guardian, he positively exuded vitriol, declaring: "We have a very clear idea of what is happening. I don't know why the minister is supporting this unsubstantiated research. It is an extremely arrogant statement."

He then went on to say, "My concern is that this comes from western scientists … it is high time India makes an investment in understanding what is happening in the Himalayan ecosystem," then snarling that such statements were reminiscent of "climate change deniers and school boy science".

Thus having vented his spleen, Pachauri rounded off by telling the paper, "I cannot see what the minister's motives are. We do need more extensive measurement of the Himalayan range but it is clear from satellite pictures what is happening."

The irony of this last statement is far from obvious, but the question about motives should have been addressed to Pachauri – he had three million of them. That is the price in euros of the EU research programme under which his institute had been awarded a contract – to assess the effects of the Himalayan glaciers retreat, caused by climate change. No wonder he was so keen on the need for "more extensive measurement".

The EU programme, given the unashamedly alarmist title "High Noon" after the classic Western film of the same name, had been launched in the May. It was to run for three years, "bringing together leading research institutions in the Netherlands, Britain, Switzerland and India," including The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), of which Dr Pachauri is Director General.

Apart from his more obvious concern as chairman of the IPCC, Pachauri thus had an undeclared financial interest in protecting his own organisation's stake in a lucrative research project which depended for its very existence on the premise that: "Climate change is affecting the hydrological system of Northern India ... ". The last thing he needed was his country's own environment ministry debunking the very idea that climate change was a significant problem.

Fortunately for Dr Pachauri, the notoriously opaque European Union had not published the "inconvenient fact" of his involvement on its website, so the good doctor got away with it at the time. But for the local Indian newspaper, The Hindu, we would never have known.

Even then, the newspaper was unconscious of the further irony in its own report, quoting Daniele Smadja, the EU commission "Ambassador" to India, telling us that, "The EU and India enjoy strategic cooperation in the field of science and technology, with co-investment of resources from both players," adding: "This project in the field of climate change, research and glaciology takes this well-established partnership to new heights."

New heights? Did she mean new depths?

PACHAURI THREAD

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Global warming - by Richard...

Host Denmark dropped plans on Thursday to propose new draft texts to try to break deadlock at a United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen after opposition from many developing nations, says Reuters.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said negotiators at the 193-nation meeting would consider existing UN texts presented to the meeting on Wednesday that outline possible elements of a deal to combat global warming.

"The conference is now at a critical juncture and we have now agreed how to proceed," Mr. Rasmussen said. "We now rely on the willingness of all parties to take that extra step to make that deal that is expected of us."

Meanwhile, as the picture delightfully shows, the children were outside cleaning off the global warming from a giant model of the globe.

CLIMATEGATE THREAD

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The process here is in chaos - by Richard...

As I write, intones the BBC's environment correspondent Richard Black, the process here [in Copenhagen] is in chaos - the Danish prime ministers' office is said by all sources to be in "meltdown", without a plan of action and without the diplomatic experience and skills to concoct one in time.

The Danes have lost the trust of the developing world here, no doubt about it - and by extension, that taints the EU and the wider Western world as well.

Excuse me a moment while I wipe away the tears ... of laughter. Perhaps they all should have gone to this conference.

Oh, and "it nowing" as my son used to say when he was two years old.

CLIMATEGATE THREAD

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A quick thank you - by Richard...

Interestingly, the New York Times links to this blog – and others - on Andrew C. Revkin's blog page, as part of its round-up of the web. The NYT is often the target for much criticism by bloggers, and the MSM is fair game after all (13th Spitfire has some interesting observations on this). But it can't be faulted for its linking policy.

Links are the lifeblood of the blogosphere, and we have benefitted hugely from them, not least from our posters on the forum who have generously kept me informed with developments I might not otherwise have spotted - as well as those who have e-mailed me links. Thus, a quick "thank you" to all those who have linked to the blog and have supplied links.

CLIMATEGATE THREAD

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To hold or not to hold - by Richard...

When is "held" deemed to be "not held"? Bishop Hill offers CRU's answer to that intriguing question – with a comment from an IT specialist that is absolutely priceless.

CLIMATEGATE THREAD

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Conflict of interest - by Richard...

The Viscount Monckton takes Dr Pachauri apart, in long, bleeding strips – analysing his performance at the slugfest at Copenhagen. A report is over onWUWT, detailing the basic errors and unsupported assertions made by Pachauri in his presentation. The presentation is to be commended for its brevity and clarity, easy for the layman to follow.

Monckton, with Australian Senator Steve Fielding, then follows through with an open letter to Pachauri, drawing attention, in some detail, to his conflicts of interests - some of which may be familiar - arising from his extra-mural activities.

On the basis of these very substantial conflicts - which are quite staggering for a supposedly impartial public servant (which is what UN officials should be), the pair write:

We have looked for your declaration of these interests in the documents of the IPCC, particularly in its 2007 Fourth Assessment Report, but we have not found them.

Our conclusion is that you have numerous substantial direct or indirect vested financial and commercial interests profiting from the emissions reduction processes that the documents produced by the IPCC under your chairmanship have triggered.

Given the mistakes that the IPPC have made, they conclude, "and given your numerous and direct conflicts of interest that have, in our opinion, been insufficiently disclosed," they have copied their letter to the delegations of the states parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change with a request that he be "stripped of office forthwith."

PACHAURI THREAD