Pachauri: another Tata link - by Richard... Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Pachauri: another Tata link - by Richard... Wednesday, December 23, 2009

"We ... have no ties with them," Dr Pachauri toldThe Times of India, only a few days ago. We were not impressed then and are even less so and even less now, with an article in The Hindubeing drawn to our attention.

Dated 6 June 2007, it reports on the Indian government having announced "the constitution of a high-level advisory group on climate change." Known as the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change, purpose was (and is) to coordinate National action plans for assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change. 

Its other duties included advising the government "on pro-active measures that can be taken by India to deal with the challenge of climate change," and to "facilitate inter-ministerial coordination and guide policy in relevant areas."

Its official membership comprised Indian government ministers, but it also co-opted a number of non-official members. These included multi-millionaire businessman Dr R K Pachauri and multi-billionaire businessman Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company for the Tata Group.

Still, the Hindi media are taking note, and someone suspects that I might not be a nice person. Dr Pachauri is already convinced.

PACHAURI THREAD

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A hypocrite as well as a liar - by Richard...

Many people will remember the strident headline at the end of November blaring: "Western lifestyle unsustainable, says climate expert Rajendra Pachauri". That was the version in The Guardian, but other papers carried something very similar.

How so very different might have been the reception had the newspapers carried a photograph of the house occupied by multi-millionaire businessman Dr Rajendra K Pachauri, currently 160 Central Golf Links Road, New Delhi. This is situated in a delightful residential area (pictured above and below) very close to Khan Market, the most expensive market in India. 

It is described as one of the most expensive places to live in India. The cheapest houses sell for millions of US dollars. It is considered one of the richest neighborhoods in India and the name is inspired by the Delhi Golf Course nearby. It has only 210 detached houses.

Methinks that a man who lives in a house worth millions, travels nearly half a million miles in 19 months by air and then tells us our lifestyles are "unsustainable" might possibly qualify for the label "hypocrite". 

As for being a liar, it seems we are by far the first to suggest this of Dr Pachauri. Amongst others, we have K Ramamoorthy, who in 1996 was a High Court Judge in Delhi.

After hearing the case of Old World Hospitality Pvt Ltd (Plaintiff) vs India Habitat Centre, he handed down a judgement against the Habitat Centre after it had arbitrarily and in breach of its contract, dismissed Old World Hospitality as suppliers of hospitality services to what was one of the largest conference centres in India.


The details are set out here and need not detain us greatly. Suffice it to say that the Habitat Centre's defence rested on a claim that the Governing Council had not approved the original contract, and therefore the contract was not valid.

On the Governing Council was a certain Dr R K Pachauri, who gave sworn evidence to the effect that the agreement "was never brought up for discussion nor was any analysis on the implications of the same ever submitted to the Governing Council."

Rejecting that submission and those of the others, the judge observed that, "The members of the Governing Council must have been aware of what was going on," adding: "If they want us to believe that they did not have any knowledge of the agreement, I am afraid, they demonstrate themselves totally unequal to the task entrusted to them."

This must have applied in spades to Dr Pachauri who, a year before had moved the offices of TERI, his own organisation, into the building. Certainly, the judge was entirely unconvinced, declaring that the three officers of the Council, including Mr (sic) Pachauri, "have suppressed material facts and they have sworn to false affidavits." (No doubt Pachauri was rehearsing for his later roles.)

The Judge went on to say that the defendant had acted in a very arbitrary way, stating: "such things could not be tolerated in a democratic set up." In a coruscating indictment, he then declared:

And I am afraid, that the affairs and the efficient management of the Centre are not safe in the hands of officers like ... Dr R K Pachauri ... and they had ignored that the officers have to function as a public functionaries within the parameters of the Constitution.

A year after that judgement, Pachauri was elected to become co-chair of the IPCC. He is still on the Governing Council of the Habitat Centre and between September 2004 and September 2006 was its president.

Now, this multi-millionaire businessman is still calling our work a "pack of lies" and isdemanding an apology. The second word of the response I have in mind is "off". Booker, on Sunday, might be less terse.

PACHAURI THREAD

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What is with the media? - by Richard... Tuesday, December 22, 2009

We noted earlier that the New York Inner City Press had quizzed UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki-moon on Dr Pachauri's financial affairs. This was at a packed press conference on the Copenhagen Accord in the UN building, where hundreds of reporters were present. And at least one other picked up the Pachauri story, writing this:

The lack of transparency has been an on-going critique throughout the climate negotiations. On Sunday, the Telegraph reported that the head of the UN's climate change panel, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, has made a fortune from his links with 'carbon trading' companies.

His worldwide portfolio, which includes banks, oil and energy companies and investment funds heavily involved in "carbon trading" and "sustainable technologies," is estimated soon to be worth trillions of U.S. dollars a year, according to the British newspaper. 

As chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Dr. Pachauri could find himself in a conflict of interest as many of the companies he advises is dependent on the IPCC's policy recommendations. 

When asked about the allegations, Ban replied in general terms, saying that businesses are bound to profit from a world-wide agreement on climate matters. "Businesses psychology will shift with this political accord," he said. 

"As soon as this climate Copenhagen accord is translated into a legally binding treaty, I'm sure that the business community will shift their business operations towards a green growth economy."

And the source of this report? Ah! The state-owned China Daily press agency, Xinhuanet. No British media organisation covered the story. If you want information, go to Communist China.