The Hindu : Front Page : An honour for IPCC scientists, says Pachauri

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Saturday, Oct 13, 2007
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An honour for IPCC scientists, says Pachauri

Aarti Dhar

“Award of Nobel highlights importance of climate change”

— Photo: V. Sudershan

JUBILANT: Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri at his office in New Delhi soon after the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize, which IPCC shared with Al Gore.

NEW DELHI: “Humbled” by the honour bestowed on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with the former American Vice-President Al Gore, IPCC chairperson R.K. Pachauri on Friday said it was an honour that went to all the scientists and authors who had contributed to the work of the IPCC.

“I am only symbolic of the hundreds of scientists and authors who have worked extremely hard that alone has resulted in enormous prestige for this organisation and the remarkable effectiveness of the message that it contains,” he said at a press conference here soon after the Nobel Prize was announced. Dr. Pachauri said the award for the IPCC and Mr. Gore highlighted the importance of climate change and the need for action to meet the challenge that it presented. He appreciated the steps taken by India in reducing emissions. Thanking the governments who have supported the IPCC, Dr. Pachauri, who is also the Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), said the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC contained a major advance in knowledge over previous reports and had not only shown the strong physical science basis for climate change that had taken place since industrialisation, but what was even more noteworthy was the considerably detailed assessment of the impacts of climate change in different parts of the world. “Equally important is the clear set of findings on mitigation options, which are really very low in cost and high in feasibility,” he said. No miraculous technologies were required to bring down carbon emission levels from 2015. Pointing out that the developed countries had not done enough to bring down the emission levels, Dr. Pachauri said that should not inspire the developing countries to follow suit. Dr. Pachauri, chairing the IPCC since 2002, said he had tried hard to create an atmosphere of consensus and agreement at the panel and made efforts to shedding differences in perceptions and opinions among the member-countries.

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