FoE: 'Dont' bring me the head of the IPCC
23 Sep 2010
London – Friends of the Earth apparently does not want the controversial chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to stand down – as indicated on the BBC’s Today Programme.
In a statement following the programme, FoE executive director Andy Atkins insisted: “I have not called for Rajendra Pachauri to resign.
“The recommendations of the Inter-Academy of Sciences report are sensible – the Management Committee needs to consider the credibility of the entire IPCC when deciding limits for the term of the chairmanship.”
Pachauri has been at the centre of controversy over the accuracy and robustness of the science used to support the IPCC’s claims about the impact of climate change. Recently, these included projections – now discredited – that the glaciers could virtually disappear from the Himalayas over the coming decades.
However, Atkins warned that there was a real danger that if Pachuari is perceived to have been forced to stand down, then climate sceptics will call for the scalp of every subsequent chair and the position will be discredited for good.
“It’s up to the Management Committee of the IPCC to decide whether the Chair should stand down - no-one else, regardless of reporting in the media,” said the FoE leader.
