| A high-profile error in an international
report on climate change does not undermine the scientific case
for man-made global warming, the head of the United Nations'
panel on the issue has insisted.
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC), said there remained a "huge volume"
of science backing the theory that human activity is to blame
for changes in global temperatures.
In addition, Dr Pachauri said he would resist pressure to
resign as IPCC chair following reports in the UK press that
he had made a fortune from carbon trading, thanks to links
between The Energy Research Institute (TERI)
- which he heads - and private companies.
The IPCC was, last month, forced to apologise for an incorrect
claim in its 2007 report that Himalayan glaciers would melt
by 2035 because of warmer temperatures. A journalist for Science
magazine has claimed that Dr Pachauri was informed of the
issue last year, but took no action ahead of the Copenhagen
summit on global warming.
Greenpeace UK director John Sauven said that the error put
Dr Pachauri's position in question. "Pachauri should have
put his hand up and said - 'We made a mistake'. It's
in these situations that your character and judgment is tested.
Do you make the right judgment call? - he clearly didn't,"
Mr Sauven told The Times.
"The IPCC needs to regain credibility. Is that going to happen
with Pachauri (as chairman)? - I don't think so. We need someone
held in high regard, who has extremely good judgment and is
seen by the global public as someone on their side. If we
get a new person in with an open mind, prepared to fundamentally
review how the IPCC works, we would regain confidence in the
organisation."
Speaking at the IPCC's Sustainable Development Summit in
Delhi, Dr Pachauri told the BBC - "There is one mistake that
occurred, unfortunately and we have clearly accepted that.
We have expressed regret that it took place.
"But there is a huge volume of science - the IPCC report
is a massive piece of work - and I think all of what we have
said is totally valid. The fact is that we have clearly shown
that the impacts of climate change, if we don't take action,
are going to become progressively serious. It is not only
the warming of the Earth's system, it is also disruption in
terms of extreme events."
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