Rajendra Pachauri

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Rajendra K. Pachauri (2009)

Rajendra Kumar Pachauri ( Hindi राजेन्द्र कुमार पचौरी Rājendra Kumār Pacaurī ; born August 20, 1940 in Nainital , India ; † February 13, 2020 in New Delhi , India) was an Indian economist and engineer .

Life

Pachauri graduated in 1972 at the North Carolina State University 's Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and a PhD in 1974 for doctor with a double major in industrial engineering and economics. He was Director 1981–2001 and Director General 2001–2016 at The Energy and Resources Institute ( Tata Energy and Research Institute , TERI until 2003 ) in New Delhi .

From 2002 until his resignation in February 2015 he was chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC / Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ); normally his term of office would have ended in October 2015. Pachauri came into office in 2002 at the urging of the US government. Shortly after the publication of the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC 2001, the oil company lobbied ExxonMobil in the Bush administration , the then IPCC chairman Robert Watson discontinued. Previously, climate researcher Watson had stated that global warming was real. In 2002, the US government rejected Watson's nomination for a second term and instead campaigned for Pachauri. Contrary to original hopes, however, after his election, Pachauri also proved to be a defender of climate research against climate deniers . This then accused him of having received money from energy companies, which Pachauri denies. Prior to his election, Pachauri's nomination had been seen by many researchers as part of a campaign by industrial corporations and the US government to undermine the IPCC's credibility .

In 2001, Pachauri supported a boycott of the Texan oil company ExxonMobil over its stance on global warming. ExxonMobil has invested nearly $ 16 million in the past few years to support climate change deniers, cover up scientific evidence, and manipulate politicians and the media , according to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). At that time, Pachauri was chairman of the board of the Indian Oil Corporation .

Pachauri was an ambassador for the climate protection organization 350.org .

honors and awards

In 2001, Pachauri was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his services to environmental protection . In 2007 Pachauri accepted the Nobel Peace Prize as chairman of the IPCC on behalf of the latter together with Al Gore . In 2008 he received the Padma Vibhushan . The editors of the science magazine Nature awarded him the title of Newsmaker of the Year in 2007 because he had succeeded in preventing the scientific results relating to the global climate from being watered down through publications and interventions.

On July 14th, 2008 he was appointed UNIDO Goodwill Ambassador.

In October 2009, Rajendra Pachauri was awarded the title of Professor honoris causa by the HEC Paris .

Controversy

In January 2010, Pachauri came under fire as IPCC chairman due to an error in the second volume of the fourth IPCC assessment report on the melting of the Himalayan glaciers, which led to calls for his resignation.

Auditing firm KPMG conducted a comprehensive audit of Pachauri's earnings and published a final audit report in August 2010 following allegations made by the conservative British newspaper Daily Telegraph against Pachauri of alleged conflicts of interest . In it, KPMG released Pachauri from any allegation of a conflict of interest. The Daily Telegraph apologized to Pachauri.

In February 2015, Pachauri was exposed to sexual harassment and the like by a research assistant at the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). a. accused by unsolicited email, SMS and WhatsApp messages. Pachauri denied the allegations as unfounded and had his lawyers reported that his email, cell phone and computer had been hacked. On February 24, 2015, Pachauri resigned prematurely from the office of IPCC chairman on the grounds that the IPCC needed strong leadership and the full attention of the chairman, which he could not achieve under the current circumstances. His term of office as IPCC chairman would normally have lasted until October 2015.

A TERI commission found in 2015 that Pauchari had sexually harassed the researcher. TERI is no longer extending his contract as General Manager, which expires in March 2016. In February 2015, Indian police opened investigations into sexual harassment, stalking and intimidation. In January 2019, evidence began on the sexual harassment allegation, the other allegations were dropped by the court.

A total of nine former employees accused Pachauri of sexual harassment after 2015. Pachauri denied the allegations and, fearing damage to his reputation, attempted to obtain an order in February 2018 that would have prohibited the media from reporting the allegations made by the employees. However, this was rejected by a court in Delhi.

Web links

Commons : Rajendra Pachauri  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. Former TERI chief RK Pachauri passes away after prolonged heart ailment. In: DNAindia . February 13, 2020, accessed on February 14, 2020 . Jeremy Spirogis: Environmentalist and former head of TERI RK Pachauri dies at Escorts Heart Institute in Delhi. In: Sahiwal.tv. February 14, 2020, accessed on February 14, 2020 .
  2. ^ RK Pachauri. In: iloveindia - Lifestyle Lounge. Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  3. a b www.climatescience.gov ( Memento from February 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ A b Sanjay Kumar: Former head of climate change panel to stand trial for harassment. In: ScienceMag.org. September 18, 2018, accessed July 29, 2019 .
  5. ^ Head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change resigns from office . In: Tagesspiegel , February 24, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  6. ^ A b Andrew Lawler: Battle over IPCC Chair Renews Debate on US Climate Policy . In: Science . tape 296 , no. 5566 , 2002, pp. 232-233 , doi : 10.1126 / science.296.5566.232a .
  7. See James Lawrence Powell: The Inquisition of Climate Science. New York 2012, p. 112f.
  8. Financial Times Deutschland : How Exxon Darkened the World ( Memento of May 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), January 11, 2007
  9. The 350 Climate Ambassadors ( Memento of December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) from 350.org
  10. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/
  11. Rajendra Pachauri named "Newsmaker 2007" by "Nature". In: derStandard.at. December 19, 2007, accessed December 9, 2017 .
  12. MBA Channel: HEC appoints Rajendra K. Pachauri Professor Honoris Causa ( Memento from January 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (English only)
  13. ^ IPCC statement on the melting of Himalayan glaciers. IPCC, October 20, 2010, accessed July 29, 2019 .
  14. Save the IPCC! IPCC debate , Richard Tol, Roger Pielke and Hans von Storch in Spiegel-Online from January 25, 2010
  15. ^ Rajendra Pachauri cleared of financial misdealings , in: The Guardian , August 26, 2010
  16. Apology from the Daily Telegraph to Pachauri , August 21, 2010
  17. IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri to miss key climate meeting over sexual harassment allegations. On: The Guardian , February 23, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  18. ^ IPCC: Pachauri petitioned the IPCC to resign . February 24, 2015. Accessed March 16, 2015.
  19. Allegation of sexual harassment: IPCC chief Pachauri resigned. ( Memento from February 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) On: Tagesschau.de , February 24, 2015. Retrieved on March 16, 2015.
  20. TERI's internal panel finds RK Pachauri guilty in sexual harassment case In: Deccan Chronicle, May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015
  21. Sexual harassment case against RK Pachauri heads to trial. In: Mumbai Press. October 20, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  22. ^ The Wire Staff: Delhi Court Rejects Former TERI Head RK Pachauri's Plea for a Gag Order on the Press - The Wire. Retrieved February 13, 2018 (UK English).