Excerpts from the Telegraph article
By Geoffrey Lean, in Bali
Rajendra Pachauri, the controversial Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is to face an international inquiry into the performance of his organisation.
Environment and Climate ministers meeting in closed session in Bali last night insisted that an independent review should be carried out following the publicising of mistakes in its last report, and a row surrounding Dr Pachauri’s robust response to his critics. If his management is found to be at fault his position could become untenable.
Participants in the unprecedented meeting – held at the annual assembly of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Governing Council in Bali – were sworn to secrecy over the decision and it is only expected to be announced after its detaled scope and composition have been worked out by UNEP and the World Meteorological Organisation, the two UN agencies that oversee the IPCC’s work.
…
The review is to report by August to allow time for its conclusions – and Dr Pachauri’s position – to be assessed before the IPCC meets for its own annual assembly in Korea in October.
Achim Steiner, UNEP’s Executive Director said that the IPCC faced a “crisis of confidence” with the public. , According to participants at the meeting, Dr Pachauri expressed regret for any mistakes that had been made, but stopped short of apologising for them. “He gave the impression of making an apology without actually doing so”, said one.
The participants add that he admitted only one mistake, a discredited prediction that the glaciers of the Himalayas would entirely melt away by 2035, for which the IPCC has already apologised. They say he described other alleged errors – such as a prediction that food production in parts of Africa might be cut in half by 2020 or the citing of studies by pressure groups rather than peer-reviewed research – as misunderstandings.
…
Their main concern has been over the aggressive way in which Dr Pachauri has responded to criticism, beginning with denouncing Indian research suggesting that the glaciers were not melting so rapidly as “voodoo science”. Many wish he would resign,. But he was reelected unopposed less than 18 months ago,and has often rejected doing so.
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For a complete report, read the Telegraph article
Will you please refrain from putting his picture up anymore!
In other news-Gore reelected to board of Apple. Another reason not to use a Mac.
independent inquiry….
independent is a relative term
anyone got a mirror and comb for him?
Ah, now I wonder who’s the biggest payer of the IPCC’s dues?
The good ol’ US of A, by any chance?? Or is it my motherland, Blighty, Her Britannic Majesty’s United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland??
Perhaps a quiet word in the ears of a few feisty Senators, MPs, MEPs and Congressfolks to suggest a few suitable names might be in order??
How about S. McIntyre?? The Chair of IOC Winter Olympics committee???? A Russian Bear?? An ex-Exxon Mobil exec??
Only joking.
If I’d had a glass or two of wine, I was serious. But I’m sober………
I remember sitting in the Scottish Parliament Renewable Energy Group at one of my first meetings, and a civil servant came along and said: “how high do you think the taxpayer funding of renewables should be”.
At first I thought it was a rhetorical question, and before they told us what they had decided, but it soon transpired that they were serious! They were actually asking a room filled with a few politicians and a lot more invited renewable energy people to vote on how much of MY money to give to these guys, and as far as I remember it was the figure that became law!
Only later did I learn that the Scottish Parliament Renewable Energy Group was being run by the head of the wind energy lobbyists who personally stood to gain millions from wind, and I was told he had already bought up the rights to most of the lucrative wind farm sites in Scotland. Conflict of interest? Apparently not!
I still can’t fathom that. Lobbyists were being paid money by the parliament to run a meeting at which they lobbied politicians, and the group was organised by an individual who personally stood to gain millions – and they were being asked by civil servants to set the level of taxpayer funding to wind.
And yes, I did file an official complaint but of course it was rejected – twice I think. So I guess I was wrong to think it was corrupt – just as it wasn’t corrupt to hide the decline, etc.
Since ChooChoo didn’t take the hint when various warmist poobahs suggested that he quit, the hint-level has been escalated. If he still hangs on, the next level would be for the commission to request his full financial data. They’ll likely find something in there to hang him, or anyway embarrass him. So, if such a request is made, it’ll be curtains, probably.
Mark Fawcett (05:41:22):
So, Whales = good. Cattle = bad.
But what about the poor krill whose own carbon gets unsequestered by the whales? Perhaps whales really should learn to use chlorophyll.
<>
It’s mad enough to appear in the next IPCC report. Research grants all round.
Not one more Australian or American dollar should go to the UN… The organization is too corrupt.
We, the taxpayers, are being ripped off.
Trouble is… that these initiatives are NOT interested in protecting US, or the science, but THEIR (politicians etc.) investment in the ‘product/propaganda’ so far.
Politicians NEVER admit to being wrong about anything and until they have a better strategy for achieving a global ‘political elite organisation’ brand.. they will stick to AGW.
NOW is the time to be more aggressive in turning people (your average punter/idiot) to what this is really all about.
Global religion of AGW as tool for global government with the current bunch of corrupt ‘political elite’ running things.
Fortunately… this is also the weak underbelly of their scheme. POLITICIAN the world over have never been as reviled as they are in recent history. Name me ONE nationally admired and respected global leader? Name just one – apart from Vladimir Putin of course! 😉
I think this meeting is about trying to save face by blame-game and salvage what can be salvage so that they still can try and go ahead with all your money is belong to the toothless tiger, er, UN.
Nice – more of our money will be wasted, this time on an international white-wash exercise.
Read this quote form the report carefully:
“The ministers regard the mistakes as exaggerated, point out that they just concern a few sentences in a 3000 page report, and say they do not in any way undermine the basic science behind global warming. Their main concern has been over the aggressive way in which Dr Pachauri has responded to criticism …”
What else does it mean but that ‘the science is settled’, carry on, but ditch Pachauri for being an arrogant b*stid?
If Guru Pachauri wants to save his ‘job’ he could start by getting a makeover. That absurd unkempt Indian Sadhu (holyman) look has to go! Haircut please. And lose the beard of course.
It was the cover-up of Watergate that caused the most damage.
Here’s hoping the same thing will happen with Climategate and it’s disastrous knock-on effect on the CAGW scam!
In the long term politicians can only rule by consent of the people and if this affair ‘goes large’ they are skating on very thin ice – expect to see revolutionary change to the political scene.
O/T but may be of interest.
The intrepid and silly Pen Hadow is reported to be heading back to the Arctic, this time to focus his immense scientific intellect on the acidification of the oceans. We all wait with bated breath.
I think the IPCC will be irrelevant by August, so the inquiry will simply be more wasted time and money. I can hear the stampede of money leaving the sustainability and climate change investment scam now. (What they can recover, of course.)
Christoph (06:54:08) :
@ur momisugly Mark Fawcett
Whales, the forests of the ocean. Now I’ve heard everything.
What insane lunatics.
It’s good isn’t it :o)
I am now waiting for the paper that reveals that cremation of the dead has (over the course of human history) released N-Gt of carbon into the atmosphere…
…I think I see a business opportunity developing: “Recently bereaved? Feel bad about global warming? Don’t worry, here at Rest-In-(Green)peace we solve both problems, by weighting down Granny with some bags of coal and chucking her into Challenger Deep you can reduce your own personal carbon footprint and help to save the planet.”
Cheers
Mark
Whether the investigation results in Dr. Pachauri’s leaving his post or not, I fear the purpose is damage control, and not a search for truth.
Daniel H (04:59:05) :
“Well they sure as hell aren’t very good at keeping a sworn secret if it has already been leaked to the media! (Mental note: Never tell a UN bureaucrat my deepest darkest secrets.)”
What makes you think the information has been leaked? Let me tell you that the information was STOLEN. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Stolen by the Russians. Or the Chinese. Or both.
Pachauri on the front page of the Wall Street Journal’s print edition this morning.
Article about IPCC’s increasingly obvious political motivations, rush to “judgement,” and over-simplification.
I wonder who will be conducting this “independent review”?
Lets have a guess.
Geoffrey Boulton
Michael Mann
Gavin Schmidt
Jim Hansen?
Don’t be fooled, this is not yet victory. They will no doubt jettison Pachauri. Its what happens AFTER that to watch out for. They’ll take months to appoint someone new, perhaps longer. No bad press gets generated during that time period because everything has to be reviewed by the “new guy” who hasn’t been appointed yet. The media gets bored and stops paying attention. When “new guy” is finally appointed, brief flurry of activity while his credentials get examined, but no new science. More months of boring nothing as the “new guy” reviews, restructures, and so on. Perhaps two or three years down the road…suddenly a new wave of studies, reports, conclusions and recommendations.
Might the new guy be honest and the new wave of studies sincere? Don’t know, have to wait and see. Past track record of, for example, replacing a totaly corrupt human rights body with a new restructured, totaly corrupt human rights body suggests not. The UN is only relevant if it has “things to do” for the planet that they can run. Oil for food…. Those who work for the UN will seek the answers they want. With the amount of money at stake, someone will step up and tell them what they want to hear.
I’m afraid the UN may not giving up the ghost yet (according to a paper published in December 2009) see:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587426,00.html
the original paper is here:
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/022510_greeneconomy.pdf
However seeing that paper was put out in December and much has cometo light since then. They may reconsider or try to repackage the product.
“Achim Steiner, UNEP’s Executive Director said that the IPCC faced a “crisis of confidence” with the public.”
The lack of trust and confidence is not due to poor PR or spin, it is due to poor science. The IPCC is a politic animal masquerading as a scientific organization. And most politicians and bureaucrats are not involved in the IPCC for altruistic reasons, but are after money and power.
“John Whitman (06:13:01) : ”
tic – Brilliant
toc – excellent summary
“Still, the meeting ended on a positive note as attendees were delighted to find signed copies of Pachauri’s novel, Return to Almora,?i>, among their conference materials. One delegate was overheard to say, ‘Should make for a good read on my long flight home. I hear it’s a very uplifting tale.'”
OT
SurfaceStation.org makes front page of FoxNEWS!
ARTICLE FOLLOWS –
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/02/26/climate-data-compromised-by-heat-sources/