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
…btw… http://www.coronene.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/klingon1.jpg
@ur momisugly Philip Foster (05:47:01) : “PS to Joe: I think it’s ‘Cavalry’ not ‘Calvary’ ? The latter refers to the Crucifixion!”
Personally, I’m cool with either of these.
SHELTON EHRLICH lands one!
APPLE SHAREHOLDER MEETING BUST UP! Gore tagged “a laughing stock.” to his face!!!!
From a link on drudge….
‘…..At the first opportunity for audience participation just several minutes into the proceeding, a longtime and well-known Apple shareholder–some would say gadfly–who introduced himself as Shelton Ehrlich, stood at the microphone and urged against Gore’s re-election to the board. Gore “has become a laughingstock. The glaciers have not melted,” Ehrlich said, referring to Gore’s views on global warming. “If his advice he gives to Apple is as faulty as his views on the environment then he doesn’t need to be re-elected.” Another shareholder immediately got up to defend Gore and endorse his presence as an Apple director. And that wasn’t the end of it. Two different proposals from shareholders were presented in regard to Apple’s environmental impact. One was from the nonprofit As You Sow, which for the second straight year asked Apple to publicly commit to specific greenhouse gas reduction goals and publish a formal sustainability report; the second came from Herrington Investments, which proposed that Apple’s board establish a sustainability committee, just like a compensation or personnel committee. As You Sow’s representative, Conrad MacKerron, praised Gore, but also challenged him on not doing more to encourage the company to set specific public commitments. Forest Hill, Herrington Investment’s senior portfolio manager also addressed some of his comments directly to Gore, saying making board members responsible for Apple’s envronmental impact “would make Apple a corporate leader.” Neither Gore nor anyone else on Apple’s board of directors responded directly. Both proposals were ultimately rejected by shareholders…………..’
No doubt the Escalade run to the local airport and the Gulfstream VII trip back to his palace soothed his aching, enviromentally tuned, conscience!!!
If we practiced “Voodoo Science”, many of us would have a voodoo doll of Al Gore stuffed in our freezers.
”””’C.W. Schoneveld (12:40:41) : Slightly adapted from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s sonnet “Ozymandias” (1817) . . . ””””’
CW,
Hey, nice touch with that lovely old poem.
First read it when I was 13. To this day more, than half a century later, it still pops into my mind occasionally.
John
Do you imagine such a kind of serious inquiry, under the palm trees, talking at a bar in a pool about us the deniers?
What will come out of that but laughing about us stubborn blog deniers…hope no one of them suffers a heart attack from joking at us….
Independent Enquiry? As in the UK’s “Independent” inquiry? Trust me I will not hold my breath!
Just think it through. Do we really believe the IPCC will throw him to the wolves? The rest of this bunch realize that he knows who’s making money and it would be a very dangerous move to turn on him.
As for Geoffrey Lean, well, he is just one of the hypocritical mouthpieces in the UK papers that seem to have no problem with lecturing us on reducing our “carbon footprint”, whilst he jumps on flights to Copenhagen and Bali and will no doubt already have his ticket booked to Mexico! He still thinks windmills are efficient!
Time for my chill pill!
Geoffrey Lean, doyen of warmingista journos and general do gooder poley bear lover.
Arch hypocrite and b******* merchant par excellence!
Why is he………….?………. for heavens sake in Bali?
Permanent vacation obviously.
And;
Have the ship’s rats decided before they abandon the sinking ship, that they must devour the dullard Captain (Pachauri) first?
With all the required whitewash to cover the blackne$$ of their carbon intrigue, the AGWers may actually decrease the Earth’s temperature by increasing its albedo!
The photo of Patchy reminds me of a character famous in history. He has the same looks and modus operandi. That would be Rasputin, just as devious as this blighter. The chances of an honest out come of any UN body is zero.
This enquiry will be a convoluted new speak night mare. Thousands of pages of vague poli talk with no real villains, even talk of victims, set upon by deniers in the pay of big oil. Justice may never happen, except over time when the real truth comes out, and, that justice will be shame. History will see all those involved as infamous defrauders. That will be poetic justice.
johnnythelowery (16:27:22) :
“No doubt the Escalade run to the local airport and the Gulfstream VII trip back to his palace soothed his aching, enviromentally tuned, conscience!!!”
Having met and delt with the Rich and Famous more than a few times,
I agree whole heartedly.Turner,(both Ted and Hanoi,) Redford,Travolta,
et.al. “do as I say” as opposed to “do unto others.”
We are talking about the UN, the chances of them unfeathering the nest of one of their own is remote. From the outside looking in, the whole organization looks pretty shady. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pachauri occupying his current post for the forseeable future.
Except It wasn’t an error it was a lie, I wonder why they make it easy on them?
“Professor Georg Kaser, a glacier expert from Austria, who was lead author of a different chapter in the IPCC report, said when he became aware of the 2035 claim a few months before the report was published, he wrote to Dr Lal, urging him to withdraw it as patently untrue.”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1245636/Glacier-scientists-says-knew-data-verified.html#ixzz0giYGHZbF
[snip]
Re: snip
We all have our moments, I suppose.
I really don’t expect him to go anywhere unless he is explicitly fired. The man obviously seems to believe that he is above any standards that apply to “normal” people and can simply do as he wishes because, you know, he’s him!
It would be quite fine with me if we simply never heard another word about him from anywhere. If he won’t go away, simply “route around the problem” and ignore him.
They ain’t going away:
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2010/2010-02-26-01.html
World Environment Ministers Vow to Invigorate Climate Change Efforts
At the close of a United Nations Environment Programme gathering in Indonesia, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, (the Boy from Brazil), said he is optimistic that the conference had enabled the world’s environment ministers to find a “collective voice” again after the “great frustrations” in Copenhagen.
“The ministers responsible for the environment … have spoken with a clear, united and unequivocal voice,” said Steiner. “Without that there would never be any progress,” he told reporters at the end of the three-day meeting.
This is the knowledge transfer they are bringing to the third world:
“With seed-funding from the World Bank Lighting Africa initiative, Nuru Design UK co-developed and field-tested the Nuru lighting system with villagers and local partners in Rwanda. Nuru means “light” in Swahili, and the system consists of portable, inexpensive rechargeable LED lights that sell for $5.
Nuru lights can be recharged by solar panel or AC charger, but the primary recharging source is human power using the world’s first commercially available, locally-assembled, pedal generator, the Nuru POWERCycle. Gentle pedalling for 20 minutes using feet or hands, bicycle-style, can fully recharge up to five Nuru lights – each one lasting up to 37 hours. ”
“We are also working with Climate Care/JPMChase Bank and others in the voluntary carbon offset market to get more stoves to people who need them,” Conway said.
“I see the carbon offset markets as a great opportunity to fund millions of improved stoves for the three billion people who still rely on smoky, open fire stoves for cooking and heating with biomass.”
Pachauri wears many hats……
http://www.rkpachauri.org/moods.php
I think folks you have missed the point.The UN is the problem.It is not any longer the the organization that was set up after WW2 to bring peace and harmony upon the World.
It is now a self serving monster with endless desires.
The UN needs to be cut off at the knees.
It only takes their biggest sponsor, the USA to deny the funds,and then they are just another NGO.
If only.
@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)
It’s better than good.
I can’t wait to see Uncle Al’s latest Carbon Sequestering prospectus: “Yes, for only $1,500 a month, you can sponsor a *whale*! You’ll not only receive a PETA-approved picture of your whale, you’ll receive a genuine, printed-on-100%-post-consumer-cardstock certificate, digitally-signed by *me*, detailing how much carbon your whale has sequestered to date *and* how much carbon the IPCC estimates it will have sequestered by 2050! Act now, and you’ll receive this tastefully-engraved scrimshaw mouse pad!
“But wait — there’s *more*!…”
“Whosoever diggith a pit shall fall in it”!
(Bob Marley)
not sure what to make of this:
http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/none/vietnams-whale-temples-climate-change-dilemma-712495
bob (03:43:40) :
not sure what to make of this:
From a dead whale? Copious quantities of nuoc mam, most likely.
The Mekong and its sister rivers deposit a *lot* of slit at their mouths. I’d be more inclined to think the temples were further from shore because of silt extending the coastline than the sea level “receding”…
“I see the carbon offset markets as a great opportunity to fund millions of improved stoves for the three billion people who still rely on smoky, open fire stoves for cooking and heating with biomass.”
Those three billion people use biomass for cooking and heating because that’s what they can *afford*. But I guess the improved stoves will allow them to still use biomass, but will result in *improved* smokiness…
Take a look here:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/12/aps-seth-borenstein-is-just-too-damn-cozy-with-the-people-he-covers-time-for-ap-to-do-somethig-about-it/
And, for context on how untrustworthy the AP is, given that Borenstein is its environmental reporter:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/10/27/pielke-senior-on-the-borenstien-ap-statistics-article/
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/10/23/pielke-senior-erroneous-claim-in-an-ap-news-article/
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/08/21/borensteins-ap-sea-surface-temperature-article-is-misleading/
Pete H (17:49:37) : “Independent Enquiry? As in the UK’s “Independent” inquiry? Trust me I will not hold my breath! Just think it through. Do we really believe the IPCC will throw him to the wolves? The rest of this bunch realize that he knows who’s making money and it would be a very dangerous move to turn on him.”
For the UN this will be no problem. Hold the next IPCC coordinating meeting in Vienna:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1224377/British-nuclear-experts-17th-floor-UN-death-plunge-suicide.html