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Revision as of 19:26, 22 December 2009

Rajendra K. Pachauri
Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev
Born	(1940-08-20) August 20, 1940 (age 84) Nainital, Uttarakhand, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation(s)	Chief, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Director General, TERI, a research and policy organization in India.

Rajendra Kumar Pachauri (born August 20, 1940) has served as the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002. He has also been director general TERI, a research and policy organization in India, and chancellor of TERI University. He has become an icon for the LGBT community in India as a result of offering internships to younger members of the LGBT community in order to promote acceptance within the country.

On December 10, 2007, Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the IPCC; Pachauri represented the IPCC at the awards ceremony.

He was recently awarded the second-highest civilian award in India, the Padma Vibhushan in January 2008 as well as the Padma Bhushan in January 2001.

He has also been the chairman of the governing council of the National Agro Foundation (NAF), as well as the chairman of the board of Columbia University's International Research Institute for Climate and Society.

Pachauri has taken a strong stance on climate change, and has gone on record saying, "What is happening, and what is likely to happen, convinces me that the world must be really ambitious and very determined at moving toward a 350 target." 350 refers to the level in parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that top climate scientists such as NASA's James Hansen agree to be a safe upper limit in order to avoid a climate tipping point.

Background

Pachauri was born in Nainital, India. He was educated at La Martiniere College in Lucknow and at the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in Jamalpur, Bihar.

He began his career with the Diesel Locomotive Works in Varanasi.

Pachauri was awarded an MS degree in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, in 1972, as well as a joint Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Economics in 1974.

He served as Assistant Professor (August 1974 - May 1975) and Visiting Faculty Member (Summer 1976 and 1977) in the Department of Economics and Business at NC State.

On his return to India, he joined the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, as Member Senior Faculty (June 1975 - June 1979) and went on to become Director, Consulting and Applied Research Division (July 1979-March 1981). He joined TERI as Director in April 1981.

HEC Paris appointed Pachauri Professor Honoris Causa in October 2009. He is a strict vegetarian, partly due to his beliefs as a Hindu, and partly because of the impact of meat-production on the environment.

Career

Pachauri was on the Board of Directors of the Indian Oil Corporation (January 1999 to September 2003); Board of Directors of GAIL (India) Ltd. (April 2003 to October 2004); National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (August 2002 to August 2005); the Board of Governors, Shriram Scientific and Industrial Research Foundation (September 1987); the Executive Committee of the India International Centre, New Delhi (1985 onwards); the Governing Council of the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi (October 1987 onwards); and the Court of Governors, Administrative Staff College of India (1979-81).

On 14 July 2008, Pachauri received the title UNIDO Goodwill Ambassador.

Pachauri has been awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan by the Indian government and ‘Officer of the Legion of Honour’ by the French government.

Work with the IPCC

On 20 April 2002, Pachauri was elected Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations panel established by the WMO and UNEP to assess information relevant for understanding climate change.

2007 Nobel Peace Prize

File:Nobel Peace Prize winners Gore & Pachauri in Grand Hotel, Norway 2-2.jpg

Pachauri and Al Gore on balcony of Grand Hotel, Oslo.

The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore,who had earlier criticised Pachauri when he was first elected in 2002. In its press release, the Nobel Prize Committee said:

"...the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 is to be shared, in two equal parts, between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr. for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

On 11 December 2007, Pachauri (representing the recipient IPCC) and co-recipient Al Gore delivered their acceptance speeches at an awards ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on a day when delegates to a United Nations climate conference were meeting in Bali, Indonesia. Pachauri began by drawing attention to his conviction that the Hindu philosophy of

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which means the whole universe is one family, must dominate global efforts to protect the global commons.

Returning to this theme throughout his speech, he pointedly reminded his audience of the words of the president of the Maldives in 1987:

"...a mean sea level rise of two meters would suffice to virtually submerge the entire country of 1,190 small islands, most of which barely rise two meters above sea level. That would be the death of a nation."

Pachauri repeatedly emphasized his concerns regarding the implications of climate change for the world's poorest nations, referring to studies that:

"...have raised the threat of dramatic population migration, conflict, and war over water and other resources, as well as a realignment of power among nations. Some also highlight the possibility of rising tensions between rich and poor nations, health problems caused particularly by water shortages and crop failures...
"One of the most significant aspects of the impacts of climate change... relates to the equity implications of changes that are occurring and are likely to occur in the future. In general, the impacts of climate change on some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in the world could prove extremely unsettling."

Awards and Recognitions

In 2009 Dr Pachauri received the 'Order of the Rising Sun - Gold and Silver Star' in recognition of his contribution to the enhancement of Japan's policy towards climate change. He was bestowed with the decoration by Emperor Akihito.
Dr Pachauri was rated fifth in the list of top 100 Global thinkers, by Foreign Policy, a US journal for "ending the debate over whether climate change matters."

Interviews

Pachauri was a keynote speaker at the 2008 Metropolis Congress in Sydney in October 2008. Pachauri addressed world mayors and industry leaders on the impact of climate change on urban development in the 21st Century.

He also delivered a lecture in January 2007 at Techfest 2008 (held at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay) in Mumbai and Kolkata regarding environmental issues and the problem of global warming via video conferencing.

He gave a keynote lecture during Convocation '09 at Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology in Gandhinagar.

Pachauri spoke at the 45th annual Nobel Conference on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009.