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| Born | (1940-08-20)August 20, 1940 Nainital, Uttarakhand, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation(s) | Chief, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
Rajendra Kumar Pachauri (born August 20, 1940, Nainital, India) is an economist who has served as the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002. Pachauri is also the director general of the The Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi, an institution devoted to researching and promoting sustainable development and the chancellor of TERI University.
To honor his contributions to the environment, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in January 2001. On December 10, 2007, Dr. Pachauri accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, along with co-recipient Al Gore.
Education
Pachauri 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, where he held several managerial positions. Pachauri joined the North Carolina State University, Raleigh, where he obtained an MS in Industrial Engineering in 1972, a PhD in Industrial Engineering and a PhD in Economics, and also served as Assistant Professor (August 1974 -- May 1975) and Visiting Faculty Member (Summer 1976 and 1977) in the Department of Economics and Business.
Biography
Pachauri has been associated with many academic and research institutes. He 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). In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, headed by Dr. Pachauri was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with prominent environmental activist and Former US Vice President Al Gore.
On 14th of July 2008, he received the title UNIDO Goodwill Ambassador.
In appreciation of his work, Dr. Pachauri has been awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan by the Indian government & the ‘Officer of the Legion of Honour’ by the French government. 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.
Work with the IPCC
On April 20th, 2002, Pachauri was elected the 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
Photo: Herman Ferre
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 December 11, 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."
Interviews
Pachauri was a key note speaker at the 2008 Metropolis Congress in Sydney 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.
References
- "Dr. R.K. Pachauri". Retrieved 2008-07-26.
- R. K. Pachauri biography on I love India website
- www.kyotoplus.org
- ^ Nobel Peace Prize Laureates 2007
- "UN climate panel head formed global consensus", Reuters profile, October 12, 2007
- "Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Elects Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri as its Chairman" (PDF). IPCC. 20 April 2002. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
- Pachauri buries Gore feud after Nobel - Reuters Oct 12, 2007
- "Gore Accepts Nobel Prize With Call for Bold Action", Mary Jordan, Washington Post, p. A14, December 11, 2007.
- ^ Transcript of Nobel Prize speech from Democracy Now! website.
External links
- Official website
- Dr R K Pachauri's - Blog
- Biography
- Biography
- Nobel Prize acceptance speech Video, audio, and print transcript from Democracy Now!.
- Lord Browne interviews Dr Pachauri about climate change, Winter 2007