Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri, an Indian born scientist who leads the United Nations Intergovernmental panel shares the 2007 Noble Prize for peace with Al Gore on Climate Change for its work to alert the world to the threat of global warming.

Mr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri was elected Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2002. The IPCC, established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is the leading body for the scientific assessment of climate change.

Mr. Pachauri has been the head of TERI, The Energy and Resources Institute, since its establishment in New Delhi 25 years ago.

Mr. Pachauri was born in Nainital, India, on 20 August 1940. He completed his studies in the North Carolina State University in Raleigh, USA, where he obtained an MSc in industrial engineering in 1972, a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and a Ph.D. in economics.

He taught at various universities in India and the USA, including at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, in 2000. He was Research Fellow at The World Bank, Washington, DC in 1990.

In acknowledgement of his environmental contributions, Pachauri was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001 — one of India’s highest civilian awards that recognizes distinguished service to the nation.

He is a strict vegetarian, partly due to his beliefs as a Hindu and the impact of the meat-production to the climate.

He was adviser to the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the fields of energy and sustainable management of natural resources from 1994 till 1999.

Published on 12 Oct 2007 | Environment| Technology

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