Press Trust Of India
Nairobi/New Delhi, Feb 24: Buffeted by allegations of sexual harassment, RK Pachauri Tuesday quit as chairman of UN’s prestigious Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose meeting he was prevented from attending.
TERI, the NGO he heads in India, also announced that Pachauri has proceeded on leave “for the time being” but disclosed no reasons for doing so. Without citing any reason, including the fact that he is facing a complaint from a woman staffer filed with the Delhi Police, Pachauri wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that he has decided to step down from the chair of IPCC, which he has headed for 13 years, “some months” before completion of the term.
“The IPCC needs strong leadership and dedication of time and full attention by the chair in the immediate future, which under the current circumstances I may be unable to provide, as shown by my inability to travel to Nairobi to chair the plenary session of the panel this week.
“I have, therefore, taken the decision to step down from my position as chair of the IPCC some months before completion of my term, and with effect from February 24, 2015,” he said in the letter to Ban.
74-year-old Pachauri, who shared Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with former US Vice President Al Gore for work on climate issues, heads TERI, where a woman employee has filed a complaint with the police leveling allegations of sexual harassment.
Another woman colleague targets Pachauri P-9
