(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[Nobel Prize] 10. In December, award-winning researcher Rajendra K. Pachauri comes to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the UN Climate Panel, the association of over 2500 scientists from 130 countries that he has led over the past five years.
12. In October, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that former US Vice President Al Gore shares this year's Nobel Peace Prize with the UN Climate Panel on Climate Change. It was the climate report's fourth report, released in February this year, that opened the world to the serious climate challenges.
While Norwegian media has been preoccupied with Al Gore, Indian newspapers have given priority to New Delhi-based Pachauri last week. He is internationally recognized for having the Climate Panel speak more clearly and for communicating the findings to the world public.
But Norway did not want him to take over as head of the climate panel in 2002, despite the fact that India and a number of countries in Asia and Africa proposed and supported his candidacy. During the vote in Geneva in April 2002, Norway, along with a host of European countries, voted instead for American Robert Watson to continue as leader.
But Pachauri won the international vote clearly, with 76 against 49 votes. Norway had no objection to Pachauri at that time. For example, climate scientist Andreas Tjernshaugen at Cicero stated to Research: “Pachauri is a researcher with whom we have had a lot of contact. We have a good impression of him, and we have no objection to him sitting in the chair of the climate panel. "
Nevertheless, Norway voted against the Indian candidate and for the European: American Watson.
- Many would probably rather have an American climate panel leader in order to exert greater pressure on the US government. It was thought that someone from India would not have as great an influence on the Americans, says Tjernshaugen to Ny Tid today.
The 2002 referendum on the UN Climate Panel leader became so much a referendum on US domestic policy. US President George W. Bush had gone out and supported Pachauri. At the same time, the environmental organizations pointed out that the oil company Exxon / Mobile was against Watson continuing as leader. On the other hand, Pachauri's supporters in developing countries pointed out that he could demand from India with far greater credibility that the United States and Europe, as the world's worst polluters, should do something about their sharply increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The argument was that a representative from developing countries, and those hardest hit by climate change, could more easily create credibility around the urgency.
Norway's chief negotiator in 2002 was Harald Dovland. He is now in the analysis company Econ, and does not regret that Norway went against the developing countries' candidate, who has now led the UN climate panel to a Nobel Prize.
- No, I have not reflected that we should have voted differently then. We were barely in the aspect of Pachauri coming from India, but instead emphasized that Watson had done a good job. And we reacted strongly to the way Bush treated Watson, it's some of the worst I've seen, Dovland says today.
- What do you think about Pachauri's work since 2002?
- He has done a brilliant job, he has grown with the task. Fortunately, it ended happily, Dovland answers.