EWC Alumnus Leads Nobel Peace Prize Winning Organization

HONOLULU (Oct 22) – The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on October 12 to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chaired by East-West Center Alumnus Dr. Rajendra Pachauri. This award, jointly shared with former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, was “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,” according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Pachauri, originally from Nainital, India, served as a Visiting Senior Fellow with the East-West Center’s (EWC) Resource Systems Institute in 1982 and received EWC participant awards (1981-83) for his contribution to the APESC IV and A/P Energy Studies Consultative Group meetings. Pachauri's initial interaction with the EWC was in his role as Director of the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI), when he co-sponsored several reports and workshops that were a part of the program on "The Environmental Dimensions of Energy Policies" coordinated by EWC Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Toufiq Siddiqi. He also participated in the major EWC Workshop on Climate Change in 1989, and conducted an EWC field study with the APO-RSI Seminar on Energy Sector Performance in 1987.

Siddiqi commented, “During his 5-year tenure as Chair of IPCC, Dr. Pachauri has done a remarkable job of mobilizing the global scientific community, and bringing to the world's attention to the fact that there is enormous scientific consensus that human activities are contributing substantially to global climate change.” The IPCC reports identify the expected impacts on the world, and the steps that can be taken to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, and eventually lead to a more stable climate.

The IPCC will release its much anticipated Fourth Assessment Report "Climate Change 2007” (AR4) in November 2007. This report is the culmination of six years of work involving more than 3,750 experts from over 130 countries.  
 
Background:
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. The role of the IPCC is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, and transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. It bases its assessment primarily on peer-reviewed and published scientific literature.  The authors of IPCC reports all participate as unpaid volunteers.

The EAST-WEST CENTER is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations, and the governments of the region.

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