Almost a decade after the discovery of the ozone hole in the polar region, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to have a global scientific understanding about climate change and its implications.

Set up in 1988, IPCC’s task is to assess available scientific and socio-economic information on climate change and its impacts and advises the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

From 1990, the IPCC has produced a series of assessment reports, special reports, technical papers, methodologies and other documents that have become standard works of reference and are widely used by policymakers.

Dr Rajendra K Pachauri who had worked with the diesel vehicle industry and later was trained on energy economics was selected as the IPCC chairman on April 20, 2002. He is the first Indian to head the prestigious panel.

The previous IPCC chairman includes Dr Robert Watson from Harvard University, Dr Bret Bolin from the University of Stockholm and Dr John Houghton from Oxford University.

The job cut out for the Indian economist was to come out with the IPCC’s fourth assessment report, which would provide the scientific basis for the future climate negotiation to draw up the post-Kyoto Protocol path.