Former The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) chief Rajendra K Pachauri passed away on Wednesday after prolonged cardiac ailment.
He was 79.
RK Pachauri, an environmentalist and an economist, headed the UN’s Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) when it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Pachauri was the chairman of the IPCC which was set up by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environmental Programme in 1988.
His death was announced by TERI Director General Ajay Mathur.
"It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing away of R K Pachauri, the founder-director of TERI. The entire TERI family stands with the family of Dr Pachauri in this hour of grief," Mathur said in a statement issued by the TERI.
"TERI is what it is because of Dr Pachauri's untiring perseverance. He played a pivotal role in growing this institution, and making it a premier global organisation in the sustainability space," said Mathur, who succeeded Pachauri at TERI in 2015.
Pachauri was admitted to Escorts Heart Institute in the national capital where he underwent open heart surgery and was put on life support on Tuesday, PTI reported.
TERI Chairman Nitin Desai also hailed Pachauri's contribution to global sustainable development as "unparalleled."
In 2015, Pachauri was accused of sexual harassment by a colleague following which he went on leave from TERI and quit the IPCC.
Incidentally, the FIR was lodged against him exactly five years ago. An FIR was registered against Pachauri on February 13, 2015 and he was granted anticipatory bail in the case on March 21, 2015.
Charges were framed against him in 2018 and Pachauri had pleaded not guilty.
Over 1,400-page chargesheet was filed by the Delhi Police on March 1, 2016, saying there was "sufficient evidence" against Pachauri that he had sexually harassed, stalked and threatened the complainant.
A supplementary charge sheet was filed in March 2017 after the police said it had retrieved several deleted e-mails and chats exchanged between the accused and the complainant.
The final report had said the deleted WhatsApp chats, text messages, retrieved from the cell phones, computer hard disks and other devices, were "not fabricated".
The charge sheet, which was filed a year after the former research analyst of TERI lodged the complaint, had said Pachauri had committed offences under various sections of IPC. Pachauri has denied all the allegations against him.
