Agencies
Oslo
Six candidates are vying to become head of the U.N.'s top authority on climate change science this week, seeking to narrow down uncertainties about future warming to guide a trillion-dollar shift to greener energies.
Governments have to pick a successor to Rajendra Pachauri of India, who quit the Nobel Peace Prize winning panel in February, after 13 years, when a female researcher in India accused him of sexual harassment, an allegation he denies.
The outcome of the vote is hard to predict, especially after Sierra Leone's Ogunlade Davidson, a former IPCC vice-chair, joined the race in recent weeks, scientists and officials said.
He could be well placed, if developing countries back him in the one-nation, one-vote election. "He's thrown a wild card into the race," one scientist said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the vote.
Rivals include Chris Field of Stanford University and expert in the impacts of warming, who would be an eloquent advocate of climate science for Americans if a Republican who doubts that warming is man-made succeeds President Barack Obama.
