United Nations’ top climate change czar Dr Rajendra Pachauri has been accused of making a “fortune” from his links with ''carbon trading'' companies dependent on the world body’s policy recommendations.

In a special report, The Sunday Telegraph said that “although Dr Pachauri is often presented as a scientist, as a former railway engineer with a PhD in economics, he has no qualifications in climate science.

“What has also almost entirely escaped attention, however, is how Pachauri has established a worldwide portfolio of business interests with bodies that have been investing billions of dollars in organisations dependent on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s policy recommendations.

“These include banks, oil and energy companies and investment funds heavily involved in ‘carbon trading’ and ‘sustainable technologies’ which together make up the fastest-growing commodity market in the world estimated soon to be worth trillions of dollars a year.”

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The report said, “today, in addition to his role as chairman of the IPCC, Dr Pachauri occupies more than a score of such posts, acting as director or adviser to many of the bodies that play a leading role in what has become known as the climate industry.”

The newspaper, however, did not carry any reaction of Pachauri on its report. The report claimed that the potential conflict of interest was first publicly raised on last Tuesday when, after giving a lecture at Copenhagen University, he was handed over a letter by two eminent climate sceptics.