The circumstances under which the Indian energy economist Rajendra Pachauri won the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are not auspicious. As soon as he was elected, Pachauri was denounced in The New York Times by former US vice-president Al Gore as “the 'let's drag our feet' candidate”. For the new head of the body that is supposed to advise the world's governments on the complexities of global warming, things can only get better.

Previously, consensus had emerged on the IPCC's leadership. But an orchestrated campaign by the US administration and the fossil-fuel lobby forced the vote on 19 April in which Pachauri defeated the incumbent, atmospheric scientist Robert Watson, by 76 votes to 49.

Climate researchers appreciated the way in which Watson defended their findings from politically motivated attacks during his tenure. Many will now be wary of Pachauri, who appears to have tarnished his reputation by collaborating with those whose objective was to ditch Watson.

But Pachauri has the credentials to make a go of his main role, which is to build confidence in the impartiality of the IPCC's advice. His expertise in energy policy and economic development is central to the panel's mission, and his involvement with the oil industry — he is a director of the Indian Oil Corporation — may help to establish more credibility with business interests. And after two leaders from rich nations (Watson's predecessor, meteorologist Bert Bolin, was Swedish) it is good for the IPCC to be run by someone from a developing country.

Pachauri will have to establish his credibility with scientists quickly, however. Researchers give their time to the panel for free, and they need to feel that the chair will back them up. Pachauri must reassure the IPCC's rank and file that he will fend off any attempts to bully the panel into watering down its findings.

He should also be thinking about negotiations on greenhouse-gas emission targets under the Kyoto Protocol from 2013. Talks begin in 2005, two years before the IPCC's next assessment is due. An interim report from the IPCC would inform the negotiations about the latest science. Such a document can only be requested by the panel's member states, but Pachauri should make it clear that his teams are ready and willing to provide it.