RK Pachauri, Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and head of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), today suggested the formation of a global union of mountain states so that they could in one voice raise their
problems on the radar screen of the international community.
Pachauri, who laid the foundation stone of the State Centre on Climate Change here today, announced that TERI would set up its regional centre in the state capital here to provide technical guidance to the state government in the area of climate change and environment protection.
Lauding the initiatives taken by Himachal in this area, he said TERI was more than happy to tie up with Himachal in setting up its regional centre here.
Pachauri said though Himachal had already shown its commitment in finding local solutions to the adverse impact of climate change, being a hill state, its fragile ecosystem was highly vulnerable. He added that it was for this very reason that all mountain states the world over must come together on one platform so that their voice was heard by the international community.
“Before several species become extinct, glaciers start melting at a rapid pace and there are floods and droughts, we need to develop an adaptation response by revamping our infrastructure,” he said. He said all this would not only impact the flaura and fauna, agriculture, horticulture but also the health of human beings.
He said it was to combat such negative effects that 830 top scientists in the world were preparing a report for the IPCC.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister PK Dhumal lamented that the most developed countries which had higher emission levels were today talking of climate change and global warming. “Since their contribution is the highest, these are the ones which should contribute towards research and development to mitigate the climate change impact,” he said.
Dhumal said land had already been identified for the setting up of a regional centre of TERI so that there could be collaboration in areas like climate change, energy efficiency, agriculture, horticulture, bio-technology and modelling sustainable development. “Hill states will be the worst sufferers of climate change; so we need to take all possible steps to lessen its impact,” he said.
He said there was need for exploring the possibility of harnessing wind and solar energy as clean energy resources. Additional Chief Secretary (Forest and Environment) Sudipto Roy spoke about the various initiatives taken by Himachal in reducing its carbon footprint and moving towards becoming the first carbon-neutral state in the country.
