Seminar on 'Climate, Carbon and Copenhagen'

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by Haryanawirenews (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, FEB 17
Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh will face serious challenges due to climate changes including scarcity of water and power, said Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, a distinguished fellow of TERI, New Delhi, and member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change.
Addressing a seminar on “Climate, Carbon, and Copenhagen” organised by Society for Promotion of Science & Technology in India (SPSTI) at Panjab University here today, he said, that PHC region will face problems of freshwater in November to June, as well as increased pressure on electricity demand due to high temperature in summer, which could also mean a possible increase in incidences of malaria, dengue, etc.
Dr Ghosh suggested strict enforcement of Building Energy Code and environmental regulation guidelines for new structures, retrofitting existing buildings for energy efficiency and water conservation, mandatory water harvesting in all apartment blocks (new and existing) and Government/Corporate/Large” buildings, and promotion of energy service companies (ESCOs) to enable energy efficiency/water conservation measures to earn carbon credits.
Referring to the failure of Copenhagen summit, he lamented that none of the participating countries were serious about climate change, which were, in fact, indulging in economic negotiations and future trade patterns.
Inaugurating the seminar Mr Subodh Aggarwal, chief secretary, Government of Punjab, reiterated the need to take proactive steps to combat global warming.
Dr. G. Prasanna Kumar, Principal Secretary, Environment, Government of Haryana, in his presidential remarks said that our generation has already done great damage to the environment and we must take measures to reduce energy consumption and look for alternative sources of sustainable livelihood now.
Dr. Ashok Sahni, Fellow TWAS and Professor Emeritus and a senior scientist, however was more optimistic about the changing global climate as a consistent phenomenon, but affirmed that water being in limited supply on the planet needs to be conserved.
Shri Ashwagosha Ganju, Director, Snow & Avalanche Studies Establishment, said that the situation of water shortage in Himalayan region is turning grave and the efforts are on to improve the situation through measures like snow harvesting.
President of SPSTI and former Chief Secretary, Haryana, Mr. Dharam Vir said that society will work for promotion of science education at school level from class I onwards with sharp focus on learning through experiments and exploration, establishment of mobile labs and awareness programmes of considerable importance.
Mr. Dharam Vir said that society would launch science education programmes for schools and was in the process of short listing 25 schools for this purpose. He informed that after successful trial, more schools would come forward. Besides this, the society would also work with state governments, various organizations and institutions to bring desirable changes in science education policies and practices. He stressed that climate change was the greatest catastrophe that the world was facing today.
He informed that the Society’s mission was to encourage creative thinking amongst youth and inculcate scientific temper amongst them through experiential workshops in schools and colleges. He said that the increase in temperatures since the middle of the last century was caused by increasing concentration of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity mainly burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. The global surface temperature was likely to rise further during the 21st century.
Prof. Keya Dharam Vir, General Secretary, SPSTI and other distinguished guests were also present on this occasion.