Seminar on Climate Change held at Raj Bhavan

Staff Reporter, Guwahati, September 12: Assam Governor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi said that climate change is one of the greatest threats to global security which knows no borders and presents an existential challenge to the environment and human kind. Speaking at a seminar on climate change organized by Raj Bhavan, Assam here today, Governor Prof. Mukhi said that climate change and its outcome global warming have dealt a deadly blow to mankind. The recent floods in Pakistan or rainfall in Southern India were the fallouts of climate change. He said that the intense monsoon rains in the last few months was the impact of climate change. The Governor said that global warming, which is one of the manifestations of climate change, is causing air and sea temperatures to rise, leading to more evaporation. Warmer air can hold more moisture, making monsoon rainfall more intense. The recent flood ravaged picture in Haflong and Silchar meant that Assam also started receiving the brunt of climate change. He also said that climate change can also cause droughts which can be more frequent and severe. Climate change is making the weather system more unpredictable and severe. Prof. Mukhi said that a part of the climate change problem is man- made. Since human beings use a lot of fossil fuels like petrol or coal, they release a lot of Carbon Dioxide which is primarily a greenhouse gas. The increase in Carbon Dioxide level in the atmosphere is the leading cause of global warming. As the earth warms, the glaciers in the poles start melting, rising the sea level. The rise in water threatens to change the geography of the earth. Many coastal cities are expected to be underwater in the next century, the Governor added. The Governor also said that since the very beginning, India has been a supporter of science based understanding of climate change and rational approaches to resolve it. This country is supporting and contributing to the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (iPCC). Recently, India for the first time came out of its own climate change assessment. The country’s approach to combat climate change has been through adaptation and mitigation. Policies like National Solar Mission are aimed to reduce dependence on coal powered plants and thus reduce carbon footprint.

In fact, India is one of the few countries on track with the Paris Agreement to reduce carbon footprint by 33-35% by 2030. In fact, the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is advocating a policy called Panchamrit that is five key commitments to deal with the challenge of climate change. Right from reducing the country’s carbon emissions to increasing India’s reliance on renewable energy, India has been working to deal with the threats precipitating from climate change. The Governor also said that of late the State government’s policy on solar power and its investment on solar projects are the testimonies of the State government’s seriousness of beating the climate change and global warming. The resource persons of the seminar were Additional Chief Secretary Environment and Forest Dept. Govt.of Assam, Ravi Shankar Prasad, former Head of Civil Engineering Department, IIT Guwahati Prof. Arup Kumar Sarma, Distinguished Fellow in the Centre for Global Environmental Research in TERI R.R Rashmi, Professor of Ecological Economics from Department of Humanities and Social sciences, IIT Guwahati Dr. Anamika Barua who extensively deliberated on the ways and means and also a broad strategy to empower Assam to contribute to India’s efforts to deal with climate change. The seminar was attended by higher officials of Raj Bhavan and various departments, faculty members, research scholars, post graduate students from universities and media personnel.