Pachauri Addressed Students On Climate Change
Rajendra K. Pachauri, Honorary Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, addressing students on climate change via video-conferencing at PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore on Thursday. The worst affected victims of climate change are developing countries, though those who are responsible for high levels of green house gas emissions are the developed ones. The United States is the largest consumer of energy, Rajendra K. Pachauri, Honorary Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said here on Thursday.
Speaking on climate change at The Young Leaders Global Conclave with the theme “Be the Change” at PSG College of Technology, Mr. Pachauri said the developed countries were not suffering from the impact of climate change because they had taken protective measures. “We, as a developing country, have to ensure that we withstand the problem by using energy much more efficiently. We are putting a great deal of pressure on our eco-system. We have to change our value system to revive the natural resources that are depleting,” he said.
Mr. Pachauri appealed to the students to bring about a shift in lifestyle to protect the Earth. “Be the change and start the change from within the college campus. Launch a project to measure carbon dioxide emissions in the campus and then work towards substantial reduction of the same,” he said. Listing the ill-effects of climate change, he said it was heartening to note that a large number of world leaders were convinced that something should be done about climate change.
He cautioned on one of the worst effects of climate change – water availability. Taking the instance of Africa, Mr. Pachauri said that by 2020 there would be a 50 per cent decline in agricultural yield because of scarcity of water there. Touching upon the threat of rising sea level, he said nearly 500 million people in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal and 250 million people in China would be affected by this phenomenon. He exhorted the students to use water efficiently. “Availability of water in the future is going to be a serious problem. The manner in which we use water has to change drastically,” he asserted.
