“Going by the present trend, temperature in northern and central Karnataka is going to increase by 2°C to 2.5°C within the next 10 years. If not acted as an emergency, we are surely going to lose the battle against climate change,” said N.H. Ravindranath, expert, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and former head of Centre for Sustainable Technologies, IISc.
He was speaking at the Climate Leadership Summit organised by the Centre for Sustainable Development in the city on Tuesday.
At the summit, experts discussed various aspects of climate change and its impact on Karnataka in general and Bengaluru in particular. Experts participating in the summit batted for a Bengaluru declaration on climate change to address increasing temperature and the unusual weather pattern. They urged the government to come up with the Bengaluru declaration on climate change followed by a committed implementation of the action plan.
Mr. Ravindranath said that though Karnataka has climate action cells at the State and BBMP-level separately, these lack basic infrastructure and proper funding. He said that the government should be serious on the impact climate change brings.
The summit advocated research to understand climate projections and impacts at the district level. “Early warning systems and forecasts should be reliable and need to be developed at the micro level. The government should encourage the participatory engagement of all stakeholders. Additionally, there should be dedicated funding for promoting resilience to climate risks and disasters” were some of the points discussed at the summit.
Published – November 26, 2024 07:59 pm IST
