Experts for building consensus on climate change

All the nations across the world need to come together and build a consensus on tackling global warming which threatens to raise the average temperature of the earth by 4-6°C by the end of this century and consequently have a catastrophic effect on environment and people.

This was pointed out by experts here at the release of the State of the World Population Report-2009 by the United Nations Population Fund.

Upendra Nath Behera, principal secretary, forest and environment, Orissa government said, “The Population report for 2009 says that the earth's temperature is likely to go up by 4-6°C by the turn of the century. Both the developed and developing countries need to deliberate on ways to mitigate the impact of this on the climate”.

He pointed out that the developed countries have to take the lead in this direction as they are responsible for the bulk of the green house emissions considered to be the cause of global warming.

“India is among the lowest consumers of power, energy and steel in the world even though we have a huge population. The per capita emission of carbon-dioxide in India stands at 1.8 tonnes compared to 5.5 for China, 10.5 for Japan, 33.5 for USA and 26.9 for Canada”, Behera said.

Speaking on the occasion, Suresh C Mohanty, principal chief conservator of forests, Orissa government said, “Action on global warming has to be taken at various levels”.

Ambika P Nanda, state programme officer, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said, the issues related to green house emissions have to be debated among all the nations.

According to the State of the World Population Report-2009, the temperature of the earth's surface has risen 0.74°C in the past 100 years. Though this rise in temperature may not seem much, it has been enough to disrupt many of the ecosystems of the earth, says the report.