Javadekar calls for disseminating information on climate change

The govt released an extra fund of Rs 100 cr for climate adaptation in this year's budget

Minister of State for Environment (Independent Charge) Prakash Javadekar, on Monday said that people of the country should be informed about climate change as they were good in acclimatising with the weather.

While addressing a workshop here on 'scaling-up good practices for climate change adaptation', Javadekar said, "Our people are so good; we are so good in adaptation. What is needed is information, knowledge, scientific dissemination of information and hands on experience. If that is conveyed, everybody is ready to adapt."

Javadekar said that in a bid to increase people's participation to deal with the problem, the government released an extra fund of Rs. 100 crores for climate adaptation in the budget.

"The government is ready to deal with the problem of climate change and that is why climate change has been added to our ministry. The governent has announced adding of a fund of Rs. 100 crores for climate adaptation in the budget. Planning has been done and soon it will be put before the prime minister and we will also start working on it soon," he added.

India's high vulnerability and exposure to climate change will slow its economic growth, impact health and development, make poverty reduction more difficult and erode food security, a new report by scientists said in March this year.

The latest report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stresses the risks of global warming and tries to make a stronger case for governments to adopt policy on adaptation and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Experts say India is likely to be hit hard by global warming. It is already one of the most disaster-prone nations in the world and many of its 1.2 billion people live in areas vulnerable to hazards such as floods, cyclones and droughts.

Freak weather patterns will not only affect agricultural output and food security, but will also lead to water shortages and trigger outbreaks of water and mosquito-borne diseases such as diarrhea and malaria in many developing nations.