Kerala to host global meet on climate change, disaster management

More than 450 scientists and policymakers from around the world will discuss ways and means to tackle climate change and disaster management at a conference to be held here from Feb 26-28, 2015, it was announced here Wednesday.

The Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) will host the International Conference on Climate Change and Disaster Management, organised in association with the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL).

The highlight of the event would be the participation of 250 experts from international space agencies including NASA, NOAA, GMES and Eumetsat.

"Knowledge sharing between countries with advanced resources and emerging economies will be the key theme for the meet," said Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) former chairman G. Madhavan Nair told reporters here.

"Space systems have contributed significantly to the understanding of climate change and its causes. A deeper technical understanding of climate change is a crucial scientific and social issue because it allows decision makers to place climate change in the context of other large challenges facing their nations and the world," he added.

The latest advancements and the future of earth science systems and data distribution network, climate change data protocols and data base creation and climate analysis and modelling will be among the topics taken up.

The sessions, however, will not be limited to the technical aspects, but will examine the issues from a policy and legal perspective as well, said KSCSTE executive vice president V.N.Rajasekharan Pillai.