Address climate change at individual level: Telangana Chief

Action to address climate change begins at an individual level and all citizens can contribute in mitigating its impact, Telangana Chief Secretary SK Joshi said here today.

"Climate change is one thing where you should not depend on anyone. All of us have to face ourselves and we are responsible for our own actions. I would say state action plan or national action plan is just the beginning. It should be the individual household action plan," he said.

He was speaking at an event on 'climate change and sustainable development'.

The individual action begins with consumption patterns being sustainable and how activities in daily life are conducted, he said.

Citizens should be responsible in their own actions as individual activities leave a carbon footprint, Joshi said.

Madhav Gadgil, a professor, had written a report about the Western Ghats in 1991 on the development process being followed, he said.

"27 years, his 'Bhavishya Vani' has come true (an apparent reference to Kerala floods). So, the idea is let's do whatever could be done by ourselves and all of us are responsible individually and collectively," he said.

The state government looks forward to the recommendations coming from the event, he said.

Environment Protection Training and Research Institute-Hyderabad Director General B Kalyan Chakravarthy said the institute has prepared a state action plan on climate change.

The state action plan on climate change identifies how the government departments can align themselves to ensure environment-friendly actions like releasing less carbon dioxide and consuming less water.

Chakravarthy said the state action plan on climate change should come down to the district level.

EPTRI is an independent registered society set up by the state government in 1992 with assistance from the Centre.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Director General Ajay Mathur said agricultural practises should be such that less quantity of fertilisers are used and water is also conserved.

Research should be undertaken on which crop should be taken up in the next season based on what will be the rainfall and temperature for that season, he said.