Everyone should act in combating global warming: Union minister Shekhawat

Union Culture and Tourism minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday said every human being should not act as the "owner" of this planet but act as its "custodian".

After inaugurating a climate change gallery titled 'On the Edge' at Science City, Kolkata, Shekhawat said climate change has turned up to be a big issue for the entire world and every citizen as a stakeholder should play his role, not only whistleblower scientists.

He said the time has come when one should stop presuming that issues like carbon emission, rise in sea level, extreme weather conditions will not affect him individually in his lifetime but are merely academic issues flagged by scientists and reports in media.

"We have to behave with responsibility. Climate change is a big issue for the entire world, when discussion about the greenhouse effect and global warming began 25 years back, many might have thought its effect will be in specific areas.

"That notion was belied. Those living in cold regions should no more think global warming will only affect tropical hot places. People living in non-coastal regions should not think rise in sea levels will only impact those residing near the sea. Such notion is not true as the extreme weather patterns we have witnessed in recent times proved climate change is affecting the entire community," he said.

"We are custodians not owners of this earth and everyone of us has to play an important role. We have to behave with responsibility," he said.

Shekhawat said every conscious citizen should listen to the advice of scientific community, who are flagging the issue through their forecasts and analysis in public forum, in videos and publications and conferences repeatedly. Every citizen must adopt several measures like curbing the use of mobile phones, which emit carbon in the air, switching off electrical appliances when not in use to check carbon footprints.

He said to increase green cover, the Centre has planted 80 crore trees as trees play a significant role in containing carbon emissions and called upon everyone to plant saplings.

The minister said as the greenhouse effect also disrupts the crop pattern, "the Union Agriculture ministry has laid emphasis on growing indigenous variety rice which is climate resistant," so that there is no scarcity of the supply food chain.

About the first state-of-the-art gallery on climate change titled 'On the Edge', the minister said the meticulously organized exhibition provides an in-depth interactive exploration of key issues of climate crisis, presenting insights and providing actionable solutions to engage and educate visitors.

He said the exhibition on climate change will also be hosted in four regional science centres to reach out to a higher number of people to make them aware about the issue.

"The Science City authorities here have launched a curated tour for people apprising them about climate change perils and our aim is to reach out to the maximum number of people - ideally every student, every youth, every citizen," he said.

One would also be able to visit the exhibition virtually in future, he said.

Spread over 10,000 square feet across two floors, this gallery offers an immersive experience that blends cutting-edge technology to highlight the need of the hour for collective action.

The exhibition is organized into three sections: Impact of Climate Change, Why is the Climate Changing? and Mitigation and Adaptation.

Interactive 3D panels and models on 'storm surge', corals losing lustre, cyclones like Amphan affecting Sundarbans, surging seas, glacial lake outburst flooding, the arctic adventure, melting ice: altering lives, the carbon emitters' - are housed in the two floors of the gallery.

The union minister suggested the Science City authorities make the visitors to the museum take a pledge on camera to do their bit in saving the planet while leaving the exhibition which will be sent to his/her mobile number to remind him of his duty as a citizen of this world.

The authorities responded they have already put in place such a mechanism where a visitor can scan the QR code in the last panel of the gallery, download his details and record his statement.