Chennai, September 10: Worldwide climatic changes are more likely to affect India than other nations and it was high time the issue was seriously addressed, British High Commissioner to India Richard Stagg said here on Wednesday.
The changes in temperature and sea level would have “disastrous consequences”, especially in Chennai, which has one of the longest coastal areas, he said at an interaction on global warming, organised by the Chennai Corporation.
Stating that India could contribute in a big way to fight global warming, Richard said his country, in cooperation with other nations, would come out with a comprehensive strategy to address climate change at the UN meeting at Copenhagen in December this year.
Fergus Auld, First Secretary, Climate Change, UK, said Chennai is among 52 cities across South Asia to be “mapped” as part of British High commission supported ICLEI project to understand city-level energy consumption patterns, emission trends and help build capacity of city stakeholders like businesses, academia, research, local government and civil society to jointly develop a ‘low carbon’ action plan.
“We will be selecting representatives from each city, who will take part in the convention at Copenhagen to discuss regional and international issues around climate change”, he said.
Fergus Auld pointed out that cities around the world have been in the forefront in recent years in tackling climate change by linking with each other, “reinforcing bilateral collaboration at the national level”.
“The cities of London and Delhi are collaborating on sustainable cities and shared learning on development in South Rajkot and Leicester,” he said.
“It is also important to recognise that moving to a low carbon growth pathway is not in India’s interest just because of benefits for sustainable development and energy security, but it also provides economic opportunity”, he said.
Pointing out that Tamil Nadu and other southern states have successfully fostered growth in IT and renewable energy sectors, he said there is a huge opportunity for Indian business to meet burgeoning global demand for renewable energy and also the smart grids required to deliver this efficiently.
He said developing countries should also look at other issues like solid waste management, using energy more efficiently so that water supply meets the demand.
—-Agencies