BENGALURU: With increasing temperatures and unusual weather patterns, the government should come up with a ‘Bangalore Declaration’ on climate change, followed with committed implementation of the action plan, urged experts at the Climate Leadership Summit held here on Tuesday. Organised by the Centre for Sustainable Development, an organisation led by former chief secretary Dr A Ravindra, the summit discussed various aspects of climate change and its impact on Karnataka in general and Bengaluru in particular.
Prof NH Ravindranath, expert from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and former head of Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), opined that though Karnataka has a Climate Action Cell at the state and BBMP level separately, these lack basic infrastructure and proper funding.
‘Govt should be serious’
“The government should be serious about the impact of climate change. Temperatures are soaring and Bengaluru is combating untimely rain, followed by floods. Similarly going with the present trend, the temperature in northern and central Karnataka is going to increase by 2-2.5 degrees Celsius within the next 10 years,” he said, warning that if not acted upon as an emergency, “we are surely going to lose the battle against climate change”.
BBMP Special Commissioner (Forest, Environment and Climate Change) Preeti Gehlot, who heads Climate Action Cell, lamented about the lack of public participation in the initiative. “On the one hand, the cell lacks basic infrastructure, while on the other, people who question the actions are away from active participation,” she said.
BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasath Manohar batted for active participation of the intermediate agencies in government projects to tackle climate change.
Former minister and state representative in New Delhi, Dr TB Jayachandra, who inaugurated the summit, said, “Karnataka is becoming the second-most arid state after Rajasthan, due to changing weather patterns. Agriculture, particularly in northern Karnataka, is hit by inconsistent rainfall. Climate change poses a serious threat to food security and health. There should be a committed approach to tackle the issue.”
The summit advocated research to understand climate projections and impacts at the district level. Early warning systems and forecasts should be reliable and need to be developed at the micro level. Additionally, there should be dedicated funding for promoting resilience to climate risks and disasters, the summit urged.