He was addressing a gathering as part of an event to celebrate the second anniversary of the Bangalore International Centre, here on on Wednesday.
“A major re-shaping of policies is required... those who are in a position to influence thinking must articulate the vision to change,” he said.
Calling upon developed countries to look beyond setting benchmarks for the others in terms of owning big cars and SUVs, he said these countries should also set examples in minimised per capita consumption and green house gas emission.
Countries contribute
Dr Pachauri said prosperous countries were often found responsible for the changing global climate, while the impact was harder on less-developed countries.
He also linked similar social disparities to possibilities of stress and conflict. Dr Pachauri said the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the IPCC reflected that climate change posed a threat to global peace. Quoting from the IPCC’s fourth assessment report, Dr Pachauri said the rise in air and ocean temperatures, coupled with the melting glaciers, posed serious threats to island states and regions along the coast. “If there’s a breakdown of Greenland or the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the threat will be bigger,” he pointed out.
Dr Pachauri traced short bursts of heavy rains — similar to the one that inundated Mumbai in 2005 — to changing climate patterns.
He also cautioned that Asian megadeltas including the cities of Kolkata and Dhaka were extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise. Speaking on Bangalore’s “vitality”, he said the City’s stakeholders had to get their act together and make the development sustainable.
On the Tatas’ Rs one-lakh car, he wondered why the Tatas were not pumping in the same resources on a public transport system. He said while people’s aspirations to own a car were valid, the creation of effective public transport systems was of critical importance.
WAYS AHEAD
* Change in cropping patterns
*Decrease in green house gas emission
* Revamped drainage infrastructure in cities
* Efficient use of water, hydropower projects
*Fiscal incentives to fuel-efficient automobiles
