CLIMATE CHANGE S&T
MEET APPROVES SETTING UP OF REGIONAL CENTRE IN INDIA
The just concluded
international conference on "Science and Technology capacity building
to study Climate Change" has unanimously approved the setting
up of a Regional Centre in India for the same. This is stated
in a communiqué issued at the end of the inter-ministerial
panel chaired by the Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Murli
Manohar Joshi. The three-day conference held here, considering
the importance of the tropics and India’s existing abilities/facilities
felt that it would be in the interest of all nations in the region,
to have a regional centre for such capacity building to analyse
climate change related issues, for the region as a whole. Such
a centre has to be an institution of excellence in the region
and sufficiently networked to make an impact on policy process,
the communiqué said.
Having been accepted
at this meeting, the Indian proposal will now be considered by
the 8th Conference of Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-8 UNFCCC), currently
on in New Delhi. The proposed centre will not only deal with scientific
and technological aspects of capacity building to study climate
change, but also strive to suggest regionally differentiated policy
options to the decision makers. Five important partners chosen
for the capacity building mechanism are, the governments, the
industry, scientific institutions, financial institutions and
non-governmental organisations. Creation of a synergy among these
partners was underscored.
Dr. Joshi told the
plenary that since monsoon is the most important climatic phenomenon
on the Earth, originating from the Indian Ocean and global in
nature, the climatic variables prevailing over the Indian Ocean
rim countries, are particularly important for any study. Therefore,
the proposed centre will also focus on Africa in addition to the
tropical Asia. A comprehensive compilation of variety of global
data with efficient dissemination process will form the core of
the study, Dr. Joshi said.
