TAKE THE INDIC TURN

IN ORDER TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE-RELATED THREATS, SEVERAL COUNTRIES INCLUDING BHARAT HAVE ARRIVED AT THE CONSENSUS TO RESTRICT GLOBAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE RISE TO 1.5°C ABOVE PRE-INDUSTRIAL LEVELS THROUGH 'GLOBAL ZERO CARBON EMISSION' APPROACH. WE NEED TO PURSUE SAFE, JUST, EQUITABLE AND NET ZERO ECONOMIC PATHWAYS IN MEETING THIS GOAL

- PROF RAGHAVENDRA P TIWARI

On the International Mother Earth Day on April 22, 2022, the Secretary General of United Nations expressed concern that “Today, the Earth is facing a triple planetary crisis- climate disruption, nature and biodiversity loss and pollution and waste”. He further stated that “how badly humanity has been treating our planet and how we have been poor custodians of our planet”. Further, the United Nations proclaimed May 22 as ‘The International Day for Biological Diversity’ (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. The focal theme of IDB-2022 is ‘Building a shared future for all life’. The net result of our poor custodianship is the temperature rise and climate change that leads to irreversible impact on rainfall pattern and is a cause for glacier-melt, sea-level rise, extreme weather-driven catastrophes, fatal health effects on all biotic and abiotic entities resulting into loss of biodiversity and habitable zones. Besides, rivers and other water bodies are becoming unsuitable to support life and health of soil and air has deteriorated to irreversible extent. Imbalance in the delicate relationship existing between climate and weather is responsible for temperature rise and frequent weather extremes and natural disasters. As a threat multiplier, climate change poses a direct risk to human survival, especially to the most vulnerable communities of the world.