New Delhi: Climate change is not an issue confined to those who are seen as emitters, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Leena Nandan said during a panel discussion at the India Pavilion at COP 27.
This discussion session was hosted by the Department of Science and Technology on the topic ‘Technology Needs Assessment for Sustainable Life’ to identify the technological needs and their assessment for their adoption for the sustainable well-being of global citizens. “What India and the world need today is technology. Climate change is not an issue confined to those who are seen as emitters. There is now a realization and larger and uniform understanding that Climate change cannot be wished away. It is knocking at our door,” MoEFCC Secretary Leena Nandan said on Thursday.
She further emphasized that climate change has led to devastation in the form of several nature-based occurrences and our lifestyles need to change as a response to the challenges faced today.
In her address, she also said that the discussions need to focus on bridging the gaps between what we want to achieve and how to achieve it, adding that the process of applying science and knowledge to our activities needs to be processed.
“All the Rs– Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Restore, and Refurbish– need the T of Technology,” Nandan said while talking about the Circular Economy.
Urging the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to engage with state governments for innovative solutions, the Secretary of MoEFCC reiterated the need to work through silos and stated that technology cannot remain confined to “big players” due to their access to finance. MSMEs and startups need to be enabled to access finance to use technology optimally, she said.
“We need to add our bits in the larger picture only then as a country could we say that we have taken decisive steps to tackle Climate Change,” Nandan added.
The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its sixth Assessment Report on August 9, 2021 observed that climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying which might cross 1.5 degree Celcius threshold line by 2040 unless some serious efforts are taken by all countries.
This calls for synergistic efforts by all nations to control the demands on resources so that the imbalanced demand-supply scenario can be addressed towards sustainability appropriately.
The concept of sustainable living qualifies for meeting the current ecological, societal, and economical needs without compromising the needs of future generations. A decent life, demands 24×7 electricity, potable water, adequate Food and Nutrition, and sustainable habitat.
However, delivering these basic needs sustainably is a huge challenge, in which technology can play a critical role in maintaining sustainability in this ecosystem.
Department of Science & Technology (DST), in association with Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), conducted the panel discussion under the overall theme ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ involving experts from Academia, Industry, and Scientists of DST and TIFAC for identifying the technological needs that need to be adopted by the relevant stakeholders.
