Download seminar on climate change

SEMINAR ON CLIMATE CHANGE
January 16, 2009, 02.30 pm – 6.00 pm,
World Unity Convention Centre,LDA Colony, Kanpur Road, Lucknow
Being organized as part of the
LUCKNOW CMS VATAVARAN–Environment and Wildlife Travelling Film Festival
Background
The broad agreement among scientific community that global temperatures will continue to increase has led
nations, states, corporations and individuals to implement actions to try to curtail global warming or adjust to it
There is ongoing political and public debate on a global scale regarding what, if any, action should be taken to
reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences Serious discussions are also
underway in several countries about the cost of adopting alternate, cleaner energy sources in order to reduce
emissions in view of the synergies between climate mitigation strategies and development policies in areas such
as energy efficiency, fuel substitution, renewables, afforestation, and land and waste management The climate
science community and policy makers are now converging at a concept of combining mitigation efforts with
climate adaptation measures and strategies.
Adaptation refers to all those responses to climate change that may be used to reduce vulnerability (vulnerability
is susceptibility to harm or damage potential – it considers such factors as the ability of a system to cope or
absorb stress or impacts and to “bounce back” or recover) Stresses from climate and climate-related events and
phenomena that could be exacerbated by future climate change are already being felt by most countries through
extreme weather and natural disasters in the region The benefits of adaptation can be immediate, especially
when they also address climate variability A compelling reason for assessing adaptation in India, a developing
country with large population, is to inform policy makers about what they can do to reduce the risks of climate
change To fully account for vulnerability to climate change, an assessment of impacts needs to account for those
adaptations that are likely or even reasonable to assume to happen Adaptation practices require extensive high
quality data and information on climate, and on environmental, ecological and social systems affected by climate,
with a view to carrying out realistic vulnerability assessments and looking towards the near future Early warning
and risk management systems are obvious and efficient contributors that can facilitate adaptation to climate
variability and change.
There remain formidable environmental, economic, informational, social, attitudinal and political barriers to
implementation of adaptation. Adaptation can take place at many levels, essentially ranging between tangible
interventions at community and enterprise level and national and international efforts to strengthen the enabling
environment It is informative to undertake regional assessments of adaptation, even though most adaptation
interventions need to reflect local conditions, including local adaptive capacities This underscores the need for
research at national and local level that will help reduce barriers to implementing responses that reduce climate
related risks, including adverse consequences for sustainability The priority themes include making optimum use
of predictive capabilities, characterising the linkages between climate change and sustainability, implications of
the required rates and magnitudes of adaptation, institutional responses that enhance adaptive capacity, use of
new and traditional technologies, the multiple dimensions of social responsibility, and enhancing the enabling
environment for adaptation at the community and enterprise level A better understanding of these issues will, in
turn, help address much needed improvements in quantifying the costs and benefits of adaptation, prioritising
adaptation options, assessing sustainable development tradeoffs, and monitoring the success of adaptation
initiatives.
Climate change today is high on the agenda of every government, corporate sector, scientists, civil society
groups, creative people, farmers, youth and common man The same is well reflected in the media, which is
highlighting the various issues concerning this global phenomenon Amidst various apprehensions about the likely
impacts of climate change on the people, food security, ecosystems, etc , nations are preparing to adapt
themselves to this unprecedented threat The government of India has recently prepared the National Climate
Change Action Plan that identifies a roadmap for energy efficiency and sustainable development and coordinate
national strategic pathways for assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change through as many as
eight national missions.
The Seminar
In view of the far-reaching consequences of the climate change at state and city level in India, CMS VATAVARAN
– Environment and Wildlife Film Festival (to be held during September 2008 – January 2009) would be organized
that would focus on creating awareness on “Climate Change, its impacts and ways to manage and adapt to
ongoing and projected changes ” at city and state level among the state level policy makers, planners as well as
society with a focus on youths and has decided to organize a one-day “Seminar on Climate Change” during the
course of Film Festival at each of the locations.
The seminar will particularly focus on climate change concerns in the host states in the context of its impacts on
the fresh water availability, agriculture production and distribution system, human health & sanitation and
biodiversity sectors as also implications for energy, social and economic structures including the infrastructural,
natural resources and financial challenges besides the issues of climate change adaptation and disaster
preparedness.
Climate Change Seminar: The Context for Lucknow (State of Uttar Pradesh)
The first four in the series of the one day seminar were organized in Agartala, the capital of Tripura State (27 th
September 2008); in Coimbatore, in the state of Tamil Nadu (18th October 2008), in Ranchi, the capital of
Jharkhand (November 11, 2008) and in Pune on December 6, 2008. The fifth seminar is scheduled to be held in
Lucknow, the Capital City of Uttar Pradesh on 16 th January 2009. Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh situated
123 meters above sea level is the most populous state of India. It is situated on 26.30 & 27.10 North latitude and
80.30 & 81.13 East longitude. Lucknow covers an area of 2528 km 2 and is surrounded on the eastern side by
District Barabanki, on the western side by district Unnao, on the southern side by Raebareli and on the northern
side by Sitapur and Hardoi districts. River Gomti flows through the city. Some of the tributries of this river are
Kukrail, Loni,Beta etc. Sai river flows from the south of the city and in the east enters district Raebareli. Lucknow
city is located in the seismic zone III.
Most of the Companies in and around Lucknow are sugarcane units manufacturing granulated sugar and its
edible variants. This is due to the huge sugarcane belt in the rural Uttar Pradesh countryside surrounding
Lucknow city. Uttar Pradesh is one of the major sugar producing states in India. The lavish measures in form of
new promotional policies for the Uttar Pradesh sugar industry by the state government of Uttar Pradesh has
provided much needed to further boost the growth of the Uttar Pradesh sugar industry. There are 20 more sugar
processing units are coming up as a part of Uttar Pradesh sugar industry. The existing companies under the Uttar
Pradesh sugar industry are planning an investment pertaining to expansion of about Rs 4,000 crore. At present
the major companies in the Uttar Pradesh sugar industry are Balrampur Chini, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd., etc. A batch
of Brownfield and Greenfield expansion projects has already started their activities of crushing cane. The increase
in the capacity would help the Uttar Pradesh sugar industry to churn out an extra 140,000 tons of crushed cane
everyday to the existing 2.5 million tons of sugar produced within a few years time. The total sugar production
under the Uttar Pradesh sugar industry would lead to 7.5 million tons, making Uttar Pradesh the biggest
manufacturer of sugar in India. The presence of distilleries, sugar industries & cogeneration plants has led to a
multiplicity of environmental concerns in the region.
Lucknow is not only a major market and trading city in Northern India, but is also an emerging hub for producers
of goods and services. Being the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, the Government departments and the public
sector undertakings are the principal employers of the salaried middle class. Liberalization has created many
more opportunities in the business and service sector and self-employed professionals are burgeoning in the city.
Lucknow also provides a good catchment area for the recruitment of quality for information technology companies
for the BPO hubs of nearby Noida and Gurgaon as well as for Bangalore and Hyderabad. The city is the
headquarters of both the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the Pradeshiya Industrial and
Investment Corporation of Uttar Pradesh (PICUP). The Regional office of the Uttar Pradesh State Industries
Development Corporation (UPSIDC) is also located here. The other business-promoting institutions that have a
presence in Lucknow are the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Entrepreneurship Development Institute
of India (EDII).
Lucknow experiences a typical subtropical climate with hot summers and chill dry winter. With a great variation of
seasonal temperature the people of Lucknow enjoy three main seasons such as summers, winters and
monsoons. Lucknow experiences summer from April to June. The temperature in the summer months rises to
about 48°C and the climate becomes very hot and scorching. Hot dry winds generally called loo blow in the
summer months from April to June making the season unbearable with temperatures rising to 45°C or more.
Situated in the upper gangetic plains of India, Lucknow experiences humid climate because of its location in the
sub tropical region. Monsoon sets in the month of July with the arrival of South-westerly monsoon winds and lasts
till September. Lucknow receives 101 cm of rainfall annually during these months.
Dwindling greenery is a sad commentary on Lucknow, once known as a city of gardens. The forest area is
negligible in the district. The total green cover of the city with a population of around 20 lakh is around 7 per cent,
much less than the stipulated norm of a 33 per cent of forest cover under the National Forest Policy. Shisham,
Dhak, Mahua, Babul, Neem, Peepal, Ashok, Khajur, Mango and Gular trees are grown here. Different varieties of
mangoes specially Dashari are grown in Malihabad block of the district. The main crops are wheat, paddy,
sugarcane, mustard, potatos, and vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, tomato, brinjals are grown. Similarly
sunflowers, roses, and marigold are cultivated on quite a large area of the land. Apart from this many medicinal
and herbal plants are also grown.
As a consequence of land use changes (the urban sprawl at the cost of Agriculture and Grassland-Scrub), heavily
polluted water-bodies and other human-induced factors, most reptiles (species diversity) and various forms of
aquatic macro-invertebrates are gradually declining in numbers today and face a bleak future. Habitat loss along
the city outskirts entails that staying of wild animals into the city may increase in the future, such as the
inexplicable leopard captured recently. Innumerable developmental projects in and around Lucknow during the
last four decades have not only created an adverse impact on the environment but also increased the chances of
grave health risk due to continual air, water, and soil pollution. It is likely that the annual mean surface
temperature in the state of Uttar Pradesh may increase by between 2.0° and 3.5°C by the middle of this century.
An enhanced variability in monsoon rainfall is also projected leading to more frequent droughts and resulting
decline in agricultural productivity. As a consequence, many of the habitat and species could also be threatened
and some may even become extinct in the event of climate change. This necessitates a clear understanding of
the potential threats to the resilience of both human and ecosystems likely to be exacerbated by climate change
in this region.
Objectives of the Seminar

To integrate the cohesive view points of atmospheric scientists, sociologists, economists and people’s
representatives including the youths from Lucknow on critical aspects of the climate change science, potential
impacts of climate variability and change in the region and pathways on incorporating these in broad
development agenda of the region for sustainable development;

To increase awareness of the research community, technocrats and professionals, civil society,
representatives from the government and corporate sector, legislators and Legislators about climate change
and related local and regional issues with a view to enhance overall regional and national coping capacity;

To identify ways and means to introduce clean and efficient technologies in its industry and services sectors
more vigorously to protect its natural environment and ecosystem (seeking international finances and robust
technology under clean development mechanism); and

To formulate a plan of action for corporate sector and local government personnel to facilitate their actions on
internalizing climate change in their progressive development framework
Targeted Participants
CMS VATAVARAN would invite a select group of academicians and researchers from natural science discipline,
technocrats and engineers, economists, architects, urban planners, socio-economists, journalists and specialists
in advocacy, governance and international policy, entrepreneurs, medical and management professionals,
defense personnel, youth etc to engage themselves in active participation in this Seminar through discussions,
interactions and deliberations and thus facilitate in fulfilling its objectives.
Expected Outcomes

CMS will document the deliberations and recommendations and produce a report. The report will be
distributed amongst the stakeholders in the city, state and throughout the country.

Help develop tools and strategies for cutting down on greenhouse gases emissions at the individual
household and industrial levels.

Identify areas of multidisciplinary research within the country to combat climate change and to adapt to its
implications.

To come up with a set of policies and recommendations to prudently meet the challenges of climate risks and
vulnerabilities.

Encourage and facilitate capacity building for developing high-resolution climate models for regional and local
climate change scenario.

Get a citizen’s perspective of climate change and the associated challenges and opportunities.