Nearly 70 scientists , all studying climate change, gathered at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) here on Saturday to deliberate on the need to move towards global sustainability. They were part of a brain-storming session at the inauguration of the South Asian regional office of “Future Earth,” an international research initiative for finding solutions to climate change. The office is in the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, IISc.
Experts from ISRO, Anthropology, Anthropological Survey of India, New Delhi; National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa; the former Union Department of Ocean Development and National Remote Sensing Centre, Ahmedabad; and other institutes participated in the event.
A.S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary, Department of Space and chairman, ISRO, and Anurag Kumar, director of IISc., addressed the gathering.
The regional office will conduct research on environmental sustainability with regard to the south Asian region. "What we are trying to do is not specific to Bangalore or Karnataka, but to conduct solution-oriented research on environmental sustainability in south Asia," said S.K. Satheesh, chairman, Divecha Centre for Climate Change (DCCC) and executive director of the newly-formed office. DCCC currently has 32 staff members of whom 15 are scientists.
Concerns ranging from glacial melting to arsenic contamination in the Sunderbans were discussed. The ideas will be put together to design a working framework for the research to be undertaken by the Future Earth regional office.
M. Rajeevan, Secretary to the Ministry of Environment Science, chaired a brainstorming session to discuss what is needed to be done in the field of climate change. He drew attention to focusing on sustainability of food, nutrition and water. The regional office will conduct research on environmental sustainability in South Asia. The International Council for Science, a global membership of national scientific bodies and international scientific unions, initiated a 10-year international research initiative Future Earth in 2015. The project was announced at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The project currently has hubs in Montreal, Paris, Tokyo, Stockholm and Colorado and regional centres.
Result-oriented research
While Divecha Centre for Climate Change has experts dealing in climate change, the regional office will focus on result-oriented research to develop workable projects to combat climate change.
"We will start work on the impact of environment change on food security and water security; and on air pollution. We plan to build on our research in biodiversity and oceanology in the future," said Prof. Satheesh.
Experts from Indian Space Research Organisation, Anthropology, Anthropological Survey of India, New Delhi; National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa; the former Union Department of Ocean Development and National Remote Sensing Centre, Ahmedabad; and other institutes participated.
