The Engineering Staff College of India (ESCI) will be organising the first International Conclave and Exhibition on Climate Change (ICCC-2011), with the theme ‘Clean energy and energy security’ in Hyderabad from October 12.
The three-day conference will focus on climate change-related challenges, adaption and mitigation measures for the same, while the exhibition will have networking interactive sessions and round-table discussions to formulate strategies for ‘combating climate change’.
“Based on the learnings from the conclave, ESCI will formulate recommendations and submit them to the central government, which in turn will put forth the submissions at the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference, scheduled to be held in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to December 9, 2011,” Shalini Sharma, head, Centre for Climate Change at ESCI, told mediapersons here on Friday.
The conclave will have Australia and Germany as support countries with the host being the Andhra Pradesh government. In all, 70 papers will be presented during the three-day event, she added.
According to AK Poothia, director-general of ESCI, in today's world, 80 per cent of power is produced through fossil fuels like coal, gas and oil. While these resources are limited, they are also contributors of green house gases, which affect climate.
Nearly 60 per cent of the country’s landmass is susceptible to earthquakes, over per cent is prone to floods, nearly 76 per cent of its coastline is prone to cyclones, and 68 per cent of its area is prone to droughts, In addition, increasing threats of GLOFs (glacial lake outburst floods), heat waves, precipitation extremes due to the changing climate, pose risks to vulnerably located populations in India. Efforts have to be made to manage these risks as well, he said.
“India’s reliance on coal, for more than half its energy needs, is an issue of great concern for energy security. India is, therefore, seeking alternative renewable energy sources to meet the projected economic growth rate since these would be non-exhaustible as well as free,” Poothia added.