India among most vulnerable countries for extreme weather events: Green bodies

Green bodies Monday expressed concern over the findings of the latest IPCC climate change report, saying India is one of the most vulnerable countries for extreme weather events.

Reacting to the latest report from the Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), the Centre for Science and Environment said the impact of 1.5 degrees Celsius warming is greater than what was anticipated earlier while the impacts at 2C are "catastrophic" for the poor and for developing nations like India.

Avoiding global climate chaos will require a major transformation of society and the world economy that is "unprecedented in scale," the IPCC said in a landmark report that warns time is running out to avert a disaster.

At current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, the 1.5 C marker can be breached as early as 2030 and no later than mid-century, the UN's IPCC reported with "high confidence".

The US is the "biggest" obstacle to forming a global coalition to fight climate change and the world needs to unite against the "obstructive approach" of the US, the CSE said, while asserting that Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) cannot be the only way ahead to address the climate change.

"The world needs a 'Plan B' to address climate change. India must take the lead in forming a global coalition for a 1.5C world to save its poor and vulnerable population," the CSE said.

"Even at a little over 1.0C warming, India is being battered by the worst climate extremes - it is clear that the situation at 1.5C is going to worsen. The new report from IPCC has served us a final warning that we must get our act together -- now and quickly," said Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE.

CSE Deputy Director General Chandra Bhushan said the report makes it clear that the impact of 1.5C warming is greater than what was anticipated earlier.

Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental organization, also expressed concern over India's vulnerability to climate change.

"India is one of the most vulnerable countries for extreme weather events due to climate change. The IPCC report points out how regions in India will be exposed to extreme heat waves," said Nandikesh Sivalingam, campaign manager, Greenpeace India.

"As per the report, climate change will significantly hamper GDPs of developing economies like India. India's long coastline is already dealing with the effects of sea level rise, which will increase if the we fail to keep temperature rise below 1.5 Degree Celsius," he said