In the run-up to the Cancun climate summit later this year, leading decisions makers from the BRIC block --Brazil, India, Russia and China-- will come together at a two-day meet starting here tomorrow to discuss legal issues surrounding climate change.
The colloquium on "Climate Change Law and Governance in South Asia", which aims to inspire legal discussion within and between the BRICs countries, is being jointly organised by the Environment Ministry of Government of India and the Geneva-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh will initiate the opening remarks at the meet to be attended by diplomats from Brazil, Russia and China, besides leading experts including Nitin Desai, member, Prime Minister's Advisory Council on Climate Change, Roberto Zagha, World Bank Director for India, judges P N Bhagwati and Leila Seth and various agencies.
With the business opportunities and challenges presented by climate change developing rapidly and the law in this area evolving at the same pace, the authorities are realising an urgent need to keep abreast with the changes.
"The forum seeks to provide a platform for informed sessions to address the question of how we can use the mechanism of the law to tackle the growing threat of climate change and how to ensure sustainable energy and biodiversity," a senior environment official said.
"Implementation: Challenges of Current Climate Change Regulation, Looking Forward- Effective Climate Change Governance in South Asia, Role of Judiciary in Climate Change Litigation, Climate Change Law in a Developing Country's Context will be some of the topics for discussions," the official added.
IUCN is one of the world's oldest and largest global environmental networks, with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organisations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries.
