Eminent environmentalist Rajendra Pachauri has been felicitated by a US university in Florida for his accomplishments in advancing the science and understanding of climate change and international policy.
Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), was awarded the first Eminent Global Scholar in Sustainability Award by the University of South Florida's Patel College of Global Sustainability (PCGS) in Tampa, Florida.
"What is really significant is the fact that human activities have influenced the climate of this planet in a very short period of time and in a very intensive way...The rate of sea level rise since the mid-19th century has been larger than the mean rate during the previous two millennia," Pachauri said in his address to students on the occasion.
"From the beginning of the last century to 2010, there has been a sea level increase of 19 centimetres. That's close to a foot!" he said.
"What we need to do is develop climate-resilient pathways," Pachauri said.
