‘City second largest polluter in country’

‘City second largest polluter in country’

December 7th, 2009
By Our Correspondent
Tags: Bengaluru, highest contributor to global warming

Dec. 6: As India prepares to participate in the climate change conference at Copenhagen, a professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has pointed out how Bengaluru is steadily becoming one of the highest contributors to global warming in the country, second only to the Capital.
Prof. N.H. Ravindranath, who will take part in the conference of parties (COP15), says the city’s fast development is further degrading the environment. “Bengaluru is next only to Delhi in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The city is a major contributor from the state not only because of the increasing number of vehicles but also due to its rapid strides in the IT sector. The energy consumption by this industry being high also results in additional emissions and local warming,” Prof. Ravindranath said. “The bulk of the GHG emissions, nearly 60 to 80 per cent, is from urban areas,” he added.
Stating that though India’s contribution to global emissions stands at 5 to 7 per cent, the effects of the emission will be felt more in the long term. Prof. Ravindranath added that human pressure on natural ecosystems such as forests and rivers will affect the agricultural sector and food security in the future. “Agriculture, fishing and coastal livelihood will be affected. India is already in a bad state when it comes to issues such as water and resources shortages. Now it has to deal with climate change,” he stated.
Despite India playing a key role in the climate change talks, the scientific community continues to feel a lack of involvement and feels it is not being consulted on the issue. There is no clear cut scientific model for COP15 and the stakeholders’ role on climate change is not well defined, Prof. Ravindranath said.