President Bharrat Jagdeo and IPCC Chair Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri agreed that mobilising developed countries and youth on climate change is vital to getting the necessary support to propel measures to mitigate its effects.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) said like Jagdeo, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Nobel Prize winner has also been outspoken on climate change issues and has been working effortlessly to raise awareness and mobilise support for adaptation, mitigation and clean energy resources.
A dinner at State House was convened on Sunday in honour of Pachauri’s visit to Guyana and afterwards members of the Cabinet and the private sector along with President Jagdeo engaged him in discussions on climate change issues.
Among other things, discussions centred on a presentation made by Pachauri on TERI, an institute formally established in 1974 that has “created an environment that is enabling, dynamic and inspiring for the development of solutions to global problems in the fields of energy, environment and current patterns of development, which are largely unsustainable.”
In his address, Pachauri said as far as climate change was concerned, the world has to move quickly and, at the same time, focus on vulnerable regions.
He noted too that leaders in developed countries need to be made aware of this. However, “Guyana’s President has been extremely effective in spreading this message and we have to work together to intensify it,” he said. In response, Jagdeo said as a result of the tremendous work done by scientists and the IPCC, sceptics are now small in number.
However, he said that this small number continues to prey on the ignorance of persons who are not yet fully familiar with what scientific studies have revealed “simply because the media does not find the topic of climate change an attractive one, while some have biases and for this reason, the much needed support from the developing world is lacking.”
The president also noted that while there is need to continue to study and publicise the effects of climate change, efforts have to be made to ensure the creation of sound policies based on the commitment on the part of the developing world. “Unless the United States takes the leadership, the other countries are not going to do much more,” Jagdeo said.
According to GINA, Pachauri posited that the attitude of young people is heartening and they must be mobilised. Echoing his comments, the president pointed out that the world has seen the power of Facebook and other social networks and that a global campaign could be initiated using this new media.
“This could bypass the vested interest, organisations and media that do not find the issue of climate change attractive,” he said.
To this end, Pachauri said that with support from United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, TERI is trying to mobilise support from some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, who will be able to capture people’s attention more easily.
Meanwhile, GINA noted that the Fifth Assessment Report due in 2014 will provide an update of the available knowledge on climate change.
It also noted that two Special Reports are due in 201: “Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation” and “Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation.”
