Hon. Chairman Sir, while participating in this
discussion, I am really trembling. It is because I think above myself; I
think about others. I talk like that. My State is known for social justice. My government
is striving for environmental justice. That is why our coastline is
being afforested. I think when he comes to know about it, he would appreciate
that. These are very important and minute things which I would like to
highlight. I now leave it for the rest of the Members to share their views.
Sir, very importantly, we need stronger guidelines from the Ministry, because100 we are afraid many States would suffer
more droughts and frequent storms and cyclones would befall in the coming
days120 and sea would
encroach into the city where we are living. These are not just statistics. This
is not just imagination or hallucination. It is about the lives
of our future. Every single thing worth living has disappeared into thin air
and all we can do is this. As I said, a big part of climate action lies
in protecting and expanding forest coverage. I just do not want to
conclude my speech with a pessimistic note. My concern is200 the serious effects that it would bring
on us. I would like to give a few suggestions. I told you what I do at
marriage halls, what I do on flights, and wherever I go. On the way, if I240 see a tap leaking, I would go and stop
that. I will stop my car. Either I will go or ask the person accompanying me to
stop that because I know how precious water is. Earlier water was
available at the depth of 40 feet. Now it has gone down to 800 feet. I request
the hon. Minister to300
coordinate with all the Ministers. He has a very big responsibility. He is
not just the Cabinet Minister holding one portfolio. It involves the
future lives of the human beings, future of the nation and the world. Apart
from going and participating in global summits, we have to do something. We
need to expand forest coverage. Regulations need to be360 tightened and enforced to ensure forest
protection while acquiring land for public projects. To drive climate action,
we need to consider climate catastrophes as largely man made. Sir, I
leave it to the wisdom of my colleagues and I expect400 the Minister to give a concrete reply. I
think I have initiated a very important discussion today in this august House. Let us come up with a concrete
solution.
Sir,
the topic is a very important one and touches everyone across the globe.
Today we are taking up this topic at a time when we have made promises to
the world about how we are going to curb the effects of global
warming. Climate change has been varying across time480 scales for centuries. It has started
from individual to a collective effort about the activity of the human beings. We500 talk about global warming and
we talk about climate change. At national level or international level or
in academic circles, they are used interchangeably. So, they can be used
either as global warming or climate change. Whatever comes from the sun by way
of sunlight and touches the earth, 30 per cent of it goes back because it is
sent back by clouds, particles, ground surfaces, and 70 per cent is retained by
oceans, land and air. But, the 30 per cent that goes up in the space, not only
comes back a little slowly, but it stays there and600 it stays in a concentrated form and that
is causing global warming to the earth. This global warming was taken very
seriously and we had United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
which sets rules. Thereafter, we had a number of summits and protocols. The
atmosphere cannot be claimed by any one country. The emissions may be from the
United States or from Japan or from Singapore or from India, they travel
anywhere. Whatever goes in the air does not have a specific space and that is
why we are negotiating all the climate change clauses as to what a700 particular country should do and what a
particular country should contribute in order to curb the effects of climate
change720 or global warming.
That is the crux of the whole thing. Due to global warming, India has faced
serious issues and problems. One of the issues is that 50 per cent of our
people are working in agriculture. Second is the industrial sector. Third is
the cattle that is associated with agriculture sector. All these pollutions are
emitting greenhouse gases. These greenhouse gases have a greenhouse gas effect
which is causing global warming. Global warming is an issue that has800 to be taken very seriously. As my
earlier colleagues have pointed out, we can contribute in daily life as well as
at policy level. These gases which are manufactured or the raw material that is
stored in open spaces cause840
this kind of global warming problems. This is here to stay. But, to curb these
problems of the industry, there has to be proper monitoring. These are air
pollution matters. It also came to my notice and also came before the hon.
court when this matter was taken up that the equipments to measure these
pollutants which go in the900
air are not very effective and we need to be modernizing them. This is one
aspect of greenhouse gases causing so many problems. Sir, the cattle and the
agriculture are also the main contributors. And the third contributor is this.
We need to go for change or transition in energy. Transition in energy means we
are talking about going from960
coal to renewable energy. We are thinking of a new kind of energy which is got
from solar power or what we are getting from other renewables because we have
to cut down our fossil fuels. Fossil fuel means1000 mankind indulging into the use of oil
and coal. Now this fossil fuel is the main factor or the main argument when it
is coming to negotiations internationally because our country has been using
fossil fuels for a very long time. We have committed to curbing down or
bringing down our emissions by 2017 to net zero. India is committed at the
international level. How can we do it when we are having 70 per cent of our1080 power production based on thermal, on
coal? Coal is the main thing where you get emissions and this is not going to
be scaled down unless we have cut down on our thermal power stations. So, these
power stations are one of the main contributors. We do not have a roadway or a
roadmap because despite committing that we will cut down on our thermal
production based on coal, I think, our country has auctioned more than 100 coal
mines. We have brought in private players. On the one hand, we are committing
to net zero emissions, but on the other hand, we have committed to the private
sector coal mining. So, we should cut down on our coal.1200
