Feeling the heat

Even as a controversy develops over whether India is subtly altering its position on the climate change talks, the government is proceeding to set up infrastructure on this vital issue. The decision to create a national institute for research on climate and environment at Bangalore is one such initiative. It is going to be a joint project of the ministry for environment and forests and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

To be able to discuss its position in the contested negotiations at the Copenhagen climate summit in December and beyond, India and other developing countries will need their own expertise and not be dependent on western researchers for know-how, assistance and most of all, research. Perhaps such an institute should have been created many years ago, but it is better late than never.

Data about climate is to be sourced from satellites and Isro, with its proven competence in devising and employing satellites, is the right collaborator in this operation. Over time, India should be able to build an army of experts to understand issues of climate and find ways of dealing with it. This is no more a recondite issue which would interest only ivory-tower scientists. No wonder the Manmohan Singh government is showing a sense of urgency about it.

Though some scientists have questioned the global warming crisis thesis as such, the majority of them feel that research on climate points to the fact that it is the unfettered industrial development of the last two centuries that has tilted the ecological balance. The great challenge then is to find appropriate green technologies to arrest the deterioration in the environment triggered by the negative changes in climate. This would also require generous funding which is what developing countries, India included, have  been arguing for.

At the moment, the countries that would be most affected by climate change would be the poor and developing countries as also smaller nations. The Maldivian cabinet held a meeting underwater, a bit of a gimmick but one that underscores its worry that rising sea levels could sink the country. India as an emergent economy can take the lead in providing the necessary knowledge and technology. That is why, the proposed institute is so vital for the future of India as well as that of the other developing countries.