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The first round table discus-sion, a part of the 9th editionof the Earth Care Awards

(ECA), a joint initiative of TheTimes of India and JSW, wasorganised on April 10, 2019 torecognise the efforts of individu-als, community groups and corporations to safeguard theecosystem. The round table discus-sion highlighted locally evolved climate-friendly practices in theproduction and consumptionregimes across multiple sectorswith special reference to climatechange.

The panelists at the round-tablediscussion included SanthoshJayaram, partner, KPMG, A MSingh, IFS, principal chief conser-vator of forest and head of forestforce, government of Assam, A KJohari, IFS, principal chief conser-

vator of forests (biodiversity & climate change) & member secre-tary Assam State BiodiversityBoard, S M Sahai, IFS, directorgeneral for the Meghalaya Centrefor climate change (MeghalayaBasin Development Authority), DrR M Pant, director,National Instituteof Rural Develop-ment and Panchay-ati Raj - NorthEastern RegionalCentre (ministry ofRural Development - GoI), JayantaK Sarma, AARANYAK (a scientificand industrial research organisa-tion), Dr Mihir Kumar Purkait,head, Centre for the Environment,IIT Guwahati, Arjun Deb, executivecommittee member of ICC-Guwa-hati, AB Paul, former chief engi-neer, PHED, government of Assam

and regional head of Inrem Foun-dation, Dr Naba Kumar Goswami,senior fellow and area convener -Agricultural and Rural Extension,TERI, and Aloke Bhattacharjee,consultant, JSW.

The awards are technically supported by knowl-edge partner KPMGand outreach partnerIndian Chamber ofCommerce (ICC) andThe Energy andResources Institute

(TERI). Talking about the awards,Santhosh Jayaram said, “Awardsare given to recognise the activityand also to disseminate goodworks in terms of climate change.The objective is to sit with the spe-cialists to know more about climate change and to encouragepeople to take more projects to

restrict climate change”.According to Aloke Bhattachar-

jee, “The main objective of this initiative is to disseminate aware-ness about climate change. TheSouth Asian region encompassingSAARC is considered highly proneto the vagaries of climate change,which is expected to result in global warming likely surpassing 2degree centigrade by the end of the21st century. We are trying toaddress this basic purposethrough this Earth Care awardsinitiative”.

Appreciating the round tableconference, A K Johari said, “It isa healthy sign that this kind of

initiative is taken. Usually, wework in the background. Only fewpeople know how the interventionof climate change is being done. Byrecognising them, it will certainly encourage them”.

To counter the climate change,certain interventions were prepared with the help of govern-ment of India. “We are having aproject which is totally focusing onclimate change adaptation in northeast — especially in Sikkim,Meghalaya and Nagaland. By thisproject, we have done a couple ofinterventions related to water andsoil conservations,” said AMSingh.

At the round table conference,Arjun Deb spoke about the directeffect of climate change in theircompany as they had to change thedesigning of the transformers overthe time. “This has an economiccost as there is a cost of time anddesigning. So the effort is to makea resilient network with respect tochange of climate,” Deb added.

According to Dr Naba Kumar

Goswami, “There is a close rela-tionship between climate change,limited global water and soilresources, population growth andfood security. Climate changeimpacts the soil and waterresources and it threatens to negatively impact the food production.As the climate changes, conserva-tion practices have the potential tohelp achieve sustainable levels offood production, which will beessential to feed the growing pop-ulation. Good practices for soiland water conservation will con-tribute to positive impacts on soiland water quality; soil productivi-ty; and efforts towards achieving

food security. Catchment area protection, command area devel-opment and water managementprogrammes are implemented withthe objective to bridge the gapbetween potential created andpotential utilised in order toaddress the water and soil relatedissues at local level.”

While talking about the impactof climate change in the northeast, S M Sahai said, “Meghalayais one of the most vulnerablestates in terms of climate changeas the socio-eco-health indicatorsare very poor in the state. Themain objective of Meghalaya Climate Change Centre is to develop concept notes for variousadaptation funds for climatechange, conducting various studies such as carbon footprintstudy of Meghalaya and awarenesscreation.” Almost half of the peren-nial springs in north eastern stateshave already dried up or havebecome seasonal. Dr R M Pantsuggested a few steps to revivespring water systems in the northeast region. According to A B Paul,ground water of Assam is contami-nated with arsenic and fluorideaffecting people’s health. Hence, itis best to check before using it forirrigation or drinking purpose.

Jayanta Kumar Sarma spoke onthe education outreach to restrictclimate change. Sarma added,“Assam is an agrarian state. So,traditional agro-forest model suchas vegetable gardening in the village houses can be used as animportant climate resilient effort.”Throughout the journey of the ECA,the emphasis has been on commit-ment and innovation towards climate-friendly processes, opera-tions, and promotion of innovativescalable activities. “This discus-sion is a global wake-up call. Scientist, academician, industrial-ist and government persons haveparticipated and discussed all possible impacts and its remedytowards better economic and sustainable development of thesociety. We must all take an actiontogether for sustainable environ-ment,” said Dr Mihir KumarPurkait.

> Rokibuz ZamanShare your views at

Aaheli.Ghose@timesgroup.com

CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE

>> Round table discussion on climate change

Battling Climate ChangeLeft – Right: Dr Naba Kumar Goswami, Aloke Bhattacharjee, Dr Mihir Kumar Purkait, Arjun Deb, Santhosh Jayaram, A K Johari, S M Sahai,Jayanta K Sarma and Dr R M Pant were present at the occasion

The Round Table Discussion held at Guwahati is the first of the series of discussions before the final award ceremony of the 9th edition of the JSW – TOI Earth Care Awards, to be heldlater this year. The series of discussions, which will happen across the country, has created a platform where thought leaders can discuss local climate change issues and ways to address it and share best practices from the region to be replicated by other regions

• Leadership in urbanclimate action

• Community based mitigation and adaptation in waterresources, agricultureand forestry, otherland use, animal husbandry and climate risk proofing

• Innovation in climateaction

• GHG mitigation in large enterprises

• Leadership of womenled enterprise in climate action

AWARD CATEGORIES

The first round table discus-sion, a part of the 9th edition of the Earth Care

Awards (ECA), a joint initiative ofThe Times of India and JSW, wasorganised on April 10, 2019 torecognise the efforts of individuals, community groupsand corporations to safeguardthe ecosystem. The round tablediscussion highlighted locallyevolved climate-friendly practices in the production andconsumption regimes acrossmultiple sectors with special reference to climate change.

The panelists at the round-table discussion included

Santhosh Jayaram, partner,KPMG, A M Singh, IFS, principalchief conservator of forest andhead of forest force, governmentof Assam, A K Johari, IFS, princi-pal chief conservator of forests(biodiversity & climate change)& member secretary Assam StateBiodiversity Board, S M Sahai,IFS, director general for theMeghalaya Centre for climatechange (Meghalaya Basin Devel-opment Authority), Dr R M Pant,director, National Institute ofRural Development andPanchayati Raj - North EasternRegional Centre (ministry of

Rural Development - GoI),Jayanta K Sarma, AARANYAK (ascientific and industrial researchorganisation), Dr Mihir KumarPurkait, head, Centre for theEnvironment, IIT Guwahati,Arjun Deb, executive committeemember of ICC-Guwahati, ABPaul, former chief engineer,PHED, government of Assamand regional head of InremFoundation, Dr Naba KumarGoswami, senior fellow and areaconvener - Agricultural and RuralExtension, TERI, and Aloke Bhattacharjee, consultant, JSW.

The awards are technically

supported by knowledge partnerKPMG and outreach partnerIndian Chamber of Commerce(ICC) and The Energy andResources Institute (TERI).

Talking about the awards, Santhosh Jayaram said, “Awardsare given to recognise the activity and also to disseminategood works in terms of climatechange. The objective is to sitwith the specialists to knowmore about climate change andto encourage people to takemore projects to restrict climatechange”.

According to Aloke Bhattachar-jee, “The main objective of thisinitiative is to disseminateawareness about climatechange. The South Asian regionencompassing SAARC is consid-ered highly prone to the vagariesof climate change, which isexpected to result in globalwarming likely surpassing 2degree centigrade by the end ofthe 21st century. We are tryingto address this basic purposethrough this Earth Care awardsinitiative”.

Appreciating the round tableconference, A K Johari said, “It isa healthy sign that this kind ofinitiative is taken. Usually, wework in the background. Only

few people know how the intervention of climate change is being done. By recognisingthem, it will certainly encouragethem”.

To counter the climatechange, certain interventionswere prepared with the help ofgovernment of India. “We arehaving a project which is totallyfocusing on climate changeadaptation in north east — espe-cially in Sikkim, Meghalaya andNagaland. By this project, wehave done a couple of interven-tions related to water and soilconservations,” said AM Singh.

At the round table conference,Arjun Deb spoke about thedirect effect of climate change intheir company as they had tochange the designing of thetransformers over the time.“This has an economic cost asthere is a cost of time anddesigning. So the effort is tomake a resilient network withrespect to change of climate,”Deb added.

According to Dr Naba KumarGoswami, “There is a close relationship between climatechange, limited global water andsoil resources, populationgrowth and food security. Climate change impacts the soil and water resources and itthreatens to negatively impactthe food production. As the climate changes, conservationpractices have the potential tohelp achieve sustainable levelsof food production, which willbe essential to feed the growingpopulation. Good practices forsoil and water conservation willcontribute to positive impacts onsoil and water quality; soil productivity; and efforts towardsachieving food security. Catch-ment area protection, commandarea development and watermanagement programmes areimplemented with the objectiveto bridge the gap betweenpotential created and potentialutilised in order to address thewater and soil related issues atlocal level.”

While talking about the impactof climate change in the northeast, S M Sahai said, “Meghalayais one of the most vulnerablestates in terms of climatechange as the socio-eco-healthindicators are very poor in thestate. The main objective ofMeghalaya Climate Change Cen-tre is to develop concept notesfor various adaptation funds forclimate change, conducting various studies such as carbonfootprint study of Meghalayaand awareness creation.”

Almost half of the perennialsprings in north eastern stateshave already dried up or havebecome seasonal. Dr R M Pantsuggested a few steps to revivespring water systems in thenorth east region. According to AB Paul, ground water of Assamis contaminated with arsenicand fluoride affecting people’shealth. Hence, it is best to checkbefore using it for irrigation ordrinking purpose.

Jayanta Kumar Sarma spokeon the education outreach torestrict climate change. Sarmaadded, “Assam is an agrarianstate. So, traditional agro-forestmodel such as vegetable gar-dening in the village houses canbe used as an important climateresilient effort.”

Throughout the journey of theECA, the emphasis has been oncommitment and innovationtowards climate-friendlyprocesses, operations, and promotion of innovative scalableactivities. “This discussion is aglobal wake-up call. Scientist,academician, industrialist andgovernment persons have participated and discussed allpossible impacts and its remedytowards better economic andsustainable development of thesociety. We must all take anaction together for sustainableenvironment,” said Dr MihirKumar Purkait.

> Rokibuz ZamanShare your views at

Aaheli.Ghose@timesgroup.com

CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE

Battling Climate ChangeLeft – Right: Dr Naba Kumar Goswami, Aloke Bhattacharjee, Dr Mihir Kumar Purkait, Arjun Deb, Santhosh Jayaram, A K Johari, S M Sahai,Jayanta K Sarma and Dr R M Pant were present at the occasion

The Round Table Discussion held at Guwahati is the first of the series of discussions before the final award ceremony of the 9th edition of the JSW –TOI Earth Care Awards, to be held later this year. The series of discussions,which will happen across the country, has created a platform where thoughtleaders can discuss local climate change issues and ways to address it andshare best practices from the region to be replicated by other regions

• Leadership in urban climateaction

• Community based mitigationand adaptation in waterresources, agriculture andforestry, other land use, animal husbandry and climate riskproofing

• Innovation in climate action

• GHG mitigation in large enterprises

• Leadership of women led enterprise in climate action

AWARD CATEGORIES

For submitting entries pleaselog on to:www.earthcareawards.com

For submitting entries pleaselog on to:www.earthcareawards.com