‘Climate change mitigation shouldn’t stifle devpt of poor’

Thrissur: Tejal Kanitkar, scholar and thinker on climate and energy policy, has said that the efforts to mitigate climate change and the associated global warming should not be implemented by hampering the development of poorer sections in countries like India.
Kanitkar, who is from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, was speaking after inaugurating the state conference of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) on Friday.
“It is true that the world has warmed by about 1.1°C already as compared to pre-industrial times, and that the global warming is anthropogenic in nature or is due to human influence. However, it must not be forgotten that much of the greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming, are generated by the rich and developed nations,” she said.
As per the recent data, the developed countries like the US and China account for 60% of greenhouse gas emissions, while the developing countries contribute only 17%, Kanitkar said.
“We must think about how we leverage the limited carbon resource to secure our most vulnerable sectors and populations – MSME, agriculture, low-income households,” she said.