India can lead world: Al Gore
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16/03/2008
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Tribune (New Delhi)
The report on climate change by the council appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to be announced in June, which will pave the way for a national policy on climate change. "Work is in progress and there is no reason why it should be delayed beyond June,' chairman of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change and Nobel laureate R.K. Pachauri told reporters on the sidelines of the launch function. Pachauri said the the PM was likely to announce the report at the Sustainable Development Summit to be held here in June. Former US Vice-President Al Gore said today that India, as an advanced developing country, had the capacity to lead the world in development of new renewable energy technologies in fight against climate change. India itself is very vulnerable to climate change but it can become part of the solution, said one of the best known campaigners against global warming at the launch of an initiative in the Capital to spread awareness about climate change. The 2007 Nobel Peace laureate also admitted that his own country (US) was the largest source of greenhouse gases and there was a need for change in the policy. The good news, he added, was that the change was beginning to happen as the three candidates in the race to the White House had a clear position on climate change that was very different from present administration. Talking specifically about India's role, Gore, who also met Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and Parliamentarians yesterday, said India had already proven its capabilities in sectors like IT, pharmaceuticals and steel and it could do the same in development of renewable and other new technologies to solve the climate change problem facing the world. Sharing the dais with IPCC chief R.K. Pachauri, Gore categorically said developed countries must not be asked to take mandatory cap on the emission of GHGs as they, too, had the right to aspire for higher standards of living. The project, a joint initiative of TERI and the JSW Foundation, will hold training and workshops to create awareness about climate change at the grass-roots level.