The Orissa Environmental Society (OES) organised its 75th monthly seminar here on Sunday on the topic ‘Climate Change and the Paris Deal.’
Attending as chief speaker, former Vice-Chancellor of the Sambalpur University Prof Madhab Chndra Dash said severe drought and repeated occurrences of other natural disasters in Odisha and the recent floods in Chennai are due to the impact of global warming and climate change.
“Odisha has been suffering from one extreme weather condition to another like from drought to floods and from heat wave to cyclones. Natural calamities have seriously affected people’s livelihoods in the State and it is due to climate change,” Dash said. During the last few years, human activities, particularly industrialisation, urbanisation and ecosystem fragmentation, have caused serious damages, he added.
Recently, from November 30 to December 11, a total of 195 countries met in Paris to make a deal to reduce the effect of climate change. According to an agreement at this meet, wealthy nations would offer financial help to poor countries to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. To help developing countries, the developed nations would generate a fund of 100 billion dollar by 2020.
Former VC of OUAT Prof Debi Prasad Ray was felicitated as a patron of the OES on the occasion. OES president Dr SN Patro and secretary Dr JK Panigrahi, lala AK Singh and Dr BM Faruque also spoke at the meeting.