Webinar on Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction
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Report “Webinar on Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction” At th 1100 - 135 0 Hrs. on 27 November 2020 Jointly Organized By National Institute Of Disaster Management (NIDM), New Delhi & Andhra Pradesh Human Resource Development institute (APHRDI), Ba Andhra Pradesh BACKGROUND National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), New Delhi and Andhra Pradesh Human Resource Development institute (APHRDI), Andhra Pradesh successfully organized a Webinar on, “Environment, climate change and Disaster Risk Reduction” on 27th November 2020 (1100-1350Hrs). Shri Ashish Kumar Panda, Consultant and Faculty Member, NIDM and Ms. Nazia Shaik, APHRDI were the Programme Coordinators for the event. Living in the times of Pandemic, which has shown us many pathways with regard to how to live, how to respect our environment and which has rightly posed serious questions with respect to our present definition of development and growth, this was an apt topic chosen for deliberations at right time. Climate change is expected to worsen the frequency, intensity, and impacts of some types of extreme weather events. For example, sea level rise increases the impacts of coastal storms and warming can place more stress on water supplies during droughts. Technologies for Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) are still undeveloped and untested. Global net anthropogenic CO2 emissions must decline by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 and net- zero emission should be achieved by 2050. This is difficult, and would require rapid and unprecedented economy-wide transformation in each country. Countries need to undertake massive de-carbonisation while the developed countries must also address consumption in their countries. There must be renewed emphasis on climate change adaptation, which requires transformation and incremental shifts with more finance directed towards adaptation. The focus must now be on how developed world can lead and support this transformation. Science has delivered its verdict. It has also provided hope for action and results. It is up to the policymakers to carry out necessary action for keeping the temperature rise upto1.5°C by end of this century as per mandate of Paris Climate Agreement. Not a single nation and community can achieve such massive goals of limiting impacts of climate change. We all need to be united in this noble cause at institutional level, community level and at personal individual level. The objective of the Webinar was to disseminate knowledge and information with respect to Climate Change, Changing Environment, related Disaster Risks and eventually the relevant Disaster Risk Reduction Measures. The Participants included middle and sr. Level Government officials from various line Departments and Ministries of the Central Government, State Governments, Local Governments, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Municipalities etc. There were academicians, research scholars, students, non government organisations, pvt firms and local community. It has been reported by the APHRDI that in all 3439 participants got benefitted from this programme. INAUGURAL SESSION Sri J. S. Venkateswara Prasad, IAS, Director General, AP HRDI, in his inaugural address praised the appropriate timing of this program when our eastern coast is facing the brunt of cyclone Nivar. Indian civilizations have always respected, loved, worshipped and believed in nature. They always had a deep sense of reverence in the nature. With the advent of industrialisation humans have begun the exploitation of nature as well as the third world countries. Our population is also increasing like anything, which in turn increases the need for resources. It is extremely difficult to feed so many mouths. Due to climate change our biodiversity is facing yet another threat and therefore we have to develop a holistic approach. Shri D Chakrapani, IAS(Retd.), Former Director General of AP HRD Institute, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh gave special address at the webinar. He thanked the organizers for organizing such a beautiful webinar. He talked about the need for sustainable development goal for better environment practices. Doctors have been talking for the development of immunity to face such pandemics, because there are more to come. He also talked about the vulnerability of India with regards to disasters and the use of technologies to mitigate the risk. Prof. Anil K Gupta, HoD ECDRM, NIDM set the context for the webinar. He said that Environment, climate change has direct relationships and there are inter-linkages. He said that the destruction of environment leads to increase hazards. It also makes people and environment more vulnerable to hazards. We have various tools such as Environment Impact Assessment. Land use and land cover change, exploitation of natural resources is also developing into hazards and hence the frequency and intensity of disasters is increasing. There is a huge compromise with the environmental issues in Disaster Risk Management and this needs to be seriously taken care of. Technical Session Ms. Shilky, YP, CFB&AiDRR, NIDM gave first talk on sensitization of COVID-19 to sensitize the participants about the current pandemic. She gave a brief overview of the current global and Indian scenario and vaccine update. She talked about the R naught factor of corona virus and the importance of lockdown in fighting the disaster. She also suggested some home remedies for the immunity enhancement. She said that we have to keep calm during this pandemic situation and do not spread rumours, maintain social distancing, keep washing hands. She prescribed behavioural changes to live with pandemic. Mr. Ashish K Panda, Consultant and faculty member, NIDM gave a presentation on climate change and environmental degradation. He talked about climate change and the environmental degradation in that regards, he also talked about loss of biodiversity and its threat to our food security as well as water availability because all these things are interrelated. Increasing sea level is going to impact livelihood of many island countries. Also, several new health emergencies are going to arise. He also suggested what needs to be done to mitigate climate change impacts, and resilience. Then he talked about various policies, national and international, such as Paris agreement. SFDRR, SDG and PM 10 point agenda. Er. Awdhesh Kumar, Assistant Professor, INVERTIS University gave a presentation on S & T innovation for climate change and DRR where he talked about the environmental, climate and disaster linkages, national action plan on climate change, PM’s 10 point agenda, which emphasizes upon the use of science and technological interventions in DRM. He spoke about vertical farming, livestock methane reduction innovations, remote sensing to monitor deforestation. He also threw light on the future of transportation using biofuels. There are various coastal area adaptation technologies that are being used around the globe, flood prediction technologies and technologies during disaster search and rescue as well. Prof. Naveen K Arora, Baba Bheemrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow gave a talk on sustainable environment for better tomorrow. He began with the big bang theory and the fact that climate change has always been there. It has resulted in 4 out of 5 mass extinctions on the planet. He mentioned the global green- house gas emission and its varied and devastating impact on our climate, 9 systems impacting life on earth, global land degradation to biodiversity loss and air pollution and how all these things are interlinked with each other and shape our future existence. He also talked about upcoming challenges such as loss of entire ecosystems like Aral Sea and various oil spills causing destruction of marine ecosystems. He spoke about how the COVID 19 is environmental pandemic, and the role of microbes in life on earth. Then he showed us some wonderful studies on soil reclamation. Mr. Nakul Tarun, Director, Zone4solutions, gave a brief talk about his experiences related to the aspects of climate change and environmental degradation. He said that acceptance is the first step towards fighting the issues related to climate change. Climate change is the reason for occurrence of many disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclones etc. He shared a short experience from his life, where he talked about his village and the decreasing underground water table. He specified the bad practices of development and its implications. He emphasised on the use of sustainable development practices for better tomorrow. Valedictory Session Mr. Ashish Kumar Panda, Consultant and Faculty Member NIDM concluded the webinar while summarizing it. He mentioned the PM’s 10 point agenda where it talks about learning from the disasters. He said that we have better policies and we need to implement these practices on ground level so that our future generations can also see the earth as beautiful as it is. He also thanked all the eminent speakers for their wonderful deliberations, organisers for smooth organisation of the webinar and all the participants for their patient presence and participation in the programme. Ms.Nazia Shaik, Training Coordinator, APHRDI presented a vote of thanks at the end of the programme. She thanked the eminent speakers, delegates, organizers and participants for their time and making this webinar successful and said that NIDM and APHRDI will keep organizing such informative programmes. TAKEAWAYS:- Covid-19 Sensitization was done with respect to its present status, dos and donts, benefits of lockdown,