NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 5: In Order to do its bit to contain the problem of global warming, the Science and Technology Ministry has proposed to set up a high-end research institute to look for green technologies for industry.
Proposed to be named the Indian Institute of Environmental Technologies, the institute will take up projects in collaboration with the industry to develop greener technologies.
The proposal comes three days after the United Nations’ Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report in Paris saying human activities were chiefly responsible for global warming and urgent action was required by governments to contain the damage.
Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said the idea for the institute was mooted last month, long before the IPCC came out with its report, and was in continuation of India’s efforts to cut down on its contribution to global warming.
“We believe that in the times to come, as a nation seeing a 9 per cent growth rate, India is bound to contribute to global warming.
It is therefore important that we develop and use technologies and material that are greener and help in containing the damage due to harmful emissions,” Sibal said
Sibal said the IPCC report, though quite important, did not say anything that wasn’t already known. “We had expected these kinds of findings. We are alert and conscious of the dangers of climate change and are already taking urgent steps to move to cleaner alternatives.”
He did not, however, put a time-frame for the institute to come into existence but said the proposal had been put on a fast-track.
To start with, the institute, which will be based on a public-private partnership, will engage with the construction industry. “We will take an industry-wise approach and in due course, will work with every sector to ensure that the emission of greenhouse gases is capped,” Sibal said.
India is not the only one thinking of setting up such an institute. Britain had also come out with a similar proposal. “We are going to work closely with the English and try to extend the network.” “We want to be the front-runners in developing technologies for global good,” he said.
Sibal said global warming and steps to tackle it would also be one of the discussions at the India-EU ministerial conference on science later this week.
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