Climate change is a major global environmental challenge being faced by humanity today with implications for food production, natural ecosystems, freshwater supply and health. According to the latest scientific assessment, the earth’s climate system has changed on both global and regional scales since the pre-industrial era.

This was stated by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda while delivering the valedictory address at an educators’ conference on “Environment and Challenges of Climate Change” organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) on the campus of TERI Gram here today.

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that by 2100, the global mean temperature may increase between 1.4° and 5.8°C,” the Chief Minister pointed out, adding that this unprecedented increase was expected to have a severe impact on the global hydrological system, ecosystems, the sea level, crop production and related processes. The impact would be particularly severe in tropical areas, which mainly consisted of developing countries, including India, he added.

The Chief Minister noted that environment conservation had become a global concern and in this context, teachers and mediapersons were key educators who could help society in maintaining a healthy relationship with the environment by sensitising their students and readers about the crucial matter.

Hooda expressed the hope that the teaching fraternity of Haryana would help generate awareness about environmental issues. He also exhorted the mediapersons to play a more meaningful role in spreading the message of environment conservation.

“We must make concerted efforts to change the mindset of the people about their relationship with nature. Environment education is a process aimed at making the people aware and concerned about the sensitive issue,” he observed.

The Chief Minister said there was a dire need to make the children understand the vital importance of environment conservation. “Therefore, it is important to enhance knowledge of the teaching community on issues related to environment and provide them with the required learning experience,” he maintained.

Addressing the participants, the TERI director-general and IPCC chairman, Dr R.K.Pachauri, said the underlying idea behind the conference was to enable the teachers to play a proactive role in the process of disseminating knowledge on environmental issues with special focus on climate change.

Pachauri put forward a proposal to assess the impact of climate change in Haryana, especially on the state’s agriculture.

The Chief Minister accepted the proposal in principle and appreciated the TERI authorities for organising the conference as part of the institute’s drive to promote environment education.

On this occasion, Hooda also released a set of non-fiction knowledge books on environment for children.

I.H. Rehman, director (social transformation) at TERI, proposed a vote of thanks.

Nearly 350 teachers from different parts of the country as well as abroad attended the three-day conference, which was the first-ever event of its kind.