KOCHI: As part of Holy Father Pope Francis’ humanitarian vision, Vatican-based Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences will extend support to Kochi to tackle the challenges of human-induced climate change and to maintain environmental sustainability.
As part of the initiative, Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany made a detailed presentation on the issues faced by Kochi and the country in general, especially the impact of climate change, at a seminar held at the Synod Hall at Vatican Gardens the other day. Kochi is the only Indian city selected for the initiative, along with 49 other cities from across the world. “The serious issues that could affect Kochi are the global projection that the average sea level would rise significantly across the globe by the middle of the century, perhaps as much as 0.9 metre. As on average, the city area is only 1.5 metre above the mean sea level, the climate change would pose a big threat to the very survival of the city,” Chammany said in his presentation.
He said that being one of the fastest growing urban centres in India, Kochi had witnessed a large influx of migrants in recent times, mainly unskilled labourers from the other states. The living conditions made available to the migrant population by their over-exploiting employers is very pathetic.
“This workshop on ‘Modern Slavery and Climate Change’ is a very good platform for a city like Kochi, which is currently trying to address these issues on a war-footing through various projects and programmes,” said Chammany.
On the occasion, the Mayor told the delegates that he believed the desired objective of the workshop - to put pressure on the UN to make sure that the New Sustainable Development Goals give enough priority in treating modern slavery and human trafficking as a crime against humanity - will be attained by the collective effort.
