'Pune needs action leadership to fight climate change'

Dr. Nitin Karmalkar released a special report of 'Pathway to taking Pune to Carbon Neutrality by 2030' at the program organised by PIC today. (L-R) Amitav Malik, Dr. Karmalkar & Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar

On the occasion of World Environment Day, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, President, Pune International Centre (PIC) said that Pune has the capacity to show the entire country how it can combat climate change.

"As Pune, we have to create an achievable target to combat the climate crisis by the year 2020. We have to take a 20-20-20 pledge which includes increasing the green cover by 20 percent, reduce water consumption by 20 percent and increase the use of solar power by 20 percent. Pune needs action leadership more than thought leadership if you want to fight climate change." said Dr. Mashelkar while unveiling a special report called 'Pathway to taking Pune to Carbon by 2030' by Pune International Centre on the occasion of World Environment Day.

The report was also presented by Dr. Nitin Karmalkar, Vice Chancellor, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) and Amitav Malik, Program Committee member, PIC. The program was organized at Sumant Moolgaokar Auditorium in Pune.

"Climate change is for real and we have seen natural disasters in places like Uttarakhand, Chennai, and Kerala in the past few years. The coming years are going to be more crucial," he added.

Commenting on the climate crisis, Prof. (Dr.) Nitin Karmalkar said, "We are seeing erratic monsoon patterns and there have been no rains, while the temperatures have gone 40 plus. Climate change is not an individual problem but it's the problem of the world. All of us have to join this movement to combat the climate crisis and make the world a better place to live in."

About 15 NGOs in Pune have teamed up to look into the environmental problems and find a solution to fight the environmental crisis.

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