PHOTOS: V. GANESAN AND T. SINGARAVELOU

SCIENCE MELA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presents the President's Medal to Nobel laureate Harmut Michel of Germany at the inaugural function of the 94th Indian Science Congress at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

CHIDAMBARAM (Tamil Nadu): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday reiterated that developed countries must bear more responsibility in meeting the challenges of climate change and promoting sustainable development by altering their consumption patterns.

The "developing world cannot accept a freeze on global inequity." The measures the global community took to protect the environment and deal with climate change should be equitable in their impact on the development prospect of the developing countries.

At right, Dr. Singh presents the medal to ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair (centre) as Harsh Gupta, General President of the Congress applauds. At left are Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal and Tamil Nadu Governor S.S. Barnala.

Referring to the growing debate on climate change, at the inaugural function of the 94th session of the Indian Science Congress here, he said the environment-friendly technologies being developed across the world must be shared and made available to all.

Find new pathways to growth

"We can and must use the inventiveness and ingenuity of our knowledge to find new pathways to growth. But this must be a shared effort. It must be an effort that enables the poor to improve their quality of life, their well-being, their consumption levels, without being forced to pay the price for the profligacy and excessive consumption of the rich and the super rich."

The Prime Minister urged scientists to study the possible impact of climate change on the Indian monsoon. "We are keenly aware of the looming effects of climate change. But the science of climate change is still nascent and uncertain. That is why Indian scientists must engage in exploring the links between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change."

There should be focussed research on issues of water, food and energy.

"Of the many challenges our planet is facing, three are vital to the survival of life on Earth. These are the availability of water, food and energy."

In particular, he called for research towards finding efficient, economic and ecologically sustainable ways of using, conserving and replenishing water, developing new technologies for harnessing nuclear, solar, wind, biofuel and other alternative sources of energy, and launching a second green revolution, which would be more holistic than the first, covering forest conservation and management, sustainable environmental protection, water conservation, utilisation of herbs and plants and improvement in livestock productivity.

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