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Mitigating climate change

The recommendations on climate change mitigation made by a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provide hope that concerted action can make a real difference in the next quarter century. The panel is convinced that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can be pegged at relatively safe levels with measures that will not affect GDP growth. It is little surprise that the working group found that owing to human activity gas emissions, primarily carbon dioxide, rose by 70 per cent between 1970 and 2004.What is of great interest to policymakers is the actionable part of the report which addresses emissions by sectors such as energy producers, transport, buildings, land use, agriculture, and forestry. As Gro Harlem Brundtland, a U.N. special envoy on climate change has observed, leaders "have to do things that hurt" to save the environment. Much of that challenge lies in implementing carbon capture and storage technologies in the energy supply sector, which in the past three-and-half decades has been responsible for a 145 per cent increase in gas emissions. The IPCC estimates that more than $20 trillion will be spent on energy infrastructure between now and 2030. It is imperative that such investments are environmentally sustainable.

Climate change can be mitigated in many other ways, such as improving the efficiency of energy-intensive devices, vehicles, and buildings, all of which involve direct and indirect gas emissions. Developing countries like India must adopt new, energy-efficient technologies. Fuel-efficient vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and affordable and safe public transport need policy support in the form of lower taxes and promotion of usage. The government can mandate that buildings integrate green technologies such as solar photovoltaic systems, which are particularly relevant in a country with plentiful sunlight. The energy efficiency of end-user equipment can be ensured through appropriate tax breaks and certification systems. The IPCC points out that improved cooking stoves and high-efficiency lighting, heating, and cooling devices are available even today. What they need is promotion.

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