NEW DELHI: The Government on Tuesday announced the constitution of a high-level advisory group on climate change. The Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change will coordinate National action plans for assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change. It will advise the Government on pro-active measures that can be taken by India to deal with the challenge of climate change. It will also facilitate inter-ministerial coordination and guide policy in relevant areas.

The announcement comes on the World Environment Day and just before the G-8 Summit where climate change is likely to be discussed.

Manmohan's message

To mark the day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his message, described the threat of climate change as real and said unless "we alter our lifestyles and pursue a sustainable model of development, our future will be at peril."

Dr. Singh said it was incumbent upon all to think of future generations and the future of our planet each time we undertook an act of consumption. He said India was committed to pursuing environmentally sustainable development strategies. "While we have a long way to go in meeting the aspirations of our people and while we must rid our country of the scourge of poverty, ignorance and disease, we should do so in a manner that is environmentally sustainable."

According to him the challenge before us is, therefore, to protect our environment and ensure the well being of future generations, even as we seek to accelerate the pace of economic growth, pursue industrialisation and the modernisation of agriculture and improve the quality of life of all our people.

Official members

The official members of the Council are Ministers for External Affairs, Finance, Environment and Forests, Agriculture, Water Resources, and Science and Technology, besides Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairperson of Planning Commission; R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister; V. Krishnamurthy, chairperson National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council; C. Rangarajan, chairperson Economic Advisory Council; Ajay Mathur, chairperson Bureau of Energy Efficiency; the Foreign Secretary; the Union Environment and Forests Secretary and the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister who would be the convenor of the Council.

The non-official members of the Council are R.K. Pachauri, chairperson The Energy and Resources Institute; Prodipto Ghosh; Sunita Narain; Chandrakshekhar Dasgupta; Ratan Tata; Raj Chengappa, Executive Editor, India Today and R. Ramachandran, Science Editor, Frontline.

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