NGOs urge Stalin to declare a carbon neutral policy

Chennai

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) based in Tamil Naduand involved in the conservation of the environment, on Tuesday requested ChiefMinister M.K. Stalin to announce a carbon neutral policy for the state.

Coimbatore-based NGO, 'Osai' on Monday organised a meetingof Tamil Nadu-based NGOs involved in environmental conservation as well aspushing for a green economy and society.

The NGOs requested the Tamil Nadu government to appeal toChief Ministers of other states to frame a carbon neutral policy in theirstates based on the recent working group of Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC) report that had predicted major natural disasters if not properlycontained.

Conservationists and environmental activists requested PrimeMinister Narendra Modi to declare a carbon neutral policy at the United NationsClimate Change Conference -- 2021, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, fromOctober 31 to November 12.

The appeal and the request to the policymakers were mainlybased on the findings of the sixth assessment report of the working group 1 ofthe IPCC. The IPCC is the United Nations body for assessing the science relatedto climate change.

The sixth assessment report said climate change, especiallyglobal warming, is the result of human interventions. The report said thepresent and future generations will be living with climate change-inducednatural disasters.

Oceans are able to absorb nearly 50 per cent of the carbonwhich is released into the atmosphere. The NGOs collectively have decided toappeal to Chief Minister Stalin to declare a carbon neutral policy immediatelyand implement scientific measures to reduce carbon emissions.

A study found that on an analysis of 420 extreme naturaldisasters, 80 per cent was due to climate change. The study revealed thatnatural carbon sinks that absorb more carbon than they release, like oceans andforests, are losing their ability to absorb carbon due to environmentaldegradation.