Gujarat NGO participates in 'Cut the Carbon March'

Ahmedabad, Aug 24 (UNI) Gujarat-based non governmental organisation ''Paryavaran Mitra'' recently participated in the ''Cut the Carbon March'', organised by UK-based NGO Christian Aid, in order to highlight the problems faced by India due to global warming.

Global warming has caused an imbalance in climatic conditions, following which heavy rains claimed 1521 lives and renderred over two crore people homeless in India this year, Mahesh Pandya of Paryavaran Mitra told a press conference here today. Emission of carbon from developed countries have caused this situation, and the organisation has urged the UK government to draw the attention of the US and other western countries to this problem, he said.

Mr Pandya participated in twelve meetings of the ''Cut the Carbon March'' and met 15 UK Members of Parliament with the request.

It is the poorest who are the worst sufferers although they have done the least to cause the problem, Mr Pandya pointed out.

Informing about the Christian Aid-launched ''Cut the Carbon March'', Mr Pandya said it is aimed at mobilising supporters and partner organisations to tackle climate change, both locally and globally.

The 80-day march, which commenced on July 14, has ten marchers from the developing world and ten from the UK who will march 1,000 miles through Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, to highlight the devastating impact that climate change is having on the world's poorest people, and demand urgent action from government and business to prevent further climate change.

''The climate change bill is a huge opportunity for the UK to get its own house in order. However, unless the bill meets certain benchmarks, that opportunity will be squandered,'' Mr Pandya said.

If there is a two degrees centigrade rise in global temperature, millions will be at risk of hunger and tens of millions could be exposed to spreading tropical disease like malaria, Mr Pandya said.

To avoid this, UK emissions have to fall to at least 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050, he said.

UNI