UP climate conclave: Time to plan energy conservation, say experts
There was a need to cut carbon emission in whatever one did, said experts on the second day of the ‘UP Climate Challenge Conclave-2021
LUCKNOW: With increasing urban sprawl, it was time to plan energy conservation and cut carbon emission in whatever one did, from making a building to having a meal, said experts on the second day of the ‘UP Climate Challenge Conclave-2021’ on Friday.
“Carbon is emitted not only when you start making a building or start using lighting and cooling equipment, it starts from the point building material is made. There are 250 types of building materials,” said Vasudevan Suresh, chairman of the Indian Green Building Council, while addressing the technical session along with other experts.
He said, “In all, 75% development is taking place in urban areas and factories, buildings and big offices are coming up. We need to think what components we use and whether we are focusing on making buildings sufficient with natural energy.”
“We have green space of 2-sq mts per person but the WHO says it should be 9 sq mts per person. In fact, we need to see the present situation as an opportunity to work with abundance of sunlight in the country,” said Suresh.
Vandana Sehgal, dean, department of planning and architecture, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, spoke on climate resilient infrastructure. “Mapping of the urban areas under development is now necessary to decide the energy needs,” she said.
There were one billion air conditioners running in the country at present and data said by 2050 they would increase to 4.5 billion, said Anupam Bansal, an architect.
Senior forest officials, including Manoj Singh, additional chief secretary, department of environment, forest and climate change, Pawan Sharma, and representatives of other organizations, including Mukesh Singh, state head and chairman of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Lucknow Chapter, were present in the programme.
Faggan Singh Kulaste, Union minister of state for steel and rural development, said that commendable work had been done by the Yogi government since 2017, be it plantation or cleaning rivers. He requested to submit a detailed set of recommendations by experts during this two-day conclave.
In all, 11 technical sessions were conducted in two days. Topics covered role of environmental legal framework in climate action, climate science-decoding 1.5 degree centigrade and climate vulnerability in Uttar Pradesh.