Manipur: Director Dr T Brajakumar attends COP 28 in Dubai

Imphal, Dec 4: Manipur's Environment & Climate Change Director, Dr. Tourangbam Brajakumar, made a presentation on “Climate risk profile for adaptation in Manipur State” as part of inclusive climate actions for sustainable development of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) in the on-going 28th Conference of Parties (CoP) at Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Dr. T Brajakumar made the presentation during the first session of a side event at the India Pavilion hosted by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), India, on Sunday, wherein he highlighted that the erratic (with high intensity) rainfall leads to frequent floods and landslides, besides draught affecting agriculture land and subsequent needs for changing of cropping patterns.

This trend also helps in increasing livelihood issues, besides recording new diseases such as dengue, Japanese encephalitis, etc.

When contacted, Dr. Brajakumar informed, “Normally all the participants try to translate their gaps and urgent needs, luckily, this time COP is more focused on resilience and climate finance-extension of network.”

Regarding the presentation, he further informed that there will be a separate session as part of the world climate action summit and one of the thematic areas is climate change vulnerability in the Himalayan region: impacts and implications.

Representatives from Switzerland Development Corporation,International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Nepal,GBPNIHE, Almora, India and DST, India, participated in the first session and discussed the Climate Change Programme under the National Action Plan on Climate Change of the Government of India and Risk Assessment in India.

The climate of India is highly dependent on the Himalayan range and the IHR has been a shelter for more than 50 million people,according to DST at the CoP 28 side event. Any impact in the Himalayas would mean an effect on the lives of millions of people, not only in India but also on the entire subcontinent. These include changes on account of natural causes, climate change resulting from anthropogenic emissions and developmental pathways,it added. Hence, it becomes crucial to assess the vulnerability of the IHR.

The 28th COP is being held in Dubai from November 30 until December 12, 2023, where representatives from 197 countries are showcasing their efforts to limit global warming and prepare for future climate change. This is the first time where countries formally assessed their progress under the 2015 Paris climate agreement.