NGOs urge TN CM Stalin to declare a carbon neutral policy

Chennai, Sep 21 Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) based in Tamil Nadu and involved in the conservation of the environment, on Tuesday requested Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to announce a carbon neutral policy for the state.

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

The NGOs requested the Tamil Nadu government to appeal to Chief Ministers of other states to frame a carbon neutral policy in their states based on the recent working group of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that had predicted major natural disasters if not properly contained.

Conservationists and environmental activists requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare a carbon neutral policy at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 to November 12.

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

The sixth assessment report said climate change, especially global warming, is the result of human interventions. The report said the present and future generations will be living with climate change-induced natural disasters.

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

A study found that on an analysis of 420 extreme natural disasters, 80 per cent was due to climate change. The study revealed that natural carbon sinks that absorb more carbon than they release, like oceans and forests, are losing their ability to absorb carbon due to environmental degradation.