He stated this during a lecture on the “The state of climate change”
on 7 October 2011 delivered via video conferencing at the Asian
Institute of Technology (AIT) and a host of other institutes. The Nobel
laureate said that the world needs an effective carbon price, that can
provide a signal to the market by which producers and consumers can
move towards low carbon products and supply system. “Price on carbon is
perhaps the most effective means by which we can bring about
mitigation,” he added.
Prof. Pachauri stated that the AR5 synthesis report will be based on
three working groups which are working on the science of climate
change; impacts, adaptation and vulnerability issues; and mitigation
options. While this report would significantly enhance our knowledge,
Dr. Pachauri stated that “what we already know is enough for us to take
action.”
He described adaption to climate change as “crucial, essential and
urgent,” since the system possesses a certain inertia. Even if we hold
the emissions of the Green House Gases (GHGs) at today’s levels, their
impact would continue for a long time, he added. The Nobel laureate
stated that “neither adaptation nor mitigation can avoid the impact of
climate change, though they can complement each other and significantly
reduce the risk of climate change.”
Dr. Pachauri also stated that the IPCC will be releasing a special
report on extreme events and disasters by the end of this year. The
report would include assessment of vulnerability, costs of climate
change, assessment of tools to build capacity, and guidance towards
integration of disaster risk strategy in international policy and
national level programs. Case studies of extreme events, vulnerable
setting, and management approaches would also form a part of the
Report.
Responding to questions from the audience, Prof. Pachauri conceded
that the “IPCC had not disseminated the results of its work
effectively”. Stating that IPCC’s communication effort was “totally
inadequate”, Prof. Pachauri remarked that according to him if the IPCC was to mount a major effort, then
they needed 4-5 communication experts in the IPCC secretariat. He
reasoned that this was because the IPCC secretariat has been very lean,
and for 17 years up to 2005, it had only five people, which has now
grown to 10. However he added that in democratic societies, the best
way towards action is to inform the public, and all of us can play the
role.
The lecture, which was delivered as a part of the Institute wide
course “Climate, Energy and Food Security in the Asia Pacific” under
the Asia Pacific Initiative (API), was coordinated at AIT by Dr. Abdul
Salam, Coordinator, Energy field of study at AIT. The lecture was
simultaneously telecast at TERI, India; University of Hawai, United
States of America; National University of Samoa, Samoa; United Nations
University, Keio University, Okayama University, Waseda University, and
University of Ryukyus in Japan; University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia;
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and Institute for
Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).
