Roundtable on Climate Change & Odisha was organized by Odia Samaj

Newdelhi:27/9/17: The Roundtable on Climate Change & Odisha was organized by Odia Samaj, in the national capital region.

The roundtable brought together experts & stakeholders from various sectors, including government, policy research organisations like TERI, IIT, OPM, communities of practice and the World Bank, to discuss the role of the all the stakeholders in addressing the sustainable development and climate change agendas, with specific focus on Odisha.

The topic addressed like, Response to climate change in Odisha-the strategic roadmap; Ways to change with changing climate; Climate change impacts and vulnerability assessment; Climate change action plan and policies: Odisha.

Mr. Charudutta Panigrahi started the meeting with the opening note and he emphasised that “poverty reduction is not a one-way street. Many people exit the cycle or fall back into poverty each year in poorer economies like Odisha. We need good, climate-informed development to reduce the impacts of climate change on the poor in India and specifically Odisha.

President, Odia Samaj, Sri Sidhartha Pradhan presided over the discussions and said that “amongst its several suggestions to better manage climate risks, Odia Samaj would collaborate with the governments, the civil society, the industries and other stakeholders for setting up a climate information management system to help integrate baseline information into policy, planning and investment decisions.

Prof U. C. Mohanty of IIT, Bhubaneswar spoke about an innovative concept and explained the concept of Climate Smart Village model in Odisha which would be an innovation by the state. Mr. Barath Mahadevan of TERI spoke about the TERI study on heat islands in Odisha (Jharsuguda and other areas) and shared the data and findings of the study. He suggested that Odia Samaj should help in developing state-level interaction forums or interdepartmental committees (by suggesting the government) to help integrate climate actions into the state-level programme implementation plans of the various departments.

Mr. Ajit Radhakrishnan from OPM (Oxford Policy Management) spoke about helping mainstream climate change resilience measures within budgetary planning and policy-making in Odisha and adaptation of successful programs in other states of India.

Mr Tapas Paul of the World Bank addressed some theoretical concerns, knowledge transfer, adapting to climate change, implications of changing weather, water and the impact of climate change on agriculture business, social growth, economic empowerment to adapt to climate change and industrial development.

Mr. Hiranya Mohanty, Trustee, Odia Samaj gave the vote of thanks. The participants and the speakers believed the Round table was one-of-its-kind at the national level, which would help in giving a renewed urgency to the objective of eradicating extreme poverty by 2025 while tackling climate change in Odisha.