Bhubaneswar Call signed at Sub-National Workshop on Indian Cities' Perspective on Post-2012 Climate Agreemen
3 September 2009, Bhubaneswar, India
On 3 September 2009, the Sub-National Workshop on Indian Cities' Perspective on Post-2012 Climate Agreement’ was held at Hotel Mayfair Lagoon in Bhubaneswar, India. The workshop was well attended by representatives from participating project cities, government officials, international organisations & local NGOs, research organisations, consultants etc. All in all, the workshop was very interactive received an overwhelming response. It was evident from the deliberations and presentations that cities are working towards reducing carbon emissions and are making contribution on their parts in solving the global problem of Climate change.
- Dr. A. K. Panda
The chief guest at this workshop was Dr. A. K. Panda, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Housing & Urban Dev. Dept. Govt of Orissa. In his speech, he stated that there is a necessity for a comprehensive structure in place in dealing with the issue of Climate Change. He also said that cities needs to take action now to see qualitative change in the future.
- Mr. Vishal Kumar Dev
The Municipal Commissioner of Bhubaneswar city, Mr. Vishal Kumar Dev, was also present at the workshop. He highlighted the work being done by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation in making the city energy efficient. Ms. Haimanti Poddar, Senior Regional Advisor at the British Deputy High Commission also addressed the delegates and apprised them of British High Commission’s activities under the Strategic Programme Fund and in particular under the Climate Roadmap project. Dr Supriya Pattanayak, State Representative of DFID was also present at the workshop. She gave a brief on the various activities being done by DFID in the State of Orissa.
ICLEI South Asia shared the Energy Status Summary of the project cities from East Region (Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Asansol, Haldia, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Patna, Raipur) at the workshop. They shared experiences on renewable energy/ engery efficiency activities being taken up by their respective city corporations. They all agreed to the view that the local governments should have a say in the formulation of national policy and their involvement in international treaties and programmes related to climate change and associated activities. Along with discussion on the energy status and action plans, the viewpoints and suggestions on post-2012 climate agreements were also consolidated into a Bhubaneswar Call which was agreed upon and signed by 26 participants.
More information on Roadmap activities in South Asia can be found here.
News coverage on Bhubaneswar
Article in The Hindu: Bhubaneswar ranked 23rd among 40 polluted cities
(10 October 2009)