Kumari Selja Calls for Increased Use of Public Transport and Energy Efficient Appliances in Homes to Make Cities Sustainable
The Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Culture Kumari Selja has called upon the people to join hands in formulating the urban agenda based on the principles of sustainable development, so that quality of life of all urban citizens in the country specially the lower income and disadvantage groups can be enhanced. Addressing the World Habitat Day 2011 function here today she said, climate change is one of the defining challenges of our times. She said, although the cities present enormous opportunities for economic growth and the generation of wealth, yet they contribute disproportionately to pollution due to population concentration. If the cities are un-managed, they further aggravate environmental degradation, the Minister added.
The Minister said, 50 % of the global population is now living in cities, which occupy just 2 % of the earth surface but consume 75% of the planet’s natural resources and generate 50% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Kumari Selja said, a vast majority of people in urban areas will be affected by climate change as it negatively impacts infrastructure and worsens the access to basic urban services and the quality of life in cities. She said, the most vulnerable to climate change in cities are the urban poor and slum dwellers due to poor habitat, limited access to basic services and overall poor quality of life. She said further degradation in basic service delivery and quality of life for them would be disastrous. Kumari Selja said, her ministry is reducing their vulnerability to the climate change through flagship schemes of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) by freeing them from slums or slum like conditions.
She called upon the people especially the youth to increase use of public transport and energy efficient appliances in their homes to make the cities sustainable.
The Minister also gave away prizes to the winners of NHB Essay Competition, BMTPC Painting Competition for Differently Abled Children, HUDCO Painting Competition for Street & Shelterless Children and Paper Presentation on Cities & Climate Change. She also released special publications by NHB, NCHF, BMTPC and HUDCO on the occasion.
The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October each year as the World Habitat Day. The idea is to reflect on the state of human settlements and the necessity of adequate shelter for all. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of human habitat.
For this year’s celebrations UN-HABITAT has chosen the theme “Cities and Climate Change” because climate change is fast becoming the preeminent development challenge of the 21st century. Indeed, no-one today can really foresee the predicament in which a town or city will find itself in 10, 20 or 30 years time. In this new urban era with most of humanity now living in towns and cities, one must bear in mind that the greatest impacts of disasters resulting from climate change begin and end in cities. Cities too have a great influence on climate change. This gives us a compelling set of opportunities because cities with their people, industries, seats of learning, culture and infrastructure can provide the best solutions when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving coping mechanisms and reducing vulnerability to the impacts of climate disruption.
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