More eco-clubs will be established in schools as part of the emphasis of the State government on involving the younger generation in efforts to protect the environment, Environment and Forests Secretary C.V. Shankar said here on Thursday.
Speaking at the inaugural of a two-day conference on ‘Climate change and CO2 management: mitigation, separation and utilisation', at the Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University, he said there were 8,000 such clubs in schools throughout the State. “The State Planning Commission gives Rs.2,500 per club per year for their functioning. Now the Commission is keen on expanding the network of clubs. We are thinking of printing booklets with messages on the environment, the importance of planting trees and reducing CO2 emissions,” he said. On the efforts being taken by the government to reduce CO2 emissions, Mr. Shankar said that 10 crore trees are being planted over a period of 8 years with Japanese funding under the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Project.
Director of the Centre for Environmental Studies, A. Navaneetha Gopalakrishnan, said that climate change from increasing levels of green house gases in the atmosphere has become a significant threat. Former Director of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) Sukumar Devotta said the main source of CO2 was power generation from burning of fossil fuels. There was a need to look at cost effective solutions for setting up CO2 capturing mechanisms in power stations, he said.
Anna University Registrar S.Shanmugavel, Centre for International Affairs Director K.Baskar and Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation Research Director A.Ramachandran participated in the event.
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