‘India serious about climate change issues’ NEW DELHI, 17 JULY: Mr Shyam Saran, Special Envoy to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, feels those who think India is not serious about the issue of climate change are “completely off the mark”. Delivering a lecture organised by OneWorld India Foundation which held a day-long consultative dialogue on “India’s Climate Responsive Roadmap for Development” here yesterday, Mr Saran underlined the fact that India had already been doing a great deal on the issue of climate change. He also pointed out that economic and social development and poverty reduction had to be taken into account as they were also overriding priorities for the country. The purpose of yesterday’s dialogue was to build a multi-stakeholder dialogue among members of civil society, business, academia, media and government, “for a conscientious approach to India’s climate responsive roadmap”, said Mr Naimur Rahman, director of OneWorld Foundation India. He said it was also to pressure the government to adopt a more people-centric approach in dealing with the challenges of climate change, both at the national level and at international negotiations. Mr Saran talked about the government’s efforts in bringing about a gradual shift from reliance on fossil fuel to renewable sources of energy. ;SNS   read more »