SAARC steps up effort to tackle climate change

New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) Stepping up efforts to tackle
climate change, South Asian nations Tuesday decided to set up
weather monitoring stations, forestry centre and natural
disaster management system for the region.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
Environment Ministers, at a meeting here, agreed to enhance
cooperation on climate-related matters and also issue a joint
statement on the sidelines of the UN summit on climate change
in Copehagen in December.
Briefing reporters on the meeting, Indian Environment
Minister Jairam Ramesh said six key decisions were taken by
the SAARC ministers to tackle global warming, which included
holding of an annual workshop to review climate change actions
by each of the eight member nations.
The first SAARC workshop is scheduled to be held in Delhi
early next year where experts would discuss action plans on
climate change adaptation and mitigation responses of members.
India would help set up 50 automatic weather stations in
Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to monitor weather patterns,
especially storms, across the member-states.
Afghanistan and Pakistan would be covered in the second
phase followed by the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Ramesh said.
A joint statement at Copenhagen in December, finalisation
of the regional environment treaty for SAARC countries and
charting a natural disaster rapid response mechanism were the
other decisions taken. MORE PTI