Emphasizing that climate change was not an issue confined to emitters, Environment Secretary Leena Nandan said at a COP27 panel discussion on Friday that MSMEs and start-ups need access to technology as much as big players do.

Nandan was speaking at a panel discussion on “Technology Needs Assessment for Sustainable Life” at the India Pavilion at COP 27. The Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) hosted the discussion to identify technology needs and their assessment for adoption for sustainable well-being of global citizens in future.

Watch: COP27: Decoding where the world and India stand in acting on climate change 

“Climate change is not an issue confined to those who are seen as emitters. There is now a realisation and larger and uniform understanding that climate change cannot be wished away. It is knocking at our door,” she said.

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“Lifestyles must change”

Nandan pointed out that climate change was leading to increasing natural disasters. “Our lifestyles need to change to respond to the challenges that we are facing… our discussions need to now focus on bridging the gaps between what we want to achieve and how to achieve it.”

To bridge the gap, “technology cannot remain confined to big players due to their access to finance. MSMEs and start-ups need to be enabled to access finance to use technology optimally,” Nandan argued.

She said existing science has many solutions but how to apply that science to our advantage had to be processed. She gave the example of road construction, where a one-size-fits-all policy cannot apply because of India’s huge diversity. “Technology-needs assessment is different for different states. Terrain diversity forces states to find their respective solutions,” she explained.

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“Reduce, reuse, recycle, restore, and refurbish. All ‘R’s need the T, that is, technology,” she added, urging the DST to engage with state governments to come up with innovative solutions.

India is scheduled to release its Long-term Low Emissions and Development Strategies (LTLEDS) at COP27 on Monday. Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav will release the document, said officials.

(With agency inputs)