50:50 chance, 1.5 deg C in 5 years

There is a frustrating feeling all around that our race towards keeping the Earth's average rise in temperature below 1.5 deg C, as compared to pre-industrial times, is now almost lost. The latest report from World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stated this week that there is a 50-50 chance the world could temporarily exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming in just five years. It was only in November 2021that "keep 1.5 alive," referring to the Celsius temperature target of the Paris Climate Agreement that echoed throughout COP 26 in Glasgow in the UK.  

Global warming is already causing frequent and more intense climatic events that have, in turn, direct and ripple impact across the global developmental process in rich as well as poor countries. Rich are able to absorb the brunt of these events whereas the poor are left behind to suffer. The extreme heatwave is a glaring example of this inequity and inability to deal with the disaster.

Loss and Damage to the health and lives of the people and ecosystem, biodiversity, food security and water scarcity caused due to extreme heat require humanitarian aid agencies now need to initiate the operations of the disaster management.

Climate change is the story of the collective inaction of planetary proportion. Disasters are on the fast track. Mitigation efforts are miserably slow. After the resolve of mitigation in the 1990s, humanity moved towards the softer action on climate adaptation in the 2000s. In the 2010s the phrase 'Climate resilience' came into vogue to camouflage inaction. Now in the new decade of 2020, the global community is engaged in equipping themselves for 'Disaster Management' by calling the services of UN Humanitarian agencies.

Should Smart Campus Cloud Network (see: sccnhub.com) of universities also now prioritize disaster management? Or probably we can give another nice name to this proposal: 'Smart Disaster Management' with the use of ubiquitous digital technologies for effective disaster management?

This is where youth from Universities step in as change agents. Youth in Universities are the bridge between the divided world. UN Secretary-General said last month that youth should keep pushing, mobilizing, and 'bringing (new) ideas to the table'. Indeed, amidst conflicts, covid and climate change youth have kept their heads above to raise their voices and mobilise for the future.

Through its smart strategy of making campus a laboratory for 'net-zero' and for SDGs, SCCN is committed to skilling the youth to fulfil the pledge of 'Not Zero-Net Zero'. 250 universities have taken this pledge of making their campuses carbon neutral.

In the upcoming UN summit on 'Transforming Education' that is scheduled in September 2022, SCCN would be represented by the university students who have launched active engagement in mobilizing action for solutions.

 Dr Rajendra Shende, 

Chairman - TERRE Policy Centre,

Former Director UNEP, IIT Alumni  

Coordinating lead author of IPCC.