Press Release

1. Press Conference @ COP 25  

Smart Campuses: Rapid Action on Climate Crisis

Date: 7^th Nov 2019

Time: 12:30 PM – 01:00 PM

Venue: Conference hall, Madrid

Organized by:  TERRE Policy Centre -India

Key partners: UNESCO, Operation Earth-China and Yale University-USA

Key actions at Press Conference would be the Launch of:

1. Campus Guidelines: Single-use plastic-free Campus

2. Campus Framework: Smart Sustainable Landscape

3. Global Launch of TERRE Olympiad and Campus Carbon footprint calculator

Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN) is fast expanding global network of the university and college campuses for rapid action on climate change and SDGs. It is now convincingly proved that the students prefer to take actions in the campus than simply protesting outside the campus. The fact that such practical work is closely linked to IoT, AI, Robotics and cloud networking makes it more appealing and useful by the students in their professional career, once they are out of campus.

The educational campuses have always been in the forefront of technology transformation and social evolution. The youth have immense capacity and potential to drive the accelerated change. However, they need a catalytic platform and opportunities to bring out the rapid conducive solutions. TERRE Policy Centre has provided this platform called ‘Smart Campus Cloud Network” (SCCN – sccnhub.com)

The world is almost facing the ‘tip’ of catastrophe due to continued and unabated GHG emissions leading to global warming. Air pollution associated with carbon emission is darker side of the climate crisis.

TERRE Policy Centre, a not-for-profit organization based in India has been working actively with the youth community in schools and colleges/universities to create rapid action-oriented awareness on UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and undertaking carbon neutrality in their campuses. As warned by IPCC SR 15, Carbon Neutrality by middle of the century is needed to keep the global warming below 1.5 deg cent. Universities can achieve this objective towards net zero carbon footprint by reducing the amount of Carbon dioxide through renewables and energy efficiency. They can also balance the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere with an equal amount of carbon sequestration, for example by planting trees.

In a press conference on 7^th December in COP 25 Madrid, Rajendra Shende – Chairman of TERRE Policy Centre and Former Director UNEP would be positioning practical activities in educational campuses to implement UN SDGs and Climate mitigation. Representatives from UNESCO, China and Yale University would join TERRE to send strong collaborative messages on Climate-Crisis.

Under Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN), TERRE will be promoting Rapid action on Climate Crisis through global network of university campuses that would use digital technologies like Internet of Things, Cloud networking, robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

As a part of SCCN, it will be releasing following two publications;

1. Single-use plastic-free campus guidelines
2. Campus landscape framework

TERRE’s plan to launch youth awareness tool ‘TERRE Olympiad’ on global scale, which it has been conducting online since last 5 years. It will also show-case the development of urban forestry as vital carbon sink through active participation by youth and PPP.

TERRE’s progress in development of Campus Carbon Footprint Calculator with active engagement of the students, to measure and assess the progress towards carbon neutrality will be informed. 

2. Mr. Rajendra Shende, Chairman TERRE Policy Centre was invited by China to make a presentation on Climate Communication and Public Participation. He was also co-ordinating Lead Author of 2007 IPCC Report that won the Noble Peace Prize informed about importance of breaking down the IPCC’s technical messages for actionable initiatives. His focus was on a role of youth and university students for actions on Climate Crisis within the community, where they live, i.e campus.

 

3. TERRE Policy Centre also gave presentation in India Pavilion on ‘Role of women in addressing Climate Change and Urban Forestry’. The event was hosted by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Foundation (ICFRE) on Land degradation. Click here for news in press 

4. TERRE Policy Centre also talked on ‘Disruptive innovation in dry land management: FEW – Food, Energy and Water’ in an event organized by National Council for Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Public Leadership (NCCSD). It was based of Mr. Shende’s study in South of France and proposal being prepared for Rajasthan. 

Notes for Press:

Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN) see: sccnhub.com , supported by UNESCO and now partnered with 72 university/colleges focusses mainly on campus activities related to SDGs including, climate change.

TERRE Olympiad (see: http://www.terregreenolympiad.com ) , is the awareness tool in the form of an online quiz-competition, based on the issues of environment and sustainable development. It is being conducted nationally every year with the support of Ministry of India. In 2020, TERRE will launch a global initiative.

Contact for further queries

Rajendra Shende

Chairman TERRE Policy Centre

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Phone +918975657235

Dr. Vinitaa Apte

Founder Director TERRE Policy Centre

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