By Syed Qamar Hasan
A high-ranking official from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UFCCC said yesterday, he was optimistic that India would be able to cut down its carbon emission contributing towards reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
On a private visit to the city, Syed Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary UFCCC based in Bonn, was addressing the students of the Hyderabad Institute Excellence, HIE at a seminar. “Climate Change Process of the United Nations” was held at its sprawling campus in Vikarabad. He pared down the complex terminology used in the climate control campaign like fossil, non-fossil fuel, renewable and non-renewable energy, Green House Gas effects to a simple narration to make the students understand that rising temperatures, causing floods and other related calamities are the result of humans using excessive oil, petroleum, gases and coal, known as fossil fuels to run gadgets and equipment in daily lives causing heavy concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. He explained that if renewable energy sources like water, wind sunlight, and Geothermal energy ( energy extracted from the earth’s crust) are used, it will greatly help reduce the emission of carbon dioxide in the air and reduce global warming.
The HIE runs a series of seminars on socio-economic-cultural issues by scholars, professionals, and experts on issues related to current affairs and career-building of students every Thursday, under the moniker The Thursday Table, introduced by its recently appointed principal Mrs. Parbhavati.
Ovais Sarmad is the son of the soil hailing from an illustrious Hyderabadi family also briefed the students on his career graph and explained the setup and working of the organization he works for. He urged them to aspire hard, be ambitious and not shy away from challenges. ”As future citizens of India and the world, you have the responsibility of playing a constructive role in fighting global warming and protecting the environment from the hazards of global warming” he told the CBSC students. Sighting the example of the Swedish teenager climate activist Greta Thunberg, Mr. Ovais said that the millennials should be active in the war against global warming supporting governments and organizations that are working on controlling global warming.
Later he was given a tour of the HIE campus spread over a luxuriant sylvan gladded 100 acres at the foot of the picturesque Anantagiri Mountains. The campus, perhaps one of the youngest in the state came into existence in 2013 at the instance and interest of Hyderabad’s well-known philanthropist Ghiyasuddin Babu Khan, who is keenly interested in providing the best of education and educational facilities to the youth of the country, has facilities ranging from traditional field sports to the exclusive aquatic and the equestrian.
| 
