The Inauguration Session

The inauguration session of the ICCCEMC hosted by Devapreeti Sharma started with an
introduction to the Centre for Environmental Law and Research (CELAR) along with the
various works and activities it is involved in. It was affirmed that the ambition of the
Conference if to explore the multidisciplinary contours of climate change. The climate has
seen participation from 70 students from various fields like humanities, geography, statistics,
etc apart from academicians and various delegates. The eminent dignitaries on the dais were
introduced. They are :

 Prof. ( Dr.) J.S Patil, Vice Chancellor, National Law University and Judicial
Academy, Assam,
 Hon’ble Mr. Justice Suman Shyam, Judge, Gauhati High Court
 Hon’ble Mr. Justice Peter M.M. Pieris, Retd. Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Sri
Lanka
 (Dr.) Ranjan Chatterjee, (I.A.S) Retd. Former Expert Member, National Green
Tribunal- Principal Bench
 Hon’ble Mr. Justice A.S. Bopanna, Chief Justice, Gauhati High Court
 Prof. ( Dr.) Armin Rosencranz, Former Professor, Standford University
 Ms. Rama Rauta, Environmentalist and Pioneer of Save Ganga Movement.
 Prachi Kaul, Represntative, Shastri Indo- Cnadian Institute

Apart from that the range of panelists and eminent speakers who would be part of this two
day Conference were also introduced.

Lighting of the ceremonial lamp was done and the Conference was inaugurated by the
eminent dignitaries on the dais

Prof. (Dr.) JS Patil, Vice Chancellor, National Law University and Judicial Academy,
Assam

Our respected Vice- Chancellor began his welcome address by addressing the severe effects
of climate change. He referred to a study of UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction stating
that climate change is causing more havoc than geopolitical disasters like Tsunamis or
earthquake. A Total of 91 per cent of disasters are floods, storm, etc. Loss of 520 billion
dollars per annum was coupled with huge loss of human life is also there. People in poor
countries are worst hit by climate change. Further, he stated that, India is also struggling to
build comprehensive policy on climate change and is struggling to bring up changes at the
national and regional level. Prof. JS Patil ended his welcome address by welcoming all the
eminent dignataries, the students, participants and delegates to the conference.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Suman Shyam, Judge, Gauhati High Court

Hon’ble Mr. Justice began his speech by reminiscing the time when he first started to realise
the seriousness of climate change. Exposure to the subject of climate change happened two
years back for him when he attended a conference sponsored by the World Bank. He started
realising the seriousness of the issue. At that time there was a lot of skepticism around the
global warming issue and denial to accept climate change. Today there is empirical data on
the issue of climate change. Melting of glaciers, rising level of sea are related to climate
change. Industrialism and materialism have substantially contributed to global warming. He
expressed his concerns about one of the mornings in Guwahati, when it was covered in thick
fog which had never happened before in Guwahati in the month of March and it is a matter of
concern. If this has got something to do with the greenhouse effect, then it is high time that
the issue should be addressed properly. Unless enough is done to arrest the release of
greenhouse gases, the earth will be in a big problem. Unfortunately, he stated that there is no
global consensus to the problem of climate change. Fossil fuel, deforestation, unregulated
mining contributes to global warming. We have to strike at the very cause of pollution. The
time has come for real action on the ground. Steps such as ban imposed by SC on use of
firecrackers are welcomed decisions and the decisions like the same should be given by the
country’s highest court. Mahatma Gandhi lived at a time where environmental problem was
not recognized yet he could foresee that human civilization was not moving in the right
direction so far as the environment is concerned. Depletion of the ozone layer, unplanned
development, environmental toxicology, etc. can impact the global climate. An in depth study
of all these topics with multidisciplinary approach is needed.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Peter M.M. Pieris, Retd. Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

He started by stating the unfortunate fact that we human beings are exploiting the resources
of the planet in a very unacceptable manner. We are at war with our own planet. We have
become complacent with whatever is happening to our environment. We breathe polluted air
and don’t mind it, eat toxic food, drink contaminated water, we accept the rising sea levels.
Assam is a state which is well positioned to understand the planet’s plea of survival. It is a
matter of urgency, therefore, that this University organise this conference. He briefly but
clearly talked about the Paris Agreements. The COP 21 met in Paris in 2015 for the Paris
Agreement and discussed about the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Countries came
together to combat climate change. The Paris agreement requires all parties to put their
efforts to nationally determined contributions. This was followed by COP 22 AND COP 23.
There were various conferences on climate change in Geneva, Mrakesh, Nairobi,
Copenhagen, Durban, Doha, Warsaw etc. with little progress being made. North East has
faced several disasters in the last decade. Floods, rise in greenhouse gases, loss of
biodiversity reserves. This is a first of its kind conference to emphasize on multidisciplinary
contours on climate change. The UNFCC talks about mitigation, adaptation, technology
transfer, climate justice, etc. These are matters at international level. He urged that at national
level, we should discuss about the Himalayan ecosystem, agriculture, wildlife, marine
environment, etc. Predecessor to Paris agreement, Kyoto Protocol set targets for the
developed countries; however unfortunately Canada denounced it in 2012. 196 parties came
together in Paris for the UNFCCC. Many good things came about because of the Paris
Agreement according to him. He mentioned certain exemplary incidences around the world
to reflect the intention of the international community to mitigate the problem of climate
change. In 2017, French government announced the ban on all petrol and diesel vehicle by
2040. The Dutch National Train Network is already using alternative sources of energy. The
Paris Agreement has bottoms up approach. The Paris Agreement is dependent on nothing else
but consensus in achieving targets decided nationally. COP has decided to contribute 100
billion dollars by 2020 to mitigate climate change.

He concluded by quoting James Harrison that most of the agreements consist of aims but not
commitments. Paris discussion was a fraud with no action. He urged that we take our ideas
from here to home, community, village because it involves nothing more but our selfish
reason of survival.

(Dr.) Ranjan Chatterjee, (I.A.S) Retd. Former Expert Member, National Green Tribunal-
Principal Bench

He began by reminiscing the time spent in the State of Assam and in the banks of the mighty
Brahmaputra. Global warming is an example of broader climate change. Rio Conference was
the first step towards stabilisation of the greenhouse gases. India formed 8 National Missions
including Solar mission, energy efficiency, Himalayan ecosystem, strategic knowledge of
climate change etc. The Paris Rule book finalised in Dec 2015 defeated the very object of the
Paris Agreement as developing countries were left to fend for themselves. Impact of climate
change is greater in developing countries because of low adaptive ability. By 2020 it is
apprehended that about 250 million people in Africa alone will face severe water shortage.
He emphasized on green good behaviour. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated
that the world must reduce its temperature till 1.5 per cent.

Finally, at the end of his speech he congratulated the University for organizing such a
conference expressing his hope that the discussions will lead to solutions to the problem of
climate change.

Prof (Dr.) Armin Rosencranz, Former Professor, Standford University

Rosencranz, started by talking about his family, his grandson, who he thought will have to
deal with climate change and he won’t be around to help him. His son’s father-in-law is one
of America’s leading climate deniers, in the 2007 case involving Massachusetts v. EPA -
where the US Supreme Court decided that climate change was under the clean air act and
should be administered as an environmental pollution. He mentioned that Bush didn’t do
anything, however, Barack Obama appointed EPA to find environmental change findings.
His son’s father-in-law was the lone dissenter in the EPA finding committee. He also stated
that the courts are being used to hear climate change cases, for instance, he mentioned the
case of Riddhima Pandey, suing the govt. for inactive climate legislation. He also talked
about the similar situations arising in many US states like Oregon and countries like-
Philippines and Netherlands etc. He emphasized that U.S is the one of the most regressive
country in the way of climate change.

Lastly, he concluded his speech by criticizing India on using coal as a source of renewable
energy. He stated that India was not straightforward in other countries, while dealing with
issues and emphasized that India will do all the things which other countries ask it to do as
long as other countries give 3.5 trillion dollars to do so.

Ms. Rama Rauta, Environmentalist & Pioneer of Save Ganga Movement

She began her presentation by criticizing the present form of development of modern
civilization. She said that Gandhi ji considered the modern civilization as the ‘saitanik
civilization’. Modern western civilization has caused the disappearance of species and flora
and fauna. It has devastating consequences for present and future generations. The use of
fossil fuels and other mechanisms has greatly accelerated climate change and thus have to be
regulated. It has resulted in the terrorism of nature like deadly draught, fire, coastal foods,
melting of icecaps and Himalayas, vanishing of agriculture, etc. She said that everyone
knows the disease and the cause, but there is no permanent solution. She referred to Stephen
Hawking’s words that human pollution coupled with stupidity has no lasting solution. He
remained convinced that human in order to survive would require another planet. But, she
said that Gandhi ji would not have agreed to it as Gandhi taught and advocated to control of
our greed and passions and lead life of Satya, Ahimsa and Prem. She mentioned the use of
lessons in ancient Indian texts like Patanjali, Buddha’s Nobel 8 Path, Gita- chapter 16 verse
210 triple gate of hell bring about the destruction of the goal. She emphasized on the Gandhi
ji’s way of development that was based on basic ethic of our civilization and in the present
context which is the use of Antodaya and other ideals of Gandhiji.

Lastly, she concluded her speech by urging the implementation of the ‘Policy of Reverse’ in
India.

Dr. Prachi Kaul, Representative of Shastri Indo- Canadian Institute (SICI)

Dr Kaul started her speech by introducing the institute that she represented and various
collaborations, programmes and development plan undertaken by them. She said that the
main objective of SICI is to support initiatives like this conference, deliberations and
discussions to have a better future. She congratulated NLUJAA on its selection of the topic
for the conference. She also gave a brief history of the establishment of the institution
represented by her.

At the end of her brief talk, she urged everyone to take mini steps to promote environmental
protection and also to encourage the younger generations. She also wished everyone to have
great deliberations on this issue.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice A.S. Bopanna, Chief Justice, Gauhati High Court

Hon’ble Mr. Justice began his speech by stating that the history of many civilizations had
been destroyed by climate change. He said that people just read about these issues, but they
never try to relate or take these issues seriously. From his Lordship’s experience of the
Bangalore weather, he has felt the climate change. He referred to Justice Shyam’s speech
and said many were skeptical about climate change and that he was one amongst him. He was
in Bangalore and felt that the Bangalore weather is totally different from what it was 10 or 20
years. He compared the weather of Assam to that of Bangalore and said that it was such a
respite that he was in Guwahati and not in Bangalore. The weather of Guwahati felt very
pleasant to him. His Lordship also referred to the Coorg floods in Karnataka- which he said
was alarming and shocking in nature. A small district in the hills, having the devastating
floods in Coorg was indicative of climate change. The mountains disappeared, in just 24
hours. The revenue map couldn’t identify the survey numbers of the crowd. Everything was
destroyed. He concluded his speech by referring to the Kerala floods and said it is an
alarming situation and people need to take steps to prevent the situation from further
exacerbating.

[Rapporteurs: Sanjukta Gogoi and Diksha Sarma (4th Year), Compiled by: Krishangee
Bhattacharyya (4th Year)]