What is climate change? Global climate (long-term weather conditions) changes naturally over long periods of time. Human activity, that releases heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, is changing our climate, and causing global warming.

Climate change is global - everything we do in one place contributes to worldwide change.

How urgent is the problem? Greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists have found that these gases are at their highest level in 650,000 years, and the reason is human activities. The evidence for all this comes from Arctic ice melt; receding glaciers and Northern ice cover, changes in rainfall patterns, and increased severity of extreme weather events. Greenhouse gas levels are continuing to increasing rapidly. This is contributing to further increase in global temperature. Scientists believe that if we don’t take action now, the situation could worsen rapidly.

How is India affected? In India, climate change is already leading to rise in sea-levels, threatening our coastal populations, and our food production among other things. As India’s population and economy grow, so does energy consumption. This means, our emissions will be four times higher than current levels by 2030.

Every day, we use electricity, run the car, heat water and cook food. When we do these, we inevitably release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We can measure the amount of greenhouse gases each of us releases into the atmosphere.

A carbon footprint is a measure of how much greenhouse gases each of us (or each company/organisation/nation) produce. It is measured in tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent (CO2e).

Go carbon neutral - When you cancel the greenhouse gases you added into the atmosphere by helping remove the same amount in some other way, you have a net zero carbon footprint, or are 'carbon neutral'. This is also called carbon offsetting.

Go carbon positive - when the amount of greenhouse gases you emit is less than the amount that you offset. In effect, you take out more emissions than you contribute.

How do I reduce my carbon footprint? Small changes in our daily lives can collectively make big differences. Act today to make a difference. Use Carbon Calculator to measure your impact on the cliamte

India as a whole is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Within India, however, some communities will be more affected than others. For example, poor people dependent on resources such as forests, fisheries and agriculture for their livelihoods will be disproportionately affected. We must ensure that the weakest sections of our society are protected through the development of mechanisms such as crop-insurance schemes and coastal defences.

Each of us can do practical things to help the world move towards a more sustainable, low-carbon society. For example, we can:

• Switch from conventional bulbs to compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs;
• Buy certified low-energy appliances instead of resource-intensive ones
• Promote public transport, walking and cycling as alternatives to the private car
• Demand more renewable energy from safe, green sources such as wind and solar, instead of coal-fired power plants
• Ask our city and town leaders to plan our cities with climate change in mind – and ensure that the public participates in such processes
• Ask our political leaders to set clear targets and timetables for India’s transition to a low-carbon society
• Reduce use of plastics
• Buy local products as far as possible
• Reduce, recycle, reuse
• Switch off electrical appliances when not in use
• Switch from paper transactions to e-transactions wherever possible
• Conserve water
• Print only if you must

Be a part of the change! Check CCI's Cool Carbon Product Watch for the latest in low-carbon products.

Efforts to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions must be based on the best-available science, and using the precautionary principle. They must also be fair to ensure that the burden of adjustment to climate change does not fall disproportionately on the weakest sections of our society.

• Each one of us can do practical things to help our country move to a more sustainable, low-carbon society. For example, we can
  • Switch from conventional bulbs to compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs;
  • Buy certified low-energy appliances instead of resource-intensive ones
  • Promote public transport, walking and cycling as alternatives to the private car
  • Demand more renewable energy from safe, green sources such as wind and solar, instead of coal-fired power plants
  • Ask our city and town leaders to plan our cities with climate change in mind – and ensure that the public participates in such processes
  • Ask our political leaders to set clear targets and timetables for India’s transition to a low-carbon society
  • Reduce use of plastics
  • Buy local products as far as possible
  • Reduce, recycle, reuse
  • Switch off electrical appliances when not in use
  • Switch from paper transactions to e-transactions wherever possible
  • Conserve water
  • Print only if you must
  • Climate Challenge India will help you be a 'part of the change'!
  • Also check out our Cool Carbon Product Watch for the latest in low-carbon products.