Kerala State Council for
Science, Technology and Environment
Press Release
Global Meet to discuss technical and policy matters related to
climate change and disaster management
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 29: Scientists and policymakers from around the world will discuss ways
and means to tackle climate change and disaster management at a conference in Kovalam,
Thiruvananthapuram, from February 26 to 28, 2015.
The Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) will host the International
Conference on Climate Change and Disaster Management, organised in association with the International
Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL).
Around 200 international delegates and as many as 250 experts from international space agencies
including NASA, NOAA, GMES and Eumetsat are expected to take part in the conference.
“Knowledge sharing between countries with advanced resources and emerging economies will be the key
theme for the meet. One of the primary objectives of the meet is to help narrow the knowledge and
resources gap between developed and developing nations,” former Chairman of Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) Dr G Madhavan Nair said at a press briefing here today.
“Space systems have contributed significantly to the understanding of climate change and its causes. A
deeper technical understanding of climate change is a crucial scientific and social issue because it allows
decision makers to place climate change in the context of other large challenges facing their nations and
the world,” said Dr Madhavan Nair. “Therefore it is of paramount importance to guarantee the continuity
of Earth observing satellites and the distribution of data.”
Data collection, distribution and assimilation in various models from space and terrestrial sources will be
discussed at the conference.
The latest advancements and the future of Earth Science systems and data distribution network, climate
change data protocols and data base creation and climate analysis and modeling will be among the topics
taken up.
The sessions, however, will not be limited to the technical aspects, but will examine the issues from a
policy and legal perspective as well, said KSCSTE Executive Vice President Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai.
There will be sessions on policies for data sharing and their adequacy, newer perspectives of data
sharing, free access to data, intellectual property rights, ownership and use of the data and access by the
public. The role of private sector in climate change data and applications will also be discussed.
The international conference will also host sessions to discuss specific issues related to disaster
management like the use of space systems to analyse vulnerability to climate-related disasters and
warning systems.
Various departments of the Government of Kerala, government of India and different research
organisations in the country like ISRO, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Centre for
Earth Science Studies (CESS) and various other national laboratories will be major partners in this
international event.
KSCSTE Director, Prof George Varghese; Joint Director, Dr Kamalakshan Kokkal and Media Consultant A
Prabhakaran also spoke.
Sasthra Bhavan, Pattom P.O., Thiruvananthapuram-695 004, Kerala State, India.
Tel : 0471-2543701-05, Fax : 0471-2540085, e-mail : envkscste@gmail.com, Website : www.kscste.kerala.gov.in