NEW DELHI OCT. 19. In the countdown to the eighth Conference of Parties (CoP) to be held here from October 23 to November 1, the Climate Action Network (CAN), a global network of more than 300 members in more than 80 countries, has re-affirmed its decision to secure equal regional participation of its members in the CoPs.

In an effort to formulate consensus, Development Alternatives (DA) had earlier this week organised the inter-regional conference on `Adaptation to Climatic Change.'

The meet, chaired by the president DA, Ashok Khosla, stressed the fact that climate change was a reality. "Addressing climate change issues must not be simply through reducing greenhouse emissions but also looking at sustainable development strategies. While climate change issue is a major concern for the North, the consequences and impacts are being felt more by the South,''said Dr. Khosla.

The Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, V.S. Ramamurthy, also present at the conference, spoke about the interplay between the elements of land, water and air and the resulting natural phenomenon and events.

He suggested a `tripod' solution for combating the impact of climate change which included minimising interference with natural phenomena, promoting technological developments for sustainable and equitable development and policy advocacy. He also stressed on effective waste utilisation and need for developing energy-efficient devises as measures for adapting to climate change.

The other topics discussed in the meet included, intervention on water resources as an entry point for adaptation, need to take together water and energy issues as well as to pay attention to technologies for a win-win situation.

Also, the impact being felt through trends including decrease in agricultural productivity, increased incidence of diseases and changes in productivity of coastal ecosystem came up for discussion.