Rambharat: More attention needs to be paid to climate change

A release from the Ministry of Agriculture credits Pilz as having been “actively engaged in the research and demonstration of renewable energy projects in India since 1993. He is an experienced advisor for solar energy at the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University and World Renewal Spiritual Trust.” Pilz’s presentation also gave details on the Brahma Kumaris organization, Climate Change, and the organization’s’ work in renewable energy.

Speaking to the audience on climate change and its likely impact on food, forests and fisheries, Clarence Rambharat, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries said, “Our responsibility includes the area of forestry, where we are responsible for managing and increasing the forestry stock in the country,” underscoring the importance of trees.

According to the Minister, we have not paid particular attention to climate change, “but we can see the impact of climate change [be it] in the rainfall patterns (and) seasonality’. He said, “A lot of persons do not understand the importance of weather on agriculture in terms of successful planting and production; as a Ministry, we should be doing more – in our planning - to consider the impact of climate change, to look at ways that we can be more sustainable and to provide more information for the people who we serve’.

Benefitting from the presentation were senior staff of the Ministry’s Forestry, Fisheries, Engineering, Facilities, Regional Administration North and Regional Administration South Divisions.

Also attending were Sister Dr Hemlata Sanghi, Director – Caribbean Region; and Steve Sankar, Member, Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga Centers.

In India, the Brahma Kumaris are heavily invested in developing renewable energy technologies.

Their ‘India One’ project is, “a 1 MW solar thermal power plant in Rajasthan that uses 770 newly developed 60m2 parabolic dishes and features thermal storage for continuous operation. The plant is projected to generate enough heat and power for a campus of 25,000 people.