Climate change is real, to save planet do not buy cars, says Gandhian GG Parikh

Gandhian G G Parikh has said climate change is a reality, and simple acts like stopping car purchases can help save the planet.

Speaking at the launch of the book 'Climate Actioneers Primer: A Beginner's Toolkit' on Saturday evening, the 99-year-old said we need to believe the scientific community, which is giving grave warnings on the impact of climate change.

The book, authored by Anand Pendharkar, Rahul Palekar and Amruta Padgaonkar, enlists simple everyday hacks to help deal with the challenge and was launched at the Mumbai Zoo.

Parikh, the founder of the Yusuf Meherally Centre near here, said Gandhi was a true environmentalist and recounted the Father of the Nation's views against consumption.

India had a population of 30 crore in the pre-Independence times and Gandhi often wondered about the impact on the environment if all these people started consuming like the colonial powers, Parikh said.

The younger generation will have to take the lead and undertake concerted efforts on climate change mitigation, he said, making a specific plea.

''Do not buy a car… A lot of change will take place if all us decide not to buy cars,'' Parikh said in comments that come at a time when policymakers have been stressing on increasing adoption of public transport for mobility needs. He said the personal car is at the root of a lot of worrying aspects and added that things like autobahns will not be needed at all if car usage reduces. Rajya Sabha member Vandana Chavan said the poor suffer the most because of climate change, and added that while the government can do some more on it, each one of us will have to individually undertake efforts to fight the crisis at hand.

She welcomed the publishing of the book, which is supported by Germany's Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, calling it as a tool kit to educate people on climate change.