NEW DELHI - India’s poor will have enormous problem in arranging their livelihood due to climate change, and it will be better the country stops being a climate sceptic, a government official said Thursday.

“There is enough scientific evidence to corroborate the fact that climate change poses unprecedented risks to both human life and in fact, to human civilisation,” New and Renewable Energy Secretary Deepak Gupta said at a conference on climate change.

He said the climate change will have catastrophic “effect on livelihood, particularly of the poor”.

“We can no longer afford the luxury of being a climate sceptic. This means creating a mindset that all of us need to have to do everything possible to combat climate change in all its manifestations. Unless we are mentally attuned we will face many difficulties in taking actions which are both necessary and immediate,” Gupta said.

Emphasising that green buildings are a must to curb the impact of climate change, he said that buildings are consuming 40 percent of the available energy in India.

“Buildings consume 40 percent of energy. Urbanisation is the fastest growing sector in India and I am told we will be building one Great Britain every decade,” he said.

“Green buildings can save 20 to 30 percent of energy cost. However, there is a great lack of awareness as well as acceptance of the need for every building to become green. While we (government) are trying our best to have a mission approach in this area, people need to respond and create a demand,” he added.

He also advised it is better to invest in switching the energy system from existing fossil based energy resources to renewables that are clean and environment friendly. “Industry and business must innovate, manufacture, and operate under a new paradigm. Climate change must drive their decision making,” he said.

Gupta urged people to reduce use of cars, use air conditioners on a temperature settings above 20 degrees and not waste water. He, however, said India can not be blamed for global warming as the dangerous green house emissions are much more in developed countries.

“More than 50 percent of green house gas emissions are currently from OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. India, with 17 percent of the population, accounts for only four percent of such emissions.

“Yet the adverse effects of global warming caused by accumulated and continued high emissions by industrial countries will be felt by developing countries,” he added.