PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo Sunday evening hosted a dinner in honour of the Chairman of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Nobel Prize Winner, Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri at State House. Dr. Pachauri, like President Bharrat Jagdeo, has been very outspoken on climate change issues and has been working effortlessly to raise awareness and mobilise support for adaptation, mitigation and clean energy resources. 
After the dinner, the Head of State, along with Cabinet and private sector members, engaged in discussions on climate change issues based on a presentation made by Dr. Pachauri on TERI, an institute formally established in 1974 that has, over the years, created an environment that is enabling, dynamic and inspiring for the development of solutions to global problems in the fields of energy, environment and current patterns of development, which are largely unsustainable.
He said that as far as climate change is concerned, the world has to move quickly, while at the same time paying attention to the vulnerable regions. This, he said, has to be brought to the attention of the leaders in the developed countries.
“Guyana’s President has been extremely effective in spreading this message and we have to work together to intensify it,” the IPCC Chairman said.
President Jagdeo, in response, said that as a result of the tremendous work done with regard to climate change by scientists and the IPCC, the majority of the world has become believers and the skeptics are now small in number.
However, he lamented that this small number continues to prey on the ignorance of persons who are not yet fully exposed to the science, simply because the media does not find the topic of climate change an attractive one, while some have biases; and for this reason, the much needed support from the developing world is lacking.
He explained that while there is need to continuously update the science and keep showing the stark picture of what will happen, efforts have to be made to ensure the creation of sound policies based on the commitment on the part of the developing world.
“Unless the United States takes the leadership, the other countries are not going to do much more,” President Jagdeo said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Pachauri posited that the attitude of young people is heartening, as they are concerned about their future; and as such; are seen as the ideal target group that must be mobilised.
“Young people can go out there and create a stir all over,” he said.
President Jagdeo then pointed out that the world has seen the power of Facebook and other social networks and that a global campaign could be initiated using this new media.
“This could bypass the vested interest, organisations and media that do not find the issue of climate change attractive,” he said. 
To this end, Dr. Pachauri said that with support from the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, they are trying to mobilise support from some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, who will be able to capture people’s attention more easily.
The Fifth Assessment Report due in 2014 will provide an update of knowledge related to climate change. Meanwhile, two Special Reports are due in 2011 – “Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation” and “Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation”. (GINA)