Climate special 'Science Express' to be flagged off tomorrow

New Delhi: With the crucial climate change summit in Paris round the corner, the government will flag off a "climate action special" Science Express train tomorrow.

Aiming to spread awareness about the effects of climate change and to make the science behind it easier to understand, the 'Science Express', India's innovative mobile science exhibition on wheels, has been revamped into a 'Science Express Climate Action Special' (SECAS) this year.

"SECAS, the innovative mobile science exhibition mounted on a 16-coach AC train will be flagged off from Delhi's Safdarjung Railway Station at 12 noon tomorrow," an Environment Ministry statement said.

The Express will be flagged off by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, and Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan.

The 'Science Express' intends to contribute towards increasing the understanding of the science of climate change, the observed and anticipated impacts and possible responses.

"The exhibition will convey a strong message about climate change and will also be a good opportunity to generate a dialogue and discussion on the impact of climate change and the possible strategies on mitigation and adaptation for enhancing sustainability of India's development path," the statement said, adding, it will also put forth India's action and the role of civil society in combating climate change.

The exhibition is open to all but primarily targets students and teachers. School students can participate in the Joy of Science (JOS) lab in small batches of up to 20 students by prior registration. Visitors will also be encouraged to participate in various programmes initiated by the government.

Conference of Parties (CoP-21), also known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, will for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, aim to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below two degrees Celsius. It is scheduled to be held from November 30 to December 11 this year.

The Science Express has been travelling across India successfully for the past six years and was flagged off in 2007 first. The exhibition train has since covered over 1,00,000 km across the country, receiving more than 1.09 crore visitors at its 335 halts, in 1205 exhibition days.

In the year 2012, Science Express was redesigned on the theme 'Biodiversity' and since then it has been running as 'Science Express Biodiversity Special'.