TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: The world’s coming to rock India. Former US vice president Al Gore and the organisers of the Live Earth series of music concerts have announced that the next edition of the mega event will be held in Mumbai on December 7 at the Andheri Sports Complex.
Nobel laureate Rajendra Pachauri, director Shekhar Kapur and actor Amitabh Bachchan announced their support for the initiative which uses the power of the world’s celebrity musicians to draw attention to the climate crisis caused by global warming. A record two billion people around the world watched the first series on July 7, 2007. American rocker Jon Bon Jovi will perform at the Mumbai show.
Addressing the international press at a suburban club on Thursday, Live Earth founder Kevin Wall said the proceeds would go to fund R K Pachauri’s Light A Billion Lives project which aims to put a solar lantern in a billion homes.
While Bachchan said he was sufficiently alarmed by Pachauri’s doomsday prediction to speak up for climate conservation, Kapur noted that his favourite rivers and forests in Mussourie had become brown and barren over time. The star moment came when Al Gore hooked up via a video link from the US. Admitting that his own country was perhaps the largest polluter in the world, he cautioned Indians against falling prey to similar trends in consumerism.
“It is undesirable for a country to promote and subsidise dirty fuels like kerosene, paraffin and coal when it could use cheaper and better alternatives like electricity,’’ he said. “India is clearly emerging as a world leader in many ways, and it could show the path to other countries by converting to healthier energy resources.’’
Nobel laureate Rajendra Pachauri, director Shekhar Kapur and actor Amitabh Bachchan announced their support for the initiative which uses the power of the world’s celebrity musicians to draw attention to the climate crisis caused by global warming. A record two billion people around the world watched the first series on July 7, 2007. American rocker Jon Bon Jovi will perform at the Mumbai show.
Addressing the international press at a suburban club on Thursday, Live Earth founder Kevin Wall said the proceeds would go to fund R K Pachauri’s Light A Billion Lives project which aims to put a solar lantern in a billion homes.
While Bachchan said he was sufficiently alarmed by Pachauri’s doomsday prediction to speak up for climate conservation, Kapur noted that his favourite rivers and forests in Mussourie had become brown and barren over time. The star moment came when Al Gore hooked up via a video link from the US. Admitting that his own country was perhaps the largest polluter in the world, he cautioned Indians against falling prey to similar trends in consumerism.
“It is undesirable for a country to promote and subsidise dirty fuels like kerosene, paraffin and coal when it could use cheaper and better alternatives like electricity,’’ he said. “India is clearly emerging as a world leader in many ways, and it could show the path to other countries by converting to healthier energy resources.’’
‘Concert aimed at educating Indians’
Mumbai: TERI (The Environment Research Institute) ch i e f and Nobel laureate Raj e n d r a Pachauri will be the Indian face of the Live Earth concert slated to be held in the city on December 7. The Bachchan family will provide the star wattage.
Addressing a press meet in the city on Thursday via a video link from the US, former vice-president and Nobel winner Al Gore said the music concert had a serious motive—educating every Indian consumer about the right to a clean environment and the duty that comes with it.
At this point, some mediapersons asked if the concert itself would not become a source of environmental pollution, as was alleged last year. The organisers sheepishly said they would try their best to avoid such a situation.
Meanwhile, expressing his support for the Indo-US nuclear deal, Pachauri said, “While we are on the subject of modern, non-polluting resources of energy, I must say I consider nuclear energy to be one of the cleanest and best alternatives. There are no side-effects to its use.’’
toireporter@timesgroup.com
Addressing a press meet in the city on Thursday via a video link from the US, former vice-president and Nobel winner Al Gore said the music concert had a serious motive—educating every Indian consumer about the right to a clean environment and the duty that comes with it.
At this point, some mediapersons asked if the concert itself would not become a source of environmental pollution, as was alleged last year. The organisers sheepishly said they would try their best to avoid such a situation.
Meanwhile, expressing his support for the Indo-US nuclear deal, Pachauri said, “While we are on the subject of modern, non-polluting resources of energy, I must say I consider nuclear energy to be one of the cleanest and best alternatives. There are no side-effects to its use.’’
toireporter@timesgroup.com
ROCK THE WORLD: Madonna at the Live Earth concert in London last year
Al Gore
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