Chief Minister MK Stalin at the Tamil Nadu 4.0 Climate Summit in the city on Wednesday. | Photo credit: Special arrangement
The two-day Tamil Nadu 4.0 Climate Summit brought together global institutions, national experts, state departments, field officers and community partners to review Tamil Nadu’s five-year climate journey.
The second day of the summit opened with a session called “Voices from the Field – Strengthening Climate Resilient Ecosystems”, which was led by science and practical information, and one of the segments focused on forest fire preparedness in a “warming world”.
The discussion revolved around India’s leadership at the Seventh United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7), where it piloted and secured the adoption of a resolution calling for enhanced international cooperation on forest fires. The “Tamil Nadu experience” was presented as a model of anticipatory governance: the government set up a state-level command and control center in Chennai complete with district control centers to monitor forest fires through real-time data feeds, satellite inputs and coordinate rapid response.
The government’s decentralized but integrated architecture ensures scientific monitoring, early detection and minimal response time. The session highlighted investments in first responder training, capacity building, modern firefighting equipment and mobility infrastructure.
The Summit also touched on “Biodiversity and Climate Change”, which focused on the accelerating loss of biodiversity due to habitat fragmentation, urbanization, pollution and climate variability.
The dialogue then shifted towards a circular system and a green economy, anchoring climate action in resource efficiency and waste transformation.
Published – 19 Feb 2026 02:54 IST