NEW DELHI, Feb 5: As one of the world's top polluters and a country likely to be severely hit by global warming, India needs to develop a clear policy on climate change, the head of a UN panel said on Monday.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which last week issued the strongest ever evidence blaming mankind for global warming, said India had to produce a blueprint to help fight rising temperatures.

“We have to be responsible members of the global community and we must do something in this area without jeopardising the removal of poverty,” Mr Pachauri, an Indian, told a news conference.

“I think the time has come for us to develop a roadmap for the future on what is it that India can do and should do.”

The IPCC on Friday predicted temperatures would rise between 1.8 and 4.0 Celsius (3.2 and 7.8 Fahrenheit) in the 21st century.

Mr Pachauri said this would hit India with heatwaves, frequent droughts, rapidly melting glaciers, even more severe water shortages. Rising sea levels will inundate low lying areas.

Many of these effects are already being seen in the populous nation where the economy and energy consumption are booming.

India is not required under the Kyoto Protocol to cut emissions — rising annually by 2-3 percent— at this stage.—Reuters