New Delhi: Amid growing fears about global warming, a two-day international conference on climate change and its adverse consequences on the development of countries like India will be held here beginning on Thursday.

The conference will bring together top academics, policy makers and global experts to discuss the magnitude of climate-related risks and the need for adopting a coherent climate adaptation strategy to offset the negative consequences of such a change.

It will be jointly organised by India's ministry of environment and forests, multilateral groups like the European Commission and The World Bank and a host of other organisations like Britain's Department of International Development, and The Energy and Research Institute (TERI).

"These risks could undermine gains in agriculture, health and infrastructure and impede India's progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals," said a press release by the European Commission.

The impact on countries like India is likely to be substantial as about 20 per cent of India's GDP is contributed by agriculture sector which employs 57 per cent of the total workforce, the release added.

Minister for Environment and Forests A. Raja will deliver the inaugural address Thursday morning.

Some of the key participants at the conference include Minister of State of Environment and Forests Namo Narain Meena; Soledad Blanco, European Commission's Director of International Affairs, Directorate General for Environment; Rachid Benmessaoud, acting Country Director, World Bank-India; R.K. Pachauri, Director-General, TERI; and Justin Mundy, Senior Advisor to the British government.

A European Union-India forum on waste management will also be held here Thursday.

World temperatures have risen to levels not seen in at least 12,000 years, propelled by rapid global warming in the past 30 years, US climate scientists said in a report in September.

Climate change and strategies to deal with it have emerged as core concern of foreign policies of some countries in recent years, like Britain.

Last month, a global conference on climate change was held in Nairobi where principles and modalities for the governance of the Adaptability Fund were agreed by participants.