NEW DELHI: In the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Parliamentary panel has sought suggestions from experts and stakeholders on linkages of environment and climate change with public health — an initiative which scientists found quite relevant at this juncture.The move was announced by chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology and Environment, Jairam Ramesh , on Friday.“The COVID-19 outbreak gives it greater relevance,” tweeted Ramesh, Congress MP in Rajya Sabha , while seeking suggestions on a report ‘Environment, Climate Change & Public Health’ which the panel has been working on.Experts and stakeholders can send their suggestions directly to the 31-member panel through email on its dedicated address at the Rajya Sabha portal.Calling it a “good initiative”, the ministry of earth sciences (MoES) secretary, Madhavan Rajeevan , said, “There is a good link between climate variability and public health and disease outbreaks.”Responding to Ramesh, he tweeted that his ministry’s IMD Pune group is trying to develop “advisory models for same”. He said, “One serious problem is availability of reliable records of diseases, spread and causalities.”Rajeevan had last week flagged a report of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the subject and said, “As we recover from the COVID-19, we must also address longer-term risks like climate change by making people priority, listening to global perspectives and trusting experts.” The report was written by Victoria Crawford , project lead, environmental resilience at the WEF.