The 22nd edition of the annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)—the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS)—is being held from 22-24 February 2023 in New Delhi. The Summit deliberations will focus on the umbrella theme: Mainstreaming Sustainable Development and Climate Resilience for Collective Action.
The year 2022 marks an important milestone. It has been 50 years since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, popularly known as the 1972 Stockholm Conference. Fifty years on, the world has made many strides in bringing to the forefront the issues related to the environment, biodiversity loss, climate change, and has achieved many milestones in integrating sustainable development into the public, private and societal discourses. But we still have a long way to go.
Emphasizing that environment is not just a global cause, but the personal and collective responsibility of every individual, Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi, in a message shared at the inaugural session of the 22nd edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) in New Delhi on Wednesday, noted that “the way forward is through collectiveness rather than selectiveness.”
“Environment conservation is a commitment and not compulsion for India,” observed the Prime Minister, while underscoring the transition towards renewable and alternate sources of energy, and the adoption of technology and innovation measures to find solutions to urban challenges. “We have adopted a multi-dimensional approach to chart a long-term roadmap for sustainable and environment friendly lifestyle,” he added.
At the Inaugural Address of the Summit, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, Vice President of Guyana, made a clarion call to significantly focus on the principles of equity and justice at forums such as the G20 and the COPs. He pointed out that it is impossible for many developing countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without financing.
“The small countries not only need climate finance, they need a reform of the global financial system to achieve sustainable development,” said Dr Jagdeo. He also pointed out that climate resilience and sustainable development are interlinked. “Most of the countries in the Caribbean are fiscally and debt stressed. Unless these issues are addressed now by some of the multilateral agencies, these countries will never be able to have a sustainable, medium-term economic framework, leaving much less to address the catastrophic damage of weather-related events,” Dr Jagdeo added.
He underscored the criticality of balance in the discourse on sustainable development in order to find lasting solutions. “We need to reduce the production of fossil fuels, we need carbon capture, utilization and storage, and we need a mass transit into renewable energy. It is the combined action on all three fronts that will deliver lasting solutions. But often the debate is between the extremes, and sometimes it clouds the search for solutions. Balance is crucial,” observed Dr Jagdeo.
In his Opening Address, Mr Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, noted that combating climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation transcend political considerations and is a shared global challenge. “India is contributing significantly to be a part of the solution,” he said.
India’s taking over the G20 Presidency has brought global attention to the discourse around sustainable development, especially in the UN critical decade of action, he noted. “Living in harmony with nature has been traditionally in our ethos and the same has been reflected by the mantra LiFE or Lifestyle for Environment coined by our Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi-ji. The mantra, which focus on nudging individual behaviour towards leading a sustainable lifestyle, has received attention and appreciation from world leaders and leading experts across the globe and has been included in the cover decisions of Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan as well as COP27,” said the Union Minister.
The COP28-President designate-UAE, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, in his Keynote Address noted that “The goal of keeping 1.5 degree Celsius alive is just non-negotiable. It is also clear we cannot continue business-as-usual. We need a true, comprehensive paradigm shift in our approach to mitigation, adaptation, finance, and loss and damage.” Observing that India is on its way to becoming the third largest economy, he asserted that India’s sustainable development is critical not just for the country, but the world.
In his Welcome Address, Mr Nitin Desai, Chairman – Governing Council, TERI, underlined the link between conserving resources and promoting sustainable livelihood, as well as sustainable consumption and sustainable production. “The idea of sustainable lifestyle has to become an important component of the global dialogue on sustainable development,” said Mr Desai.
With the world approaching the crucial midpoint of the 2030 Agenda and the sustainable development goals, Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI, said, “It has been more than 50 years since the 1972 Stockholm Conference. Since then, the world has made many strides in bringing to the forefront the issues related to the environment, biodiversity loss, climate change, and has achieved many milestones in integrating sustainable development into the public, private and societal discourses. But we still have a long way to go especially in terms of horizontal and vertical integration of sustainable development across spheres.”
Dr Shailesh Nayak, Chancellor, TERI School of Advanced Studies felicitated Dr Al Jaber with the Distinguished Alumni Award. ‘An Assessment of Avoided CO2 Emissions During Construction, Maintenance and Operation of National Highways’, a study jointly conducted by TERI, CSIR, IORA, and IIP (Indian Institute of Petroleum), was released during the session.
Earlier, in the day, speaking at the Opening Session of the Summit, Mr Jeffrey D Sachs, Professor, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, urged the developing world to be the leaders of sustainable development. “We need the whole world in the lead. We need India to be in the lead, we need China to be in the lead, we need Brazil to be in the lead,” he said.
Underscoring the criticality of the present moment in geopolitics, Professor Sachs said, “What is remarkable about global politics right now is that we are in the midst of fundamental change. We are at the end of a North Atlantic world, we are in the beginning of a true multilateral world.”
Mr Manish Bapna, President and Chief Executive Officer, Natural Resources Defense Council, too emphasized the vital role India can play in leading the movement towards sustainable development. Observing that the optimism that marked the Paris Agreement is no longer present, he added, “Midway to 2030, we are living in an incredibly different world today than we were seven-and-a-half years ago…The world is off track in meeting the promise of 2015. The optimism that was there in 2015 doesn’t exist today. The world is looking for vision, leadership and concrete solutions and that is why this conference in India is important.”
“If we have to decarbonise the world, the hard-to-abate sectors have to be decarbonised. We need renewables to crack water, use electrolyser, and produce green hydrogen. India is climatically blessed and has top class entrepreneurship to be the least cost producer of green hydrogen, being a major exporter of green hydrogen, and the producer of electrolyser,” said Mr Mr Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa during a session on ‘G20 Leadership for a Green Development Pact’ at the ongoing WSDS.
Observing that the G20 is critical to finding climate solutions, Mr Kant said, “It has the majority of the world’s GDP, economic output, exports, emissions and historical emissions. It is critical to finding climate solutions.”
The G20 Sherpa pointed out that “new instruments like blended finance and, credit enhancement” are needed to enable a green transition. Unless the financial agencies are structured to finance for both Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate finance, it will not be possible to get long-term financing, he observed. “The international institutions which do a lot of direct lending have to become agencies for indirect financing for a long period,” said Mr Kant. Production of green hydrogen in “size and scale” is not possible without free trade, he added.
Noting that Canada supports India’s G20 focus on blue economy, resource efficiency and ecosystem restoration, Mr Steven Guilbeault, Minister, Environment and Climate Change, Canada, said, “We would like to see the G20 commit to concrete actions for the full implementation of the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a global 30 per cent conservation goal for 2030.”
Pointing out that G20 countries are responsible for around 80% of the energy related CO2 emissions, but hold about 80% of the global renewable energy capacity, he emphasized, “The G20 can go a long way in helping the world achieve its climate goals.”
Mr Michael R Bloomberg, UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, Founder of Bloomberg LP, Bloomberg Philanthropies, said “India has set ambitious goals for more clean energy and electric vehicles and is taking important steps to turn those commitments into actions.” He also noted that through the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, India is helping countries work together and share ideas. “Indian businesses are finding innovative ways to cut emissions and to collaborate with government leaders to attract more green investment capital,” he added.
Underscoring the importance of climate finance, Dr Bruno Oberle, Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature, said, “We need 2-3% of the global GDP -- between 2-4 trillion a year -- to make the shift from the unsustainable way in which we are investing today into a sustainable investment pattern.”
The three-day Summit has ministers from across the world, top government representatives, political and thought leaders, and chiefs of international organizations deliberating on critical themes of G20 leadership and Green Development Pact; equity and climate justice; driving and financing sustainable development; inclusive green growth; energy transitions, and sustainable lifestyles.
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