India on track to fulfilling climate commitments: Harsh Vardhan at WSDS 2019

Building on the momentum of last year’s summit, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) kick started the World Sustainable Development 2019 (WSDS 2019). The summit was inaugurated by M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice Presidentat Vigyan Bhawan on Monday in New Delhi. Nitin Desai, Chairman, TERI, delivered the welcome address.

This year, TERI honoured  Prime Minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama with the Sustainable Development Leadership Award 2019 in recognition of his outstanding contributions towards sustainable development in Fiji. Through his video message, Mr. Frank Bainimarama said, “It’s not the size of the country, but the size of the voice. With climate change, we all face the same future.”

Delivering the inaugural address, Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu spoke about the many facets of sustainable development like inclusive development, sustainable mobility and urbanisation, energy security, waste management and green innovation. “We need nature and culture for a better future,” he said.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, said, “Climate change and environmental problems are amongst the biggest challenges today. It goes without saying that these issues need to be addressed collectively by all of us before it is too late.”

Speaking about the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change collaborating with TERI to set up a Resource Efficiency Cell, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “Anticipating increased demand for raw materials in the future, it is vital to institute the best in resource efficiency as an effort toward decoupling economic growth and human wellbeing from ever increasing consumption of natural resources and the resulting impacts. The Cell will enable inter-ministerial and inter-departmental synergy in promoting material resource efficiency in India while helping frame the blueprint of the integrated Resource Efficiency policy for India.”

The three-day Summit seeks to bring together over 2000 delegates including global leaders, policy makers, government top officials and thinkers in the fields of sustainable development, energy and environment sectors. Themed on Attaining the 2030 Agenda: delivering on our promise’, WSDS 2019 seeks to create action frameworks to resolve some of the most urgent challenges facing developing economies in the backdrop of climate change, including – clean oceans, transport & mobility, sustainable agriculture, climate finance and energy transition. Its main aim is to fast-track solutions to financing development, renewable energy, sustainable value chains and other far-reaching, systemic challenges represented by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI said, “Platforms such as these are crucial for building on global best practices and ensuring that policy enables an environment that translates into tangible benefits for the world at large. We look forward to a world that is clean, green and yet viable. We need products, business models and policies to make this happen.”

WSDS 2019 will see 25 thematic tracks and eight plenary sessions covering the five key themes of Climate, Environment, Habitat, Energy and Resource Management. Discussions will focus on, inter alia:  

  • Cleaning the Air in India and its Cities
  • Moving Towards Cleaner Oceans
  • India’s Renewable Revolution: Towards a Cleaner, Cheaper Electricity System
  • Innovations in Climate Finance to Achieve Scale, Speed and Impact
  • Rural Electricity Access in India: Taking a Leap from Grid Availability to Customer Service