Sunday 15 February 2015

Roadmap to Sustainable Development : Climate Miles at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) 2015

Addressing Climate Change through Passion Fashion Action and Transformation at the DSDS
The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit – DSDS at its 15th edition took place between the 4th - 7th of February , 2015 at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi India, hosted under the broad theme ‘Sustainable Development Goals and Dealing with Climate Change’.        
                      
The summit was organized by The Energy Resource Institute (TERI), New Delhi – an independent research institute which promotes knowledge on environment, energy, forestry, biotechnology and conservation of natural resources. Among numerous issues discussed, Global leaders brainstormed on keeping emissions below two degrees, forest contribution in sustainability, addressing skills development and entrepreneurship to address the challenges of climate change on the Road map to 2015 sustainable development.

The summit provided the opportunity for global youth leaders to show their commitment to sustainability by documenting, brainstorming their views on sustainable development goals and addressing the challenges of climate change.

Ann Grace 
DSDS Youth Leader/IDEX Global Fellow
Climate Miles Team Representative

          











Global DSDS 2015 Youth Leaders gather at New Delhi



Lessons learned from DSDS - As Uganda’s Youth Leader and an IDEX Global Fellow working with Climate Miles, the lesson that echoed deeply for me during the summit is coined in the words of Wangari Maathai ‘We need to promote development that does not destroy our environment", a statement which is a reminder to all developing nations to balance the needs of the environment and development since developing nations suffer adversely from climatic impacts.

The African Union Commissioner Ms. Tumusiime RhodaPeace emphasized stronger efforts for disaster risk reduction initiatives as the path for international development especially for countries whose economies are driven by agriculture/natural resources sensitive to climatic conditions.

Although all countries are at different levels of development, mitigating climate change will require a global collaborative partnership approach because the impacts cut across social, economy and environment; degradation of ecosystems, global challenges in energy, health, economy, education and capacity building, governance, gender, youth (not exhausted) will necessitate SMART policies (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time frame) that work effectively within an individual government while contributing toward the achievement of sustainable development goals. Through inter – governmental collaboration, a framework is important for all governments to prepare their companies, businesses, civil society organizations, key institutions to report on their sustainability practices for an effective approach to be realized.

The increasing population will substantially impact on water, food, forests and other key resources damaging the environment by 2050, therefore comprehensive focus on education – skills development and entrepreneurship to address the challenges of climate change for the present and future generation must be considered as an innovative approach.

Lord John Prescott, the Former UK Deputy Prime Minister/Rapporteur on Climate Change at Copenhagen/Durban was my farvourite speaker at this summit for his critical analysis of how the developed and developing nations are driving the climate to the edge. He highlighted the need for transformative partnerships for creative solutions.

The four words; (Passion Fashion Action and Transformation) was the message that cut across the summit to finalize the sustainable development goals, endorse a global binding agreement that addresses climate change challenges effectively through collaborative partnerships on the road map to Paris and BEYOND.

DSDS High Level Corporate Dialogue (HLCD):
The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit commenced on the 4 February 2015 with the corporate vision on mitigating climate themed under ‘Delhi to Paris’ change The High Level Corporate Dialogue attracted 1500 International and Indian Chief Executive Officers, industry captains and government officials to brainstorm ideas and measures of implementing sustainable businesses that equally protects the environment.

The thematic areas of the discussion during the High Level Corporate Dialogue revolved around the following themes; adapting to the impacts of climate change, expanding access to energy, increasing the use of renewable energy, improving energy efficiency use, financing energy transition and sustainable development, low carbon technologies in small medium enterprises, sustainable buildings, availability of water in a changing environment, efficient waste management and the path toward sustainable mobility.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the 38th Californian Governor graced the 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, where he called upon government leaders and the entire global community to collaborate in terminating climate change. He thanked Dr. R. K Pachauri for promoting sustainability practices globally. The DSDS Youth leaders were inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger to think differently and focus on combating climate change. tThe Energy Resource Institute considers that the key driver to development is rooted deeply in the sustainable use of natural resources and efficient utilization of energy. Doctor Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change who is also the Director/General of TERI gave the welcome address for this summit on 5 February 2015.

In the photos below, Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri on the right (Director of TERI) and the VVS Laxman (left) – veteran cricketer

The Veteran Cricketer, VVS Laxman was appointed the Brand Ambassador for the initiative of ‘Lighting a Billion Lives – LaBL’. The initiative is an energy access project that provides access to light using solar lamps to billions of lives. – refer to Lighting aBillion Lives (LaBL).


Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General United Nations, addressed the participants (via video:) about the need to use a collective approach to mitigate climate change and the value of promoting global sustainability which DSDS implements annually. Proclaiming 2015 as the year of global action, HE Ban Ki-Moon notified government leaders, businesses and civil society sectors to intensify efforts to reduce the Green House Gases – GHG and increase investments in low carbon.

HE Ban Ki-Moon addressing participants at the summit

The 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit attracted world leaders and engaged stakeholders from diverse sectors;36 Heads of State, policy makers, ministers from 50 countries, government heads, civil society, academicians, media, business leaders, religious leaders and youth leaders.


It is important to mention that two major developments will be realized in the year 2015, one of which is ensuring that the sustainable development goals are globally agreed upon and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly. The other initiative is to ensure that the Conference of Parties – COP 2015, which will be held in Paris France later this year, yields a strong global agreement on how to deal with the impacts of climate change.

Therefore 2015 DSDS focused on spreading the message to global leaders and diverse stakeholders; businesses, industries, civil society, research and academic institutions to build momentum and create radical transitions through which paths of actions can easily be defined to achieve sustainable development.

The presence and participation of religious leaders in the summit was highly appreciated by other global leaders and participants. Religious leaders shared their thoughts on climate change and how man’s activities are greatly degrading the environment. Therefore finding lasting solutions to the cries of the environment will demand a collective sustainable approach and the global community must think of the road to sustainability beyond Paris.

Religious leaders share their thoughts on climate change, the relationship between man and the environment at the 2015 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit held at Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi India







Written by Ann Grace -  Idex Fellow 2015 - Working at Climate Miles Jan - June 2015