8 February 2015: The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), convening in New Delhi, India, for the 15th time, focused on theme ‘Sustainable Development Goals and Dealing with Climate Change.’ The Summit brought together Heads of State and Government from approximately 20 countries, together with Nobel laureates, business leaders and academics, to provide inputs to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) process and on action on climate change.

The Summit, which took place from 5-7 February 2015, was structured around high-level panel sessions and parallel thematic track sessions focusing on, inter alia: challenges in introducing clean technologies; shaping India’s sustainable development pathways under climate change; tackling climate change by legislators; and the contribution of the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) to achieving SDGs and to a successful outcome at the UN Paris Climate Change Conference. The DSDS 2015 also presented the 11th Sustainable Development Leadership Award to José Manuel Durão Barroso, former President of the European Commission, for his efforts to decarbonize the European economy, and promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. The award has been presented since 2005 to individuals engaged in encouraging global sustainable development initiatives.

Speaking ahead of the Summit, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Chair of a DSDS ministerial session on the theme of ‘The Agreement that the World Needs at COP 21,’ stated that: “reaching a meaningful Paris climate accord will demand considerable political leadership especially at this time of continued economic fragility and persistent geopolitical tensions.” He identified a greater sense of commitment prompted by the 2014 UN Climate Summit, as well as the strong demand for EBRD’s own sustainable energy investments, as signs of a growing momentum towards such an agreement.

In his remarks to the DSDS, delivered via videolink, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggested that addressing climate change and adopting sustainable development are “just two sides of one coin,” and that “investing in climate is investing in growth, and investing in growth will end in investing in climate change.”

On 4 February, a high-level corporate dialogue was held as a curtain raiser for the SDSD under the theme ‘Delhi to Paris: Corporate Vision on Climate Change.’ During the full-day event, participants from the private sector, multilateral development banks (MDBs), and government discussed a wide range of topics, including: climate change adaptation, including ensuring water availability; wastewater management and river cleaning; expanded energy access; financing of the energy transition and sustainable development; and smart cities.

The first day of the Summit opened with an inaugural session, which also saw the launch of The Energy Resources Institute’s (TERI) annual research report, ‘Global Sustainable Development Report 2015,’ and a publication titled ‘Energy Security Outlook’ evaluating energy security choices. The day included leadership panels on linkages and synergies between the SDGs and climate change, and sustainable production and consumption-related (SCP) policies and practice. Other panels centered on stakeholder engagement, wealth and income disparities, and corporate sector initiatives. A special ‘Leaders’ Speak’ session featured keynote addresses by Nobel laureates, and a keynote address by Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao on solutions for inclusive, green and resilient cities.

On the second and third day, three ministerial sessions focused on: expectations regarding the UN Climate Change Summit in Paris in December 2015; financing transformational change and achieving SDGs in Africa; and the urgency of taking action to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Parallel thematic tracks focused on: challenges relating to the introduction of clean technologies; India’s sustainable development; and electric mobility, among other topics.

During the third and final day of the Summit, a “valedictory session” gathered faith leaders around a discussion on sustainable development. Concluding the Summit, Rajendra Pachauri, Director-General of TERI and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), thanked participants for sharing their “rich and varied views,” notifying that action points drawn from the discussions would be distilled into a vision document in the lead-up to the Paris Climate Change Conference (COP 21).

The DSDS, organized by TERI, is an annual high-level forum where high-level participants discuss issues related to global sustainability. The annual Summit provides inputs for the World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF), a global platform for knowledge sharing and policy discourse that works in collaboration with TERI. [DSDS Website] [DSDS Webcast] [DSDS Agenda] [DSDS High-level Corporate Dialogue Agenda] [WSDF Website] [DSDS Sustainable Development Leadership Award Video] [UNSG Speech Transcript] [EBRD Press Release] [DSDS Bulletin 5 February] [DSDS Bulletin 6 February] [DSDS Bulletin 7 February]