Experts at WSDS Curtain-Raiser Underscore the Need for a Collaborative Approach on Climate Action and Sustainable Development
The need to break silos and work in collaboration across borders, ministries, departments and sectors to mainstream sustainability was asserted by experts during the curtain-raiser to the 22nd edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS 2023) held ahead of the World Environment Day in New Delhi.
June 04, 2022. By News Bureau
The WSDS 2023, the annual flagship science-policy interface event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), will be held in the capital on the theme of ‘Mainstreaming Sustainable Development and Climate Resilience for Collective Action’ from February 22 to 24, 2023.
In his keynote address at the curtain-raiser, Mr Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said, “We have not inherited the environment from the previous generation, but borrowed it from the future generation. We have a huge moral and ethical responsibility to protect that… We have to keep the perspective of human development and the individual at the centre of it all. Unfortunately, sometimes the policies and discussions fail to do that.”
Pointing out that inclusive multilateralism is the only way forward to address climate change, recover from current conflicts and the crisis we are living through, Mr Sarmad also added, “In both developed and developing countries, there is an increased importance towards mainstreaming the effects of climate change and addressing them in climate policies.”
In his presidential address, Dr S Siddharth, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), Government of Bihar, gave an overview of how the State conceptualised and implemented the Green Budget. “Bihar is the first state in the country to place the Green Budget in both the houses of the Assembly. We came out with our first Green Budget in 2021. We identified 19 departments that have an impact on climate change; every budget head was broken to identify its effect on climate change,” pointed out Dr Siddharth.
Noting that the world has come a long way in terms of awareness of sustainability, especially among corporates, 50 years after the Stockholm Conference and 30 years since the Rio Summit, Mr Nitin Desai, Chairman, TERI, however observed that political barriers are yet to be surpassed. “There are institutional and ethical barriers still in getting solutions which address the challenges of equity, particularly between now and future generations,” Mr Desai said.
Calling for the integration of sustainable development across sectors of climate policy, finance, science, technology and innovation, Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI, in her welcome address said, “Perspectives from a variety of lenses and institutional vantage points become important when we talk about mainstreaming sustainable development.”
The Summit Overview Document of WSDS 2022 and the curtain-raiser to the 22nd edition of WSDS was launched by Dr Shailly Kedia, Senior Fellow and Associate Director, TERI.
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