International Leaders to Deliberate on Planetary Resilience at TERI’s WSDS Summit

Two heads of State, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ministers for Environment from about a dozen countries, representatives from the United Nations, heads of inter-governmental organizations, and delegates from 126 countries will deliberate on planetary resilience at TERI’s latest edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) beginning February 16.

The three-day Summit, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)’s annual flagship event, is the only independently convened event of such scale in the developing world that brings together world leaders, thinkers, scientists, industry and government representatives and other stakeholders on a single platform to work towards long-term solutions for the planet’s health.

PM Modi will deliver the inaugural address while keynote addresses will be given by Dr. Irfaan Ali, President of the Republic of Guyana and Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations. Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change will make the opening address.

Hosted as it is on the back of extreme weather events across the globe in recent years, virtually held WSDS 2022 will focus on planetary well-being. Curated on the theme ‘Towards a Resilient Planet: Ensuring a Sustainable and Equitable Future’ experts will deliberate on a range of pressing issues ranging from climate change, sustainable production, energy transitions, global commons and resource security.

A high-profile ministerial session on sustainable consumption and production in developed countries will be attended by John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, United States, as well as Ministers of Environment from France, Canada, Norway, Finland, France, Spain and Germany. Other key speakers at the Summit that ends on February 18 include Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Egypt, Abdulla Shahid, Foreign Minister, Maldives, and President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, and Frans Timmermans, Vice-President of the European Commission.

Dr. Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI, said, “The World Sustainable Summit 2022 will deliberate on planetary resilience, a theme of particular significance especially in the wake of the extreme weather events the world has been witnessing lately. The WSDS is the most important event on TERI’s calendar; it is our conscious effort at creating a platform where stakeholders from across the world sit together to deliberate on solutions that are based on sustainability and green growth. TERI is a pioneer in these areas and WSDS 2022 will play a crucial part in accentuating our role in providing technological, policy as well as knowledge solutions as India works towards realizing the commitments made at COP26.”