February 16, 2018
PM Modi said that the WSD summit is a reinforcement of India’s commitment towards ensuring sustainable socio-economic growth worldwide.
The theme of the summit this year is ‘Partnerships for a Resilient Planet’, WSDS 2018 seeks to resolve challenges propelled by climate change.
The ‘Greenovation Exhibition’ at WSDS 2018 will showcase the latest technological advancements to meet sustainable development goals.
As part of the Nationally Determined Contributions, India has pledged to reduce 33 to 35 per cent of emission intensity of its GDP by 2030.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on February 16th inaugurated the 2018 edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) at New Delhi. The WSDS 2018 is the flagship forum of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) that seeks to bring together on a common platform, global leaders and thinkers from the fields of sustainable development, energy and environment sectors. PM Modi said that the summit is a reinforcement of India’s commitment towards ensuring sustainable growth worldwide. The summit comes amid a host of initiatives undertaken by the Indian Government to ensure an all encompassing socio-economic growth for its citizens. In his address at the summit, PM Modi highlighted the importance of respecting the nature, which forms an integral part of Indian value system.
The theme of the summit this year is ‘Partnerships for a Resilient Planet’, WSDS 2018 seeks to create action frameworks to resolve some of the most urgent challenges facing developing economies in the backdrop of climate change. The three-day summit will address a wide variety of issues, including combating land degradation, effective waste management mechanisms to make cities free of landfills free, combat air pollution effectively, measures to increase resource and energy efficiency, facilitate transition to clean energy and create financial mechanisms to enable effective climate change mitigation. The ‘Greenovation Exhibition’ at WSDS 2018 will showcase the latest technological advancements to meet sustainable development goals. Over 2000 delegates are participating in the summit, including policy makers, researchers, think tanks, diplomats and corporates from around the world.
Over the years, the World Sustainable Development Summit has spread consciousness about actions to protect the nature. This awareness was a driving factor at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) at Paris in 2015 where severals nations took a stand together to sustain the planet. It was also with this thought that India, along with France, initiated the International Solar Alliance, which has already garnered 121 members. As part of the Nationally Determined Contributions, India has pledged to reduce 33 to 35 per cent of emission intensity of its GDP during 2005 to 2030. At the WSDS event, PM Modi said that India’s goal of creating a carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030 had once seemed difficult to many, yet the nation continues its steady progress on that path.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Gap Report, India is on track to meet its Copenhagen Pledge of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20 to 25 per cent over 2005 levels by 2020. The UN Sustainable Development Goals has put India on the path of equality, equity and climate justice. At the WSD summit, PM Modi also urged other nations to fulfil their commitments towards setting up a cleaner and smarter planet for future generations. In India, the Government has focused on ease of living through good governance, sustainable livelihood and cleaner environment. India is planning to set up 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 20222 to boost its sustainable growth efforts. There has also been a push to convert all vehicles to electric platform in future.