Experts asserted the need to break down silos and collaborate across borders, ministries, departments, and sectors to mainstream sustainability during the curtain-raiser to the 22nd edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS 2023) held in New Delhi on Friday ahead of World Environment Day.
Distinguished guests attend the curtain raiser ceremony for the 22nd World Sustainable Development Summit and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between TERI and Diamond Toons.
From February 22 to 24, 2023, The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) annual flagship science-policy interface event, WSDS 2023, will be place in the capital on the theme of ‘Mainstreaming Sustainable Development and Climate Resilience for Collective Action.’ Mr. Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), remarked in his keynote presentation at the curtain-raiser, “We have borrowed the environment from the future generation rather than inheriting it from the previous generation. We have a significant moral and ethical obligation to safeguard it… We must put the human development perspective and the individual at the forefront of all we do. Regrettably, policies and debates do not always achieve this.”
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. In his leadership address, Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, Senior Adviser and Scientist ‘H’, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, highlighted that though industrial development played a part in accelerating climate change, solution to the problem also lies in science. “Technology driven industrial development led to climate change. It is going to be science and technology led coping strategy and clean technology that will help address climate change. The new science and technology policy will focus on creating the STI ecosystem that meets the challenges of SDG goals and aligns with national priorities,” he said.
Noting that all major banks in India need to scale up their engagement with sustainable development, Mr. Sunil Nair, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), gave an overview of the central bank’s vision and policies for mainstreaming sustainable development and climate action. “The RBI has been spreading awareness on green and sustainable finance through its publications and communication channels,” said Mr. Nair.In a bid to spread awareness on water conservation, TERI also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Diamond Toons to produce a series of popular books.
Emphasising the need to take the message of water conservation to all stakeholders, Dr. SK Sarkar, Distinguished Fellow, TERI, said, “We should reach the youth and other stakeholders who are the future citizens of the country. As per the estimates of Niti Aayog, by 2030, our water demand will be double of our water supply. Water conservation is the key.”
He noted that collaborations like the one between TERI and Diamond Toons will aid in spreading the message. Mr. Manish Verma, Director of Diamond Toons, said the platform of talking comics and its universe of characters will transmit the message of conservation and sustainable development to stakeholders in different languages as he signed the MoU with Dr. Dhawan.
“We need behavioral change now more than ever to achieve inclusive and long-term transformation. We need to raise the number of people who are concerned about maintaining the one earth. The ability to tell stories is the only way to create a culture that is open to change “Mr. Verma remarked.