DELHI SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT Protecting the global commons: 20 years post Rio 2–4 February 2012 New Delhi The Energy and Resources Institute January–February 2012 From the Director-General’s desk . TERI Governing Council Chairman he Delhi Sustainable Development Summit has now become the Dr A Ramachandran T most prominent gathering, held annually anywhere in the world to Former Under Secretary-General, United Nations, High Grounds, Bengaluru, India focus on issues of sustainable development. The Summit itself was launched Vice Chairman in 2001, and has gained momentum and relevance because there is now a • Dr R K Pachauri Director-General, TERI, New Delhi, India growing awareness across the globe and on the part of all stakeholders to Members see that the concept of sustainability is translated into action on the ground • Prof. B V Sreekantan and into policies that bring about a transition to a sustainable pattern Honorary Visiting Professor, Culture, Cognition and Consciousness Unit, National of development. Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India • Dr (Mrs) Wakako Hironaka DSDS 2012 focused on protecting the global commons and this is a Member, House of Councillors, Tokyo, Japan subject, which has been receiving great attention over the last 50 years, but • Mr Deepak S Parekh has not really aroused the social conscience of policy-makers in different Chairman, Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd, Mumbai, India countries, who predictably focus on narrow and short-term priorities that • Dr M K Bhan seem to dominate politics rooted in elections and the normal practice of Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi democracy. Typically, therefore, the global commons, which by definition • Mr Caio Koch-Weser are really nobody’s direct property or responsibility, are neglected both in Vice Chairman, Deutsche Bank Group, Winchester House, London private decisions and those of governments that represent narrow national Research and Support Divisions interests. Yet, the benefits and services we derive from the global commons are of incalculable value and to that extent as we continue with depletion, Energy Environment Policy Environmental and Industrial Centre for Environmental Studies degradation, and damage to these commons, so also are we reducing the Biotechnology Western Regional Centre Plant Biotechnology potential benefits that human society has been thriving on since time Modelling and Economic Analysis Microbial Biotechnology immemorial. If we do not bring about a reversal in our responsibility for (Including GIS) Bioremediation Technology Transport and Urban Development Agricultural and Rural Extension protection and conservation of the global commons, humanity will have Centre for Resources and the Environment, Biotechnology to pay an increasingly heavy price in the years ahead. A very pertinent Bengaluru North-Eastern Regional Centre example of the implications of damaging the global commons is related to Climate Change Sustainable Development Outreach the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere. Centre for Global Environment Research DSDS Since the atmosphere of this planet benefits all, but is the direct Forestry and Biodiversity TERI–BCSD India Film and Television Unit responsibility of no single entity, we have continued with indiscriminate Water Resources Communications Group dumping of these gases into the earth’s atmosphere. This has led to climate Water Resources Policy and Management Information Technology and Services change, which not only has an impact on all economic activities across the Regulatory Studies and Governance Centre for IT Infrastructure and Networking world, but also on the ecosystems essential for the survival of species across Energy Regulation and Practice Centre for IT Applications Centre for Regulatory Impact Assessment the length and breadth of our planet. Centre for Competition Promotion Technology Dissemination & Enterprise DSDS as an annual event can really not solve, in any effective Development Resources and Global Security way, any of the major problems that we have in the world linked with TERI Press Centre for Global Agreements, Legislation, Accounts unsustainable use of natural resources and their progressive degradation and Trade Secretaries (Administrative Services and Pool) Minerals and Metals and depletion. However, by collecting some of the finest minds drawn from Personnel Science and Technology Project Monitoring various countries of the world and by convening an assembly of decision Resources and Development Economics Purchase makers at the highest level, DSDS is able to bring into the consciousness Administrative Services Energy Environment Technology of the world’s foremost policy-makers knowledge that would perhaps Resource Efficient Process Technology TERI Technologies Ltd otherwise be ignored in dealing with the challenge of sustainability. The Applications Renewable Energy Technology Applications Human Resources Development fact that both the magnitude and the quality of participation in successive Biomass Energy Technology Applications HR Cell Summits has been on the increase, it can be concluded that DSDS is now Centre for Research on Sustainable Building Training & Development looked on as an essential part of the global calendar for people who are not Science Recruitment GRIHA (Green Rating for International only concerned with issues of sustainable development, but can actually Habitat Assessment) Support Services & Protocol make a difference in implementing the concept of sustainability in real life Library and Information Centre Industrial Energy Efficiency Despatch conditions. We now know that the world is seriously engaged in assessing Industrial Energy Efficiency & Sustainable Housekeeping the feasibility of patterns of growth that are greener and embody a large Technologies Receptionists component of sustainability. Consequently, the Summit theme for next year Industrial Energy (Bengaluru) Support Staff Telecommunications and Transport would be “The Global Challenge of Resource Efficient and Low Carbon Decentralised Energy Solutions Tour Travel and Programme Development”. For us as organizers of DSDS, it is a source of gratification LaBL Director-General’s Office and pride that TERI has launched this Forum, which has the potential for Social Transformation redefining the concept of development for the betterment not only of the Rural and Renewable Energy, Delhi TERI University current generation, but also of generations yet to come. Rural Extension Activity Southern Regional Centre, Bengaluru, Environmental Education and Awareness and TERI Mumbai Relocation and Rehabilitation Youth Education and Action TERI Worldwide TERI North America, Washington, DC, USA Biotechnology and Bioresources TERI Europe, London, UK Centre for Mycorrhizal Research TERI Gulf Centre, Dubai, UAE Plant Tissue Culture and Molecular Biology Representation in Japan, Malaysia, and R K Pachauri Micropropagation Technology Park Africa Director-General, TERI World Sustainable Development Forum WSDF World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF) is a conduit to identify, analyse, and disseminate policy interventions to enhance human well-being in the present and create conditions for a sustainable future. It was established in 2005 as a platform to create awareness of and ensure action towards meeting the objectives of sustainable development. This Forum has been inspired by the success of the DSDS and the need for spreading the message from each annual summit to different parts of the world. In its endeavour, the WSDF has been able to secure patronage of a group of highly distinguished global leaders drawn from government, industry, and the academia, as well as opinion-makers in a world characterized by locale specific socio-economic and environmental priorities. Given diverse developmental imperatives across regions, WSDF conducts Regional Sustainable Development Summit (RSDS) annually, to focus on sustainable development issues regionally. The first regional summit held under the WSDF-RSDS series was held in Shirakawa, Japan in 2006 as a Policy Forum on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development. This was followed by the second WSDF summit in 2007, held in Tunisia, focusing on Climate Change Strategies for the African and Mediterranean Regions. The year 2009, witnessed two regional summits, one held in Athens, Greece, with the emphasis on ‘Climate Change and Challenges for Future Generations’ and the other in Manila, the Philippines focusing on Climate Change in the Asia Pacific Region. List of WSDF Patrons WSDF Advisory Group Members P Mr Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General, United P Ms Lorraine Bolsinger, President and CEO, GE Aviation Nations; and President Global Humanitarian Forum, P Dr Adnan A Shihab-Eldin, Former Acting Secretary Geneva General, Director of Research at OPEC; Advisor to Kuwait P Lord John Browne, Former Group Chief Executive, Petroleum Corporation, Austria British Petroleum Co plc P Mr Warren Evans, Director of Environment, The World P HE Mr Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Former President, Bank, USA Republic of Maldives P Dr Prodipto Ghosh, Former Secretary, Ministry P HE Mr Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland of Environment and Forests, Government of India, P HE Ms Tarja Halonen, President of Finland Distinguished Fellow, TERI P Mr Jeffrey R Immelt, Chairman and Chief Executive P Ms Frannie Leautier, Former