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From the Director-General’s desk . . . T R K Pachauri Director-General, T E R I January–February 2008 the momentum that seems apparent in tackling the challenge of climate change, initiated largely by enhanced awareness of the scientific realities of climate change as brought out by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. This, of course, had manifested itself in some positive movement at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Bali in December 2007. However, another trend which is seen as casting some doubt on the ability of leaders to show political will in reducing the global emissions of greenhouse gases is the indication of a possible slowdown in the global economy. Conventional wisdom suggests that the US economy is heading towards a recession and if this does not happen then other parts of the world would also be affected adversely in their economic growth. A fear, therefore, arises in the minds of many that in periods of poor economic growth it is unlikely that effective action will be taken by governments to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases. This fear indeed has a valid basis. However, the period between 1973–74 and 1979–80 was a period when the global economy went through a difficult time largely as a result of enhanced oil prices in the global market. Yet, what helped most countries to get out of a recessionary period was a major effort to reduce the intensity of energy use in several sectors. Something similar is required today as well to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and the related use of fossil fuels. Adversity often brings out ingenuity in human beings, and often when things are going well the tendency is to continue with business as usual. A slowdown in economic growth in the US and in other parts of the world should be seen as an opportunity to restructure economic activities as well as production processes and systems by which emissions of greenhouse gases can be reduced. Hence, it is hoped that the momentum that exists in global negotiations towards an effective agreement in the field of climate change will not be slowed by a slump in growth in any part of the global economy. The intellectual community has a responsibility to provide comprehensive analysis within this perspective for the benefit of a brighter future for our children and grandchildren and the stabilization of the earth’s climate. In any case, there is now growing evidence that the new economy based on a lower dependence on fossil fuels would actually create jobs and economic welfare which business as usual cannot do much longer. Policies must, therefore, be formulated by removing blinkers that have limited past economic decisions. here are two trends at the global level which are seen by some as moving in opposite directions. The first relates to

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Page 1: From the Director-General’s desk . . . Tbookstore.teri.res.in/docs/newsletters/TERISCOPE Jan.-Feb 2008_DS… · DSDS (Delhi Sustainable Development Summit) and the need to spread

From the Director-General’s desk . . .

T

R K PachauriDirector-General, T E R I January–February 2008

the momentum that seems apparent in tackling the challenge ofclimate change, initiated largely by enhanced awareness of thescientific realities of climate change as brought out by the IPCCFourth Assessment Report. This, of course, had manifested itself insome positive movement at the 13th Conference of the Parties tothe UN Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Bali inDecember 2007. However, another trend which is seen as castingsome doubt on the ability of leaders to show political will inreducing the global emissions of greenhouse gases is the indicationof a possible slowdown in the global economy. Conventionalwisdom suggests that the US economy is heading towards arecession and if this does not happen then other parts of the worldwould also be affected adversely in their economic growth. A fear,therefore, arises in the minds of many that in periods of pooreconomic growth it is unlikely that effective action will be taken bygovernments to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases. Thisfear indeed has a valid basis. However, the period between1973–74 and 1979–80 was a period when the global economy wentthrough a difficult time largely as a result of enhanced oil prices inthe global market. Yet, what helped most countries to get out of arecessionary period was a major effort to reduce the intensity ofenergy use in several sectors.

Something similar is required today as well to reduce emissionsof greenhouse gases and the related use of fossil fuels. Adversityoften brings out ingenuity in human beings, and often when thingsare going well the tendency is to continue with business as usual.A slowdown in economic growth in the US and in other parts of theworld should be seen as an opportunity to restructure economicactivities as well as production processes and systems by whichemissions of greenhouse gases can be reduced. Hence, it is hopedthat the momentum that exists in global negotiations towards aneffective agreement in the field of climate change will not be slowedby a slump in growth in any part of the global economy. Theintellectual community has a responsibility to providecomprehensive analysis within this perspective for the benefit of abrighter future for our children and grandchildren and thestabilization of the earth’s climate. In any case, there is nowgrowing evidence that the new economy based on a lowerdependence on fossil fuels would actually create jobs and economicwelfare which business as usual cannot do much longer. Policiesmust, therefore, be formulated by removing blinkers that havelimited past economic decisions.

here are two trends at the global level which are seen bysome as moving in opposite directions. The first relates to

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2 TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

World Sustainable Development Forum

Development is not just about achieving

numerical targets. There remains a need to look

beyond tracking progress on universal goals in

order to understand if the well being of people is

improving – in terms of health, literacy, and access to

basic services – and the factors responsible for this

change.

The WSDF (World Sustainable Development Forum)

is a platform that seeks to create awareness and ensure

action towards meeting the objectives of sustainable

development. This Forum has been inspired by the

success of TERI’s annually held flagship event, the

DSDS (Delhi Sustainable Development Summit) and

the need to spread the message from each summit to

different parts of the world.

It has been envisaged as a conduit to identify, analyze,

and disseminate policy interventions to enhance human

well-being in the present, and create conditions for a

sustainable future.

In this endeavor, the Forum is supported by a group of

highly distinguished patrons and advisory group members

who are leaders and opinion-makers in government,

industry, and academia from all disciplines.

List of WSDF Patrons

P Mr Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General, United

Nations; President, Global Humanitarian Forum,

Geneva

P HE Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik, Former Prime

Minister of Norway; President, Oslo Centre for Peace

and Human Rights; Special Humanitarian Envoy for

the Horn of Africa, United Nations

P Lord John Browne, Former Group Chief Executive, BP

P HE Mr Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President,

Republic of Maldives

P HE Mr Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland

P HE Ms Tarja Halonen, President of Finland

P Mr Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO, General

Electric Company, USA

P Mr Kamal Nath, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and

Industry, Government of India

P Dr Jose Antonio Ocampo, Professor at the School of

International and Public Affairs; Fellow of the

Committee on Global Thought at Columbia

University; Former Under Secretary General for

Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations

P Mr A Raja, Hon’ble Minister of Communications and

Information Technology, Government of India

P Prof. Jeffrey D Sachs, Director - Earth Institute and

Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the

United Nations

P HE Mr Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway

P Dr Shoichiro Toyoda, Honorary Chairman/Member

of the Board, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan

WSDF Advisory Group Members

P Ms Lorraine Bolsinger, Corporate Vice President –

Ecomagination, GE

P Dr Adnan A Shihab-Eldin, Former Acting Secretary

General, Director of Research at OPEC; Advisor to

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Austria

P Mr Warren Evans, Director of Environment, The

World Bank, USA

P Dr Prodipto Ghosh, Former Secretary, Ministry of

Environment and Forests, Government of India,

Distinguished Fellow, TERI

P Ms Frannie Leautier, Former Vice President, World

Bank Institute, Washington, DC; Managing Partner of

The Fezembat Group

P Dr Bindu N Lohani, Vice-President (Finance and

Administration), Asian Development Bank

P Dr Ligia Noronha, Director, Resources and Global

Security Division, TERI

P Dr Pal Prestrud, Director, Center for International

Climate and Environmental Research Oslo, Norway

P Dr Leena Srivastava, Executive Director, TERI

P Dr Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Vice President for

International Relations, The University of Tokyo, Japan

P Mr Georges Valentis, Managing Director, The

Institut Veolia Environnement, France

P Prof. Wei Zhihong, Former Director - Global Climate

Change Institute, Tsinghua University

The WSDF Patrons and Advisory Group members

meet annually, providing an opportunity for the

Secretariat to submit an update of activities under the

Forum for each year and to stimulate discussions on the

Forum’s way forward.

RSDS (Regional Sustainable Development Summit)

In order to sensitize and generate public awareness on

issues of sustainable development regionally, the WSDF

conducts RSDS on an annual basis. The RSDS 2007 on

‘International Solidarity Conference on Climate Change

Strategies for the African and Mediterranean Regions’ was

held at Tunis, Tunisia, hosted by the Government of

Tunisia. In 2006 the first RSDS was held at Shirakawa,

Japan, highlighting the importance of science and

technology for achieving sustainable development goals.

WSDF Newsletter

As part of its outreach activities, the WSDF Newsletter

series titled ‘Tackling tomorrow’s challenges today’

brings to focus key global sustainable development

challenges. The series, with an inter-disciplinary

approach and international focus invites eminent

scientists, researchers, and policy advisors to provide

opinions on select developmental issues.

The 21st century has been dubbed the century of the

environment. To truly maximize the available opportunities

and a forum of this caliber, we invite expressions of interest

for WSDF endeavors.

WSDF

For further details, contact

The WSDF Secretariat, TERI, Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003

Tel. +91 11 2468 2100 or 4150 4900 • Fax +91 11 2468 2144 or 2468 2145

E-mail [email protected] • Web www.wsdforum.org

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3TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

Curtain raiser programme for DSDS 2008(Delhi Sustainable Development Summit2008), CEO Forum, was held on 7 February

2008 with more than 76 corporate houses participating.The core theme of the discussion in all sessions wasclimate change and sustainable development issues.

The participants for the inaugural sessionsincluded Dr R K Pachauri, Director-General, TERI;Mr V Thulasidas, CMD, Air India; Mr Lars Thunnel,CEO and Executive Vice-President, InternationalFinance Corporation; and Mr Yvo De Boer, ExecutiveSecretary, UNFCCC (United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change). In his address,Mr Thulasidas praised TERI-BCSD India as a leadingindustry body promoting the cause of sustainabledevelopment for a better tomorrow. For Mr LarsThunnel, climate change was an issue that wasaffecting the Indian sub-continent the most. He dwelton the need to work towards mitigating climatechange. Mr Yvo De Boer, in his address, emphasisedon the fact that since it was humans who were causingclimate change, it was also for them to make plans tocounter it. Sharing his insight Dr R K Pachauri saidthat a low carbon economy is an absolute must for abetter future.

D S D S 2 0 0 8 C u r t a i n R a i s e r : T h e C E O F o r u m

Working session 1 began with a discussion byMr Nitin Desai, former Under Secretary General ofthe United Nations. In his opinion, it is high time weshifted the focus from discussions on science andtechnology development to their actual applications.A few of the issues he highlighted were the need towork within existing infrastructure to find immediatesolutions and the barrier of affordability for lowcarbon technologies. In discussing policies,participants felt that countries should share theirsuccessful policy implementation strategies. Whilemany countries had effective policies on paper, therewere limited systems for implementation, theylamented.

The themes set for working session 2 were ‘sharingburden to reduce increasing GHG emissions in futurethrough mitigation’ and ‘sharing burden to increase

Sustainable Development and Climate Change: the business outlook

Working session 1 in progress

Inaugural session in progress

Working session 2 in progress

resilience among vulnerable communities throughadaptation’. The participants emphasized on multi-stakeholder partnership. They also focused on theneed to involve NGOs in areas such as forestry topromote carbon sequestration.

Initiating the concluding session Mr Bjorn Stigson,President, WBCSD said that there could not be asustainable world without a sustainable India.Focussing on what Indian business houses could do tocombat climate change, Dr R K Pachauri said thatclimate change would add to the overall costs. JensStoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway, began thedinner session by discussing improvements inmaternal healthcare and reduction in child mortalityin India. One of the key participants in this session,Mr Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Commerce,stressed on that fact that India’s major energyresource was coal and it needed more efficient coalcombustion and efficient utilisation.

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4 TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

Opening session

The eighth DSDS is being held in thebackground of the increasing concernsrelated to climate change in the world today

that have even been articulated in the FourthAssessment Report of the IPCC. It assumes greatersignificance because it connects issues related tosustainable development to those of climate changeand hopes to encourage activities that will need tobe undertaken for sustainable development acrossthe globe.

The debate on climate change has gained furthermomentum after the 13th COP (conference ofparties) held at Bali in December 2007, and theDSDS 2008 is expected to take forward thediscussions on both the challenges and theopportunities facing the world today. The impactsof climate change are global and unequivocal, butironically are felt most by the poorer sections ofsociety who have contributed least in polluting theenvironment. The measures adopted for combatingclimate change would also translate into action forpoverty alleviation, and organizations like TERIhave a responsibility to create a climate for change.

India needs to take the lead and be a frontrunnerin taking steps to tackle climate change. The Prime

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Opening session and VIP panel discussionWelcome address by Dr Arcot Ramachandran, Chairman, T E R I,New Delhi

Presentation of the Sustainable Development Leadership Award 2008

Acceptance speech by the Awardee

Inaugural address by Hon’ble PM Dr Manmohan Singh

Theme presentation on DSDS 2008 and Vote of thanksDr R K Pachauri, Director-General, TERI, New Delhi

VIP PANEL DISCUSSIONThe Scientific Evidence: A Call for Action

Setting the Theme Dr R K Pachauri, Director-General, TERI

Moderated by Dr Prannoy Roy, President, NDTV

SpeakersHeads of State and Government

P HE Mr Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of IcelandP HE Mr Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President, Government of

MaldivesP HE Mr Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister, Government of NorwayP HE Mr Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister, Government of FinlandP HE Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark

World leaders

P HE Prof. Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico andDirector, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization

P HE Mr Moritz Leuenberger, Former President of Switzerland,Federal Councillor, Head of the Swiss Federal Department of theEnvironment, Transport, Energy, and Communications

P HE Prof. Ruud F M Lubbers, Former Prime Minister, Governmentof The Netherlands

Sustainable development andclimate change

The DSDS (Delhi Sustainable Development Summit) –organized each year by T ER I since 2001 – brings togetherthe world’s finest minds and leading thinkers on oneplatform to deliberate over the challenges of sustainabledevelopment. The sixth edition of the annual summit washeld during 7–9 February 2008. As in previous years, DSDS2008 also engaged heads of governments, Nobellaureates, corporate CEOs, academics, and representativesof bilateral and multilateral organizations, and researchinstitutions. TERIscope brings to its readers an overview ofthe proceedings of DSDS 2008.

D a y 1 , 7 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 8

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5TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

Sustainable DevelopmentLeadership Award 2008

The Sustainable Development LeadershipAward – instituted by TERI in 2005 – is givenaway every year in recognition of significantcontribution towards the cause of sustainabledevelopment.

The fourth Sustainable Development Leadership Awardwas presented to HE Mr Maumoon Abdul Gayoom,President, Government of Maldives. The Award waspresented by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India,Dr Manmohan Singh.

Inaugural session in progress. Inset: Hon’ble Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singhdelivering the inaugural speech

Ministers’ Council on ClimateChange is currently working ona national programme toaddress various relevant issues.However, the recommendationsof this plan would requirecommitments of time andresources from all sections ofthe society, includinggovernments, businesses, andthe civil society. In this context,India’s Eleventh Five-year Plan(2007–12) articulates strategiesin the areas of afforestation,sustainable energy use, floodprotection, transportation, and

financial instruments such as capital debenturefunds.

Developing countries need to find a middlepath between development and addressingsustainability challenges with forward-lookingpolicy interventions. For example, the subsidieson products like kerosene could be shifted toenvironmentally benign technologies such as solardevices. TERI’s Lighting a Billion Lives campaignaims to promote the use of solar devices throughthe dissemination of solar torches and solarlanterns to households in villages withoutelectricity.

The Scientific Evidence:a call for action

VIP panel discussionA broad range of issues relating to climate changewas discussed in the VIP panel discussion at theDSDS. The panel unanimously agreed that climatechange is inevitable and that it is taking place

HE Mr Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and HE Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussenat the VIP panel discussion

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6 TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

predominantly due to human actions. Theyemphasized a need to move towards a globallow-carbon economy by undertaking variousmitigation practices, options for which were nowavailable and not too expensive. This includestransformation of energy systems of countries sothat there is an increased use of cleaner sources inthe energy mix. It was also agreed that attempts toprevent the deforestation of rainforests must be

ChairpersonMr Praful Patel, Regional Vice-President – South Asia Region, TheWorld Bank

SpeakerMr Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary,UNFCCC, Bonn

Keynoteaddress 1

could be flooded, which would lead to large-scale migration—anissue that required global attention. Mr Boer stressed that eventhough the focus was on action that would not cost the worldmuch, we must be honest and acknowledge that a real cost doesexist. He called for both the developed and developing worlds towork together and come to a common understanding.

Mr Boer took theaudience throughthe key delibera-tions at Bali and thegoals that had beenset thereof. He ap-prised the audienceof the meetingscheduled in March–April this year thatwill discuss keyissues including thecommitments eachcountry is likely togive. It would also seek to mobilize the finances to organizenecessary action. He called for a new financial structure forpublic, private, national, and international funding to helpcountries globally. He said that in a high-demand scenario,CDM (clean development mechanism) would simulate invest-ments to the tune of 100 million dollars by rich countries.

VIP panel discussion in progress

The keynote address byYvo de Boer, Executive

Secretary, UNFCCC, em-phasized the harmfulimpacts that climatechange would have onsocieties around the world.Taking forward ideasbrought out in the preced-ing sessions, he predictedthat almost three millionpeople could be affected ifthe Himalayan glaciersmelted due to climatechange. The homes of 94million people in Asia

made. Trading mechanismsneeded to be strengthened sothat the rich nations of theworld could contribute tomitigating climate changethrough technology andresource transfer to othernations. Technological optionsof carbon capture and storagewere also mentioned as someviable mitigation measures.

Measures such asstrengthening early warningsystems and involving localcommunities were stressed uponas being imperative in the face ofsudden catastrophes. Theincentivization of businesses

worldwide for using cleaner technologies throughchanges in prices, carbon taxes, and so on tocombat the issue of climate change was alsodiscussed. Speakers thought it was ironic that thosewho contributed least to climate change (the poorin various parts of the world) were the ones whosuffered the most. They also agreed on the need forall major leaders of the world to come together andwork in coordination for a larger common good.

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7TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

The Equity and Ethical Dimensions ofBurden Sharing

ChairpersonP Mr Suresh P Prabhu, Hon’ble Member of Parliament - Lok Sabha,

Government of India

Setting the ThemeP HE Mr Brice Lalonde, Former Minister of Environment and

Ambassador for Climate Change, France

SpeakerP HE Mr Syed Wajid Hussain Bukhari, Minister for Environment, Local

Government and Rural Development, Government of PakistanP Dr Mary Chinery-Hesse, Chief Advisor to the President, Government

of GhanaP HE Dasho Paljor J Dorji, Advisor - National Environment

Commission, Government of BhutanP HE Ms Khempheng Pholsena, Minister In-charge of Water Resources

and President, Lao National Mekong CommitteeP HE Ms Maria Cristina Narbona Ruiz, Minister of Environment,

Government of Spain

Session summary and report byP Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, Bureau of Energy EfficiencyP Mr Ashok Jaitly, Distinguished Fellow, TERI

This session highlighted issues of moralresponsibility and individual consciousnessas important factors in addressing climate

change problems. A strategy that amalgamatedresponsibility and capability was thought to be idealfor tackling climate change. A long-termdevelopmental goal, which stressed the efficient use

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1 of resources, needed to be formulated to mitigateits negative impacts. These impacts could be adecline in livelihood or the food security of the poorin impoverished countries. This was evident in thenorthern part of Ghana, which was disturbed bydroughts and floods last year. The health scenario,too, was affected due to the outbreak of diseasessuch as malaria, diarrhoea, and so on.

It was felt that the need of the hour was to haveadequate financial and technological resources tocombat the adverse impact of climate change. Forthis, the need was to introduce differentiatedtreatment. It was also necessary to design a frameworkfor burden sharing. In this process, developedcountries would have to provide aid to developingcountries through CDM (clean developmentmechanism). This could help in the transfer of cleantechnology. The important point to be kept in mindwhile addressing these issues was that burden sharingmust be insulated from power politics.

Session summary by special reportersP There is a need to build confidence across

nations and create solidarity to mitigate theadverse impacts of climate change.

P There is also a need to create active carbonmarkets to facilitate carbon trading andtechnology transfer.

Ministerialsession inprogress

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8 TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

Mitigation and Adaptation Policies forSustainable Development

ChairpersonP Ms Meena Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of Environment and

Forests, Government of India

Setting the ThemeP Dr Leena Srivastava, Executive Director, TERI

SpeakerP Dr Arza Churchman, Full Professor, Technion - Israel Institute

of Technology, IsraelP Mr Jean-Michel Debrat, Deputy Director General, Agence

Française de Développement (AFD), FranceP Dr Maritta Koch-Weser, CEO, The Global Exchange for Social

Investment, GermanyP Dr Dirk Messner, Director of the German Development Institute

(DIE), Deutsches Institut für EntwicklungspolitikP Dr Pal Prestrud, Director, Center for International Climate and

Environmental Research-OsloP Dr Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Vice President for International

Relations, The University of TokyoP Mr Michael Walsh, Executive Vice President, Chicago Climate

Exchange

The extremely interesting plenary sessionfocused on development as a human rightespecially at a time when environmental

issues have become critical to the growth of society.The speakers dwelt on the need to address the

issues of mitigation and adaptation separately forwhich institutional mechanisms are already inplace. Mitigation strategies involve effective globalstandards as well as global land use policy andcannot be combined with adaptation strategies.

The speakers lamented the lack of financialresources to support mitigation and adaptationstrategies but applauded bilateral fundingopportunities. Voluntary actions through capitaltrade transaction in the carbon market are in placeas supporting tools.

Eminent speakers at the plenary session stressed onthe critical link between ecological and physicalenvironment. Therefore, a real and workabledefinition of the phrase ‘quality of life’ becomes aprecursor to formulating important governmentpolicies, the best of which need the support of thepeople. This support will only come about if thecommon people are allowed to define quality of life.

The session also emphasized on the need forupholding procedural justice. Sustainable businessdevelopment, felt the speakers, was another way inwhich valuable rainforest resource could be conserved.Speakers further pointed out that knowledgenetworking for sustainable societies had become anecessity in the 21st century. Thus, the contribution ofacademia to social sciences, new research networks,and sustainable sciences needed to be acknowledged.

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Plenary session 1 in progress

Dr ArzaChurchman

Dr DirkMessner

Mr Jean-MichelDebrat

Dr LeenaSrivastava

Dr KazuhikoTakeuchi

Dr MarittaKoch-Weser

Dr Pal PrestrudMr MichaelWalshMr MichaelWalsh

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9TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

Climate change: plain speakAn interactive session with Mr Nik Gowing, Main Presenter, BBC World TV

True to its theme and title, the interactivesession with Mr Nik Gowing, Main

Presenter, BBC World, was both interesting andinformative. The session began with theparticipants commenting on the deliberationsthat took place throughout the day. The livelyaudience emphasized ideas that could helpformulate a global agreement on climate change.

Participants unequivocally addressed the issueof linking the cost of improved lifestyles withconsumer affordability. It was felt that, owing tothe increasing demand, the producers must focuson manufacturing environment-friendlyproducts. Inspirational leadership wasrecognized as a thrust area for ushering inlifestyle changes in society. It was also felt thatchildren and youth have a role to play ininfluencing consumption practices and creatingenvironmental awareness.

The fact that the end-products ofconsumption are posing a huge challenge to

Guests of HonourP Dr Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller

Foundation, USAP Prof Akio Morishima, Board

Chairperson, Japan Climate PolicyCenter

Chief GuestDr Nandan M Nilekani, Co-Chairman,Infosys Technologies

Dinner address

Commencing the dinner session Prof.Akio Morishima emphasized that changein lifestyles had been one of the primereasons for an unsustainable andcarbon-intensive world. For a sustain-able world, he stressed on the need tomaintain and promote a more tradi-tional and natural way of living.

Dr Judith Rodin focused on the needfor innovation in science and technology,business development, and the creationof fair and equitable policies in terms ofnew resources required for tackling the

formidable climate challenge. It would fur-ther be critical to incorporate climate changeconcerns into developmental efforts.

The chief guest for the dinner session,Dr Nandan M Nilekani highlighted the keyrole that businesses could play in address-ing climate change issues and promoting

Dinner session

Mr Nik Gowing and Dr R K Pachauri in the plain speak session

sustainable development was also highlighted. Theparticipants agreed that a clear strategy formanaging wastage without losing sight of economicprogress was indispensable. Public education, fiscalpolicies, pricing structure, and education were,concluded the participants as well as Mr Gowing,the way towards a sustainable future.

Dr Judith Rodin

Prof. Akio Morishima

pathways to sustainable development.However, the corporate sector wouldrequire a transparent regulatory frameworkfor operation in order to drive investmentdecisions. This would essentially involvedevelopment of a global framework with afair price for carbon and appropriate taxesand incentives. He concluded that Indian

entrepreneurs could help build new,cost-effective, and low-carbon businessmodels that were globally competitive.

Dr Nandan M Nilekani

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10 TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

Addressing Climate Change:Vision 2050(Long Term Targets and Perspectives)

ChairpersonP Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Hon’ble Deputy Chairman,

Planning Commission, Government of India

Setting the themeP HE Mr Moritz Leuenberger, Former President of Switzerland,

Federal Councillor, Head of the Swiss Federal Department ofthe Environment, Transport, Energy, and Communications

SpeakersP HE Mr Anil Kumar Bachoo, Minister for Environment and

National Development Unit, Government of MauritiusP HE Mr Andreas Carlgren, Minister for Environment,

Government of SwedenP HE Mr Kimmo Tiilikainen, Minister of the Environment,

Government of FinlandP Prof. Klaus Toepfer, Hon Prof., Tsinghua University, Former

Federal Minister for Regional Planning, Construction, andUrban Development, Federal Republic of Germany, & FormerExecutive Director, United Nations Environment Program(UNEP)

Session summary and report byP Dr Corrado Clini, Director General of the Italian Ministry of

EnvironmentP Dr Suresh P Babu, Director, Technology Development, TERI

This session dealt with issues related to long-term GHG (greenhouse gas) reductiontargets and how these could be achieved in

the most efficient manner. There is enoughscientific evidence supporting climate change, andit was agreed that immediate preventive action wasneeded. Reaching an agreement on quantitative

targets – though acomplex issue – wasstill an important one.For this, voluntarytargets alone were notsufficient. The issuecould be divided intothree questions.P What were the

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Ministerial session 2 in progress

HE Mr Andreas Carlgren

tolerable levels of GHG emissions for the globe?P What was the entitlement for each country?P What was the most efficient way to achieve the

target?

The panellists emphasized that vision and actionwent hand-in-hand. Thus, energy-efficientsettlements, infrastructure, and transport systemsneeded to be promoted through national planning.It was suggested that developing countries take thelow-carbon development path, which would reducetheir cost in the future. It was agreed thatdeveloped countries should help developing

HE Mr Anil Kumar Bachoo

countries by transferringclean technologies andfinancing theiradaptation activities.International finance onadaptation should bebased on the principlesof ‘polluter pays’ and‘international solidarity’.A proposal for levyingcarbon tax on developednations to finance

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11TERISCOPE January–February 2008

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Technology and Enabling Policies-Options in the Energy Sector

ChairpersonP Mr V Subramanian, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable

Energy, Government of India

Setting the ThemeP Dr Gary Dirks, Group Vice President and President, Asia Pacific

Region, BP Group, China

SpeakerP Mr Howard Bamsey, Co-Facilitator on Future Action and Deputy

Secretary, Department of the Environment and WaterResources, Australia

P Mr Reinhard Butikofer, Co-Party Leader, Die Grunen, GermanyP Mr Jean-Paul Bouttes, Executive Vice President, Corporate

Strategy, Prospective & International Affairs, Electricité deFrance (EDF)

P Dr Kristin Ingolfsdottir, Rector/President, University of Iceland

The session focused on renewabletechnologies in countries and the policiesenabling them. It was felt that a holistic

approach had to be adopted by all the players in the

society – governments, companies, and citizens –towards implementing clean developmentmechanism incountries. Suitablepolitical andeconomic frameworkto accommodatetechnological ideasshould also beencouraged.

Panellistsemphasized onenabling policies forclimate change and gave examples from fourcountries—Australia, Iceland, Germany, andFrance. It was discussed that energy security andeconomic growth, along with climate security,

should be ensured.Building anenvironment that wasconducive, byovercoming policybarriers to entry,informing andeducating theaudience, andrewarding innovationwere suggested asways to encouragethe use of renewable

technologies. Panellists also stressed on fosteringcollaboration through international technologicalpartnerships and the introduction of technologicaldevelopment funds.

It was suggested that the transition towardssustainable energy development required not only thedissemination of accumulated knowledge andresearch, but also education and training systems ongreen technologies. A framework ensuring properpricing of renewables was also discussed. Suitablelabour norms andstandards neededto be devised onthe demand side ofthe economy,while at the sametime the supplyside had to becontrolled. Thepanel advised thatinstitutionalframework on

Session summary by special reportersP In addition to long-term targets, there should

be intermediate or annual targets to avoidcomplacency and inaction among developedcountries. Energy efficiency was the key toachieve these targets and to tackle climatechange problems.

P Investments in the areas of renewable energyand clean technologies should beincreased for long-term solutions.

adaptation measures in the developing countrieswas put forward. This suggestion was supportedunanimously. The speakers also agreed that allsectoral policies should be climate sensitive.

Prof. Klaus Toepfer HE Mr Kimmo Tiilikainen

Mr Jean-Paul Bouttes

Dr Kristin Ingolfsdottir

Mr Howard Bamsey

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adaptation issues shouldbe looked into bycountries implementingclean mechanisms.

Technology in energygeneration, usage, andefficiency should becovered under acomprehensive policyframework. Other

ChairpersonP Mr Nitin Desai, Former Under Secretary General of the United

Nations

SpeakersP Nobel Laureate Prof. Carlo Rubbia ,European Organization for

Nuclear Research, CERN, SwitzerlandP Nobel Laureate Prof. F. Sherwood Rowland, Donald Bren

Research Professor of Chemistry and Earth System Science,University of California, USA

Nobel Laureates’point of view

Prof. Carlo Rubbia expressed his views on the physicalconsequences of climate change and the impact of

different energies when curbing anthropogenic GHG(greenhouse gas) emissions. He also provided detailedanswers to the following questions.P How long will the anthropogenic concentration of CO2

last?P What will be the resulting change in sea level?

Dr Gary Dirks

subjects that werediscussed in the sessionincluded internationalfunding for research anddevelopment inindividual technologiesas also citizens’awareness and responseto the issue of control ofemissions.

Prof. Sherwood Rowland emphasized that climate change wasa very serious concern. In spite of varied humanitarianconditions across the world, the impact of climate changewould definitely be felt across the globe. Comparing the percapita energy consumption patterns of California with that ofthe US, he said that the former showed a downward trend. Hestressed on the following in his presentation.P Regulations and fiscal policies that could make a

differenceP Trends of increase in global atmospheric CO2 levelsP GHGs and global climate change

There was also some interesting discussion on the practicalityof fusion power, alternatives to nuclear power, possibility ofcarbon-sucker technology, impacts of rising temperatures onCO2 solubility, and the potential role of biomass-energy-basedsolutions.

Both speakers felt that it was important to connect thescience of climate change with the policy-making process ofcountries. Every country should have strong science advisorswho could guide governments on sustainable and progressivepathways.

Mr V Subramanian

Nobel Laureate Prof. Carlo Rubbia

Nobel Laureate Prof. F Sherwood Rowland

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13TERISCOPE January–February 2008

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Impacts and Adaptation- Creating LocalCapacity and Global Resource Flows

ChairpersonP Dr Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation, USA

Setting the ThemeP Mr Björn Stigson, President, World Business Council for

Sustainable Development, Switzerland

SpeakerP Ms Lorraine Bolsinger, Corporate Vice President, GEP Prof. Hironori Hamanaka, Chair of the Board of Directors,

Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, JapanP Ms Julia Marton-Lefevre, Director-General, IUCN, SwitzerlandP Dr Dmitri Piskounov, Managing Director, Programme

Development and Technical Cooperation Division, UnitedNations Industrial Development Organization

P Ms Cornelia Richter, Director General Planning andDevelopment Department, Deutsche Gesellschaft fürTechnische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

P HE Sir Richard Stagg , British High CommissionerP Mr Xianbin Yao, Acting Director General, Regional Sustainable

Development Department, Asian Development Bank

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issues identified underthe purview ofbusiness weretechnology, how itshould be madeavailable, and funding.The businesscommunity requiresthe right policyframework to makeinvestments that are needed by developingcountries to fund a low-carbon future. The questionis not of how governments cooperate to transfertechnology, but how the owners of the technologycooperate with their users.

Improvement of localcapacity is crucial foradaptation to climatechange in spite ofbarriers like data andinformation gaps,policy, and fundingrestraints. Fivepriorities for enhancinglocal capacity were

ChairpersonP Dr Prodipto Ghosh, Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment

and Forests, Government of India and Distinguished Fellow, TERI

SpeakerP Dr Pierre Gadonneix, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,

Electricité de France and Chairman, World Energy Congress

Keynote address 2

The multifarious dimensions of energy security aim at feasi-ble and affordable technology as also investment, policy,

and public opinion. This session underscored the importanceof imperative action through cooperation across the devel-oped and developing countries so as to resolve the problemsemanating from climate change. To meet the ever-increasingdemand for electricity, solutions had to come from zero-car-bon-emission technologies applied at both household andindustrial levels. Considering the availability of multiple solu-tions, appropriate technologies have to be opted for at thenational, regional, or local scale. These technologies couldnot be put to use without effective stakeholder participationwherein government, industry, NGOs, and consumers assumedpartnerships in the decision-making processes. Hence, effec-tive public–private partnership played a critical role in

sensitizing people on the issueof climate change.

Effective pricing and con-sumer incentives through taxbreaks, subsidies, and carbontrade played a vital role in offer-ing sustainable solutions foreffective climate change policies.Research and development per-taining to environment-friendlyoptions such as energy- efficientbuildings, cleaner transport solu-tions, and fourth-generation nuclear technologies were thekey to success. Political courage fostering a common groundfor international cooperation need to be encouraged. A mixedmodel with developed countries following the target of zero-carbon emission, complemented by developing countriescontributing through R&D, opened up a possibility for asustainable future.

Mitigation of climate change was not possible withoutconscious change in attitudes, lifestyles, and perceptions.Governments, industries, and the civil society would thusplay the most crucial role in helping turn this global visioninto reality.

Dr Pierre Gadonneix

The session discussed major issues inadaptation to climate change and identifiedthem as funding, technology, building local

capacities, and greater civil society–public–private

Ms Cornelia Richter

Dr Dmitri Piskounov

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identified as information,integration, proactivemicro-adaptation,synergies between localand national adaptationplans, and incentives andrisks transfers. Adaptationstrategies highlightedincluded early morning

mapping, enhancing coastal defences, increasingafforestation measures, and building multi-sectoralstrategies for disaster response. Sharedresponsibility starts with commitment at theinternational level. Adaptation not only depends onlong-term strategies, but also on short-term action.The consensus was that knowledge on climatechange needed to be integrated with national andsector policies.

Guests of HonourHE Mr Moritz Leuenberger, FormerPresident of Switzerland, FederalCouncillor, Head of the Swiss FederalDepartment of the Environment,Transport, Energy, and Communications

Chief guestsP Ambassador Walter Fust, Director

General of the Swiss Agency forDevelopment and Cooperation – SDC,(Swiss) Federal Department of ForeignAffairs

P HE Mr Dominique Dreyer,Ambassador of Switzerland to India

P Dr R K Pachauri, Director-General, TERIand Chairman, IPCC

Dinner address

At the outset of this session, it waspointed out that the two major fac-

tors about Switzerland that stood outwere its effective government, universi-ties, and public transport system. Thesefactors had contributed in a major way tosustainable development in Switzerland.This example could be replicated in other

countries across the world. This year, beingthe 60th year of the Indo-Swiss friendshiptreaty, was significant for the two nationsas it indicated a long period of associationbetween India and Switzerland. The Swissdignitaries appreciated the rapid growth ofthe Indian economy and the immense tal-ent pool that India gave to the world.

SDC has been in close cooperation withTERI on many fronts by way of researchprojects and finding ways to mitigate theever-increasing problem of global warming.Commemorating 20 years since TERI andSDC did their first project, the two institu-tions launched their new project on solvingenergy needs of the poor. Following the ad-dresses, the Film and Television Unit ofTERI screened a movie celebrating thetreaty of friendship between SDC and TERI.The session concluded with a vote ofthanks followed by dinner.

Dinner session

HE Mr Moritz Leuenberger

Plenary session 3 in progress

Ms Lorraine Bolsinger

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Destination Copenhagen 2009

ChairpersonP Hon’ble Mr Digvijay Singh, Former Chief Minister of Madhya

Pradesh and General Secretary, All India Congress Committee

Setting the ThemeP HE Ms Connie Hedegaard, Minister for Climate and Energy,

Government of Denmark

SpeakerP HE Mr Børge Brende , Former Minister for Trade and Industry,

Government of Norway and Managing Director, World EconomicForum

P HE Ms Aïcha Mint Sidi Bouna, Ministre Déléguée auprès duPremier Ministre chargée de l’Environnement, Government ofMauritanie

P HE Dasho Paljor J Dorji, Advisor - National EnvironmentCommission, Government of Bhutan

P Mr Caio Koch-Weser, Former Deputy Finance Minister,Germany and Vice Chairman, Deutsche Bank

Session summary and report byP Ms Tiahoga Ruge, Coordinator General - Education and

Training Centre for Sustainable Development, Ministry ofEnvironment SEMARNAT, Mexico

P Mr Prabir Sengupta, Distinguished Fellow, TERI

The speakers were unanimous in their viewthat the time for global action againstclimate change was now. The Bali road map

would have to beinitiated right away, asthe issues of globalwarming would onlyget worse while weproceeded towardsnegotiations inCopenhagen 2009. Thespeakers also stressedthat the issue of climatechange needed to be

handled collectively bythe main consumers ofenergy as well as thosewho were deprived ofenergy. Therefore, theUS had a key role toplay in ensuring that apositive agreementevolved from negotiationsat Copenhagen.

The session went on todiscuss the mobilizationof youth the world overin order to generatepublic opinion on climatechange. Technologyleapfrogging,acceleration in adoptionof clean technologies,and effective adaptationand mitigation strategies were outlined as issues ofprimary concern. A unique example offered was

that of Norway, whichhad institutionalizedCO2 taxation in thecountry. This move hadbenefited the economyand reduced emissions.Speakers alsoemphasized that themain objective forCopenhagen 2009 wasto arrive at a global

treaty on climate change without ignoringsustainable development.

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HE Mr Børge Brende

Mr Caio Koch-Weser

HE Dasho Paljor J Dorji

Summary by special reportersP Cooperation between NGOs, corporate

entities, and governments is a must for aglobal framework on climate change.

P The EU, Norway, and Denmark must lead theway to show how economic growth andemissions could be treated as separate entities.

Ministerial session 3 in progress

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Emerging Issues of Climate Change:The Business Voice

ChairpersonP Mr Caio Koch-Weser, Vice Chairman, Deutsche Bank

Setting the ThemeP Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Group General Manager and Country

Head, HSBC India

SpeakerP Mr Geirr Haarr, Statoil Hydro, NorwayP Mr John M Mandyck, Vice President - Government and

International Relations, Carrier CorporationP Prof. Roland Stulz, Executive Director, Novatlantis –

Sustainability at the ETH-domain, SwitzerlandP Dr Hiroyuki Watanabe, Senior Technical Executive, Toyota

Motor Corporation, Japan

The panellists began the session with adiscussion on profitable initiatives for alow-carbon economy. They went on to talk

about corporate houses in developed anddeveloping countries that were making largeinvestments in research and development ofenvironment-friendly technologies. It was felt thatindividual efforts towards a greener future shouldbe supported by appropriate regulatory frameworks

ChairpersonP Ambassador C Dasgupta,

Distinguished Fellow, TERI

SpeakersP Dr Massoumeh Ebtekar, Former Vice

President of IranP Ambassador Walter Fust, Director

General of the Swiss Agency forDevelopment and Cooperation -SDC, (Swiss) Federal Department ofForeign Affairs

Keynoteaddress 3

The two eminent speakers at the session,Dr Massoumeh Ebtekar and Ambassador Walter Fust

underlined the urgent need for action that would yieldpositive results in mitigating and adapting to climatechange. Dr Ebtekar addressed the importance of humanfactors, behaviour, identity, values, and aspirations inthe debate on sustainable development. At the sametime, she stressed that the current world order was notresponding to the serious challenges it faced.

Dr Ebtekar questioned the slow pace of implementa-tion of the Kyoto Protocol and consumerist policies

encouraged by gov-ernments and themedia. In the ensuing discus-sion, the former UNEPChampions of the Earth awardwinner underscored the impactof conflict and wars in progressin Iraq, Iran, Palestine, andAfghanistan on the world’s cli-mate. She insisted that ascientific and conclusive studyshould be conducted on thesubject.

action to combat climate change. He further stressed on theneed for a global partnership for sustainable development.Ambassador Fust highlighted the role of technology transfer,international financial institutions, and public–private part-nerships in this regard. The new process of development, hefelt, would also have to take care of the energy needs of thepoor and keep the Millennium Development Goals in sight.

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sustained bygovernments.Hence, there was aneed for thebusiness sector towork closely withthe governments toarrive at aconsensus and

work out appropriate regulatory policies. Inaddition, stressed the speakers, companies shouldmake efforts to reduce their own GHG (greenhousegas) emissions, through energy-efficient buildings,low-carbon products and production systems, andby raisingawareness amongemployees.

The bankingsector, felt both thepanellists and theparticipants, had amajor role to playin this regard. Thespeakers

Dr Massoumeh Ebtekar

Ambassador Walter Fust

Ambassador WalterFust emphasized thatthe comity of nationsmust propel itself to-wards the much-needed

Dr Hiroyuki Watanabe

Mr Geirr Haarr

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emphasized that banks in India needed to followthe example of some European banks and becomesensitive to the issue of climate change. Theyshould integrate this concern into their lendingpolicies and finance more environment-friendlyprojects. The session also addressed the issue ofcompanies in the developing world becoming partof the international business community.

Mainstreaming Climate Change:The Media Outlook

ChairpersonP Dr Sanjaya Baru, Media Adviser, Prime Minister’s Office,

Government of India

SpeakerP Mr Raj Chengappa, Managing Editor, India TodayP Ms Bahar Dutt, Environment Editor, CNN-IBNP Mr Nik Gowing, Main Presenter, BBC World TVP Mr Rajiv Mehrotra, Managing Trustee, Public Service

Broadcasting TrustP Mr Pankaj Pachauri, Senior Editor, NDTVP Mr M K Venu, Chief Editor, News, Economic Times

The panel for the discussion was adistinguished and articulate one withmembers from the print and broadcast

media from India and the BBC. The discussionrevolved around several points, the main one beingthe Indian media’s preparedness to deal with issues

of climate change.The panellistsobserved that eventhough the mediawas aware of thepressing issue and itsimportance, muchremained to be done.The Indian mediawas driven by the

market demand of advertisers and ‘ratings’. Theawareness of news editors about climate changeissues is very limited.Thus, environment-related news got lowpriority and waspackaged largely as asoft feature insteadof major investigativenews.

The panellistsmentioned that theterm ‘media’ had tobe understood froma holistic point of view. It should include bothtraditional forms of media like TV, radio, and

newspaper and new-age media such asblogs.

The connectivitybetween people andthe issues that aroseout of thephenomenon ofclimate change hadto be established sothat the audience felt

more interested. A physical and virtual campaignneeded to be launched so that the issue could bewidely recognized.

An enthusiasticaudiencedominated thequestion–answersession and raisedseveral issues, suchas the relevance ofclimate changeissues covered inthe media to apopulation that had

Mr John M Mandyck Prof. Roland Stulz

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Mr M K Venu

Mr Nik Gowing

Mr Pankaj Pachauri

Mr Rajiv Mehrotra

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more pressing everyday problems. The panel thenemphasized the necessity of informing the poorabout climate change since they were the mostvulnerable to the phenomenon. Since media housesnow functioned almost like corporate housesengaged in ‘news production’, environment newsneeded to be presented as part of their socialresponsibility forgoing the corporate demand forpopular news.

Valedictory session

ChairpersonP Dr R K Pachauri, Director-General, TERI

SpeakerP Prof. Jeffrey D Sachs, Director - Earth Institute and Special

Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, USA

DSDS 2008 brought together distinguishedspeakers and researchers from all over theworld to address key issues related to

climate change. The discussions drew attention to

what would happen inCopenhagen. Thesummit also put forthviewpoints fromdifferent stakeholderssuch as corporateorganizations, media,and the scientificcommunity.

It was felt that thecrux of the summit wasto find a solution to theproblem of climatechange and how toimplement it. We are atthe verge of booming economic development,which could be ecologically unsustainable. Butthere were less costly ways to get emissions down.The solution lay in technological innovations andadvancement. What was needed now wastechnology that allowed for greater energy use withsharply stable emissions. Carbon-capture andsequestration was discussed as a possible measure.

Plenary session 5 in progress

Valedictory session in progress

Prof. Jeffrey D Sachs

This technology has thepotential to convert a high-emission power plant to azero-emission one in less than1–3 cents/kW hour.

However, it was felt that thisdrastic technological changewas difficult to achieve andwould require upfront publicfunding, demonstrationprojects, and a scientificcommunity that worked alongwith the commercial industry.

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Special EventsIndo-Norwegian dialogue onrenewable energy and CDM

The focus of the eventwas discussing jointopportunities in thefields of CDM (cleandevelopment mechanism)and renewable energybetween India andNorway. An MoU wassigned between ONGCand StatoilHydro in thepresence of Dr R KPachauri and HE JensStoltenberg, the Pr ime

Minister of Norway. The objective of the MoU was thedevelopment of CCS, CDM, and other carbonmanagement projects.

The event saw global leaders in the fields of solarenergy, hydel power generation, and oil and natural gasintroduce the latest clean technologies. Theyencouraged small-scale entrepreneurs to adopt thesetechnologies and stressed on the economic viability ofthese measures. The adoption of such clean technologywill, in the long run, ensure the sustainable use ofnatural resources, and even ensure positive economicgrowth.

CDM is now a profitable and eco-friendly venture.India is adopting such CDM technologies, which willensure sustainable growth, without being harmful tothe environment. Both India and Norway have calledfor joint investment in technology transfer. Bothcountries have over 2000 CDM projects in thepipeline, and India offers excellent oppor tunities fordirect foreign investment. The transportation sectortops the priority list of both nations.

Financial risk management inrenewable energy and energyefficiency projectsThe special event by the REEEP (Renewable Energyand Energy Efficiency Partnership) - South AsiaSecretariat was inaugurated amidst good participationfrom people across all sectors involved in renewableenergy and energy efficiency. The introductory sessionrevolved around introducing REEEP and its activitiesto the participants and the efforts of the Britishgovernment in promoting renewable energy in UK andacross the world. The next session saw presentations byvarious organizations which provided valuableinformation on the latest statistics pertaining to therenewable energy sector along with case studies and

learning from implementation of projects across theworld. During this session, an important point raisedby most speakers was that there was a lack of adequatefinancing mechanisms and insurance schemes to makerenewable energy and energy efficiency projectsattractive to industries as well as to the financingagencies and insurance companies.

There was general consensus that there is a need togive a new impetus to the large potential for renewableenergy and energy efficiency projects in the country bynot just evaluating the potential, but by also making itfeasible and attractive to investors by effectivelymitigating financial r isks in these projects. It wassuggested that a pilot to showcase a successful venturebetween industries, financing institutions, insuranceagencies, and investors would be an immediate way toameliorate market perceptions about such projects.

Reducing emissions fromdeforestation and degradation andcarbon sequestration through SFMand A&R: issues and prospectsREDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation andDegradation) is emerging as a new window forfinancing conservation of forest resources, biodiversity,and enhancing livelihood opportunities for forest-dependent communities. Through the session,

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panellists provided an overview on forest carbonsequestration and REDD at both national and globallevels, the importance of ecosystem services, and thechallenges to carbon sequestration in reduction ofemissions from the forest sector.

Models such as the JFM (joint forest management)can provide an appropriate mechanism under REDD,especially in India. Currently, there is only one forestproject registered under the CDM (clean developmentmechanism). In view of the complex proceduralrequirements under the CDM, an alternativemechanism like the CCX (Chicago Climate Exchange)was proposed through the discussion. CCX issupposed to be simpler, flexible, operational, and ableto be implemented at the project level. An alternativefinancial incentive outside the carbon market was alsodeliberated upon.

Second India–Japan Energy ForumThe Second India–Japan Energy Forum was organizedby TERI and NEDO during 4–5 February 2008 atHyatt Regency, New Delhi. Given the importance ofenergy conservation, the deliberations focused ondifferent technological options for improving energyefficiency in the industry, power, and commercialbuildings sector as well as on promoting renewableenergy technologies in different end-use sectors.Representatives from India and Japan presented theindustry status, energy consumption trends, andenergy efficiency improvement possibilities in differentenergy intensive industry sectors such as iron and steeland cement. Specific interest was on technologies likeregenerative burners in steel sector, waste heatrecovery options in the cement sector, use of heatpumps for heating/cooling applications, andultra super critical technology for power generation.The forum provided an excellent platform forknowledge sharing amongst government officials,industry representatives, technology suppliers, andsupport institutions on energy-efficient technologiesand policy frameworks to promote energyconservation. In his concluding remarks,Dr R K Pachauri, Director-General, TERI andChairman, Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange stressed the need for undertaking detailed

studies on technological gaps that exist in Indianindustrial sectors like iron and steel, cement,chemicals, and fer tilizers as well as in the power sectorand identify technological collaborative opportunitiesbetween India and Japan.

Youth dialogue on climate change

A special event for the youth on the sidelines of DSDSinitiated by the Canadian High Commission and TERIfocused on some critical issues that need to beaddressed by the youth through constructive dialogueand discussions. The event revolved around issues ofgovernment leadership, the role of a proactive civilsociety, public awareness and action as well as cleantechnologies to combat the pressing problem ofclimate change.

The common perspective that emerged out of thedialogue was a need to achieve real tangibleimprovements both domestically and internationally inour efforts towards combating climate change for asustainable society.

The forum reiterated that the media, civil society,businesses, and the youth should play a pivotal role inhelping our society move towards the right direction.Mobilization of the youth is the most important wayforward in bringing the process of climate changeunder control. The media can also play a role bymaking the society aware of the cr isis.

TERI University youth and climatechangeThe session beganwith the Mr RajivSeth, Registrar, TERIUniversity formallywelcoming theparticipants. This wasfollowed by a formalpresentation onsustainabledevelopment issues.The sessions sawenthusiasticparticipation fromstudents who weredivided into groups.

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Various sessions were assigned to them. Thisenabled them to submit a critical review of thesessions to Dr Mala Reddy, Assistant Professor,TERI University. The special event ended with theparticipants presenting accounts of theirexpectations from the summit. In addition, they alsohighlighted their interest areas, which includedbroader perspectives on sustainability, possibletechnical collaborations, the role of environment indevelopment, carbon markets, linkages betweenbusiness and climate change, and greentechnologies.

Ethics-based Climate ChangeRegime: legal, economic, andpolitical aspects

The event emphasized that the ethical approach toclimate change should be analysed at international andindividual levels. Inbuilt mechanisms should bedevised at both the levels to address these concerns. Itwas felt that an adaptation strategy that was nationallyacceptable should be formulated. However, it had to beconsidered whether these strategies should be theoutcome of a global consensus or be determined bynational priorities. Private actions too needed to bechannelized for mitigating the extremes of climatechange. It was suggested that the notion of ‘globalpublic goods’ be replaced by ‘global common goods’,and appropriate managerial mechanisms related tolocal common goods be designed.

The panellists felt that fairness in agreements andnegotiations were central to the debate on the ethicaldimension of climate change. Therefore, the currentnational legal regime need to be strengthened.

Lifestyles, Energy Security,and ClimateThe speakers began the panel discussion byhighlighting the importance of lifestyle changes inmitigating climate change and enhancing energysecurity. The eminent panel shared its views on the

need to synergize awareness creation and the necessityfor technological innovations, appropriate financialinstruments, innovative market pricing, and soundpolicy-making.

The speakers felt that consumers should be closelyinvolved in decision-making and should be providedwith options to move towards environment-friendlylifestyles. This could be achieved through energy-efficient technologies coupled with economicincentives. Japan’s move towards a low-carboneconomy – brought about by a change in housingdesign, clothing, day-to-day choices in transport, andtechnology use – was discussed as an insightful casestudy. The need for an integrated vision to br ingtogether governments, industry, and civil society wasstressed. Scientific findings, emphasized the speakers,should be presented to the common people in asimplified manner to enhance awareness.

Energy-Efficient Buildings: todayand tomorrowThe BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency), the SDC(Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), andTERI partnered in an event to identify possible actionsto be taken to mainstream energy-efficient buildings inIndia.

Panellists talked about the need for right pricingsignals, and regulatory measures for mainstreamingenergy-efficient buildings was stressed. Theimportance of knowledge sharing to tackle climatechange concerns was discussed. The Swiss experienceof implementing building energy regulations wasshared, and the need for a right framework to create amarket for energy-efficient approaches andtechnologies was expressed. The conflicts anddilemmas that were faced by the builder community inimplementing energy-efficiency measures were alsobrought out.

In the discussion that followed, the audience madeseveral points concerning the need for tax incentives,changes in property and rental laws, capacity-buildingof stakeholders, and the need to have energy ratings forresidential buildings.

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22 TERISCOPE January–February 2008

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

TERISCOPE provides news and announcements regarding the institute’s activities.For further information on the programmes or articles in this newsletter, please contact:The Editor, TERISCOPET E R I , Darbari Seth Block , I H C Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – / India

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DSDS 2008 Par tner s

Government of IndiaMinistry of Environment

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Advisory Council

Bilateral/multilateral

Mr Shyam P Bajpai, Director-General – Regionaland Sustainable Development Department, AsianDevelopment Bank, PhilippinesMr Francois Binder, Country Director, SwissAgency for Development and Cooperation, IndiaMr Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary, UnitedNations Framework Convention on ClimateChange, BonnMr Nitin Desai, former Under Secretary General,United NationsMr Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United

Nations Environment Programme, Kenya

Institutes and NGOs

Dr Prodipto Ghosh, former Secretary, Ministryof Environment and Forests, and DistinguishedFellow, TERI, IndiaMs Cornelia Richter, Director-General Planningand Development GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für

Technische Zusammenarbeit) GmbH, Germany

Corporate

Dr Jamshed J Irani, Director, Tata Sons Ltd, IndiaMr Nandan M Nilekani, CEO, President andManaging Director, Infosys Technologies Ltd,IndiaMr Deepak S Parekh, Chairman, HousingDevelopment Finance Corporation Ltd, IndiaMr Michael P Schulhof, Chairman, GlobalTechnology Investments, LLC, USA

Mr Björn Stigson, President, World Business

Council for Sustainable Development, Switzerland

Government

Dr Sanjaya Baru, Media Adviser, PrimeMinister’s Office, IndiaMrs Meena Gupta, Secretary, Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests, IndiaMr V Subramanian, Secretary, Ministry of New

and Renewable Energy, India

DSDS at the forefront of sustainable change

Monitoring Council

Bilateral/multilateral

Prof. Theo J J Groothuizen, Counsellor for Science andTechnology, Royal Netherlands Embassy, IndiaMr Adrian Marti, Deputy Country Director, Swiss Agency forDevelopment and Cooperation, IndiaMs Julia Marton-Lefevre, Director- General, IUCN - The WorldConservation Union, SwitzerlandDr Djordjija Petkoski, Program Leader PSD and CorporateGovernance, The World Bank, USAMr B Siddarthan, Advisor, Environment and Natural ResourceManagement, Royal Norwegian Embassy, IndiaDr Rolf Suelzer, Country Director, GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur

Technische Zusammenarbeit) GmbH, India

Institutes and NGOs

Mr Gourisankar Ghosh, CEO, FXB India SURAKSHA, IndiaDr Adnan A Shihab-Eldin, Former Acting Secretary General andDirector of Research at OPEC as well as Advisor to Kuwait PetroleumCorporation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, AustriaDr Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Vice President for InternationalRelations, The University of TokyoProf. Wei Zhihong, Former Director, Global Climate Change

Institute Tsinghua University, China

CorporateMs Lorraine Bolsinger, Corporate Vice-President, GeneralElectricMr Jean-Paul Bouttes, Director, EDF (Electricite de France),France, and CEO, SherpaMr K C Mehra, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, ForbesGokak Ltd, IndiaMr Herman Mulder, Former Senior Executive Vice President,Group Risk Committee, and Co-Chairman, ABN-AMRO Bank NVMr T Sankaralingam, Chairman and Managing Director,National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd, IndiaMr Masayuki Sasanouchi, Project General Manager-Environmental Affairs Div, Toyota Motor Corporation, JapanMr Steven D Smith, Senior Managing Director, Ritchie Capital,USAMr Georges Valentis, Managing Director, Institut VeoliaEnvironnement, France

Steering Committee