World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF)
| Established | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Location | New Delhi, Delhi, India |
| Acronym | WSDF |
| Website |
wsdf |
The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) annual event, the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), has evolved to the World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF). The WSDF facilitates drafting policies for governments and drawing consensus among the various participating countries and institutions. [1]
TERI, since 2001, annually organises the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on all aspects of sustainable development. Over the past fifteen years, it has emerged as one of the foremost fora on issues of global sustainability. This flagship event of TERI brings together various Heads of States and Governments, thought leaders, policy makers and the crème de la crème of industry and academia to deliberate on myriad issues. To date, the Summit has hosted 45 Heads of States & Governments, ministers from over 60 countries and delegates from across continents.[2]
The WSDF brings together Nobel laureates, political leaders,[3] leading decision-makers from bilateral and multilateral institutions, business leaders, high-level functionaries from the diplomatic corps, scientists and researchers, media personnel, and members of civil society; to deliberate on issues related to sustainable development.
World Sustainable Development Forum
The World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF) was established in 2005 to function as a global platform for knowledge sharing and policy discourse aimed at:
- Advancing the achievements of Universal Development Goals
- Promoting global developmental cooperation to correct gender imbalances
- Expediting the alleviation of poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy and malnutrition
The Forum functions as a platform to identify, analyse, and disseminate policy interventions to enhance human well-being in the present and create conditions for a sustainable future. In this endeavour, the Forum is guided by highly distinguished patrons who are global leaders in government, industry, and academia. The key objectives of the WSDF are to:
- Connect with the finest minds and leading thinkers of the world to focus on sustainability issues
- Bring together policy makers and practitioners to chart a course of action to enable countries and regions to meet the challenges of sustainable development
- Monitor progress towards the achievement of MDGs globally, and periodically review the progress in select countries
- Share knowledge and best practices amongst partners and disseminate the work related to sustainable development and the MDGs
- Undertake research projects either directly or in collaboration with institutions sharing similar goals and missions
WSDF organises Regional Sustainable Development Summits (RSDS) to disseminate knowledge and generate public awareness on issues related to sustainable development regionally. RSDS is aided considerably by the messages emerging from the DSDS (Delhi Sustainable Development Summit), to build bold visions for a development paradigm that calls for sustainability across the present and future generations.
Features of the World Sustainable Development
- World CEO Sustainability Summit: A platform for business leaders to define a path and evolve a strategy to facilitate development whilst protecting the environment.
- Thematic Tracks: Parallel breakaway sessions led by area experts that aim at providing feasible solutions to challenges faced by local and global communities in maintaining the balance between securing environmental sustainability and development.
- Media Colloquium: A forum to sensitise mid-career journalists from around the world on issues of sustainability and climate change.
- Youth Leaders: Engage youth from around the globe in the sustainable development discourse, record their experiences, and encourage positive action on their part.
- Exhibition: The Exhibition provides an opportunity for global players to showcase technologies in the areas of renewable energy, waste management, sustainable buildings, sustainable transport, water management and financing for sustainable development and energy efficiency.
Sustainable Development Leadership Award
In 2005, TERI established The Sustainable Development Leadership Award to felicitate the efforts of global leaders in the field of sustainable development. The award winners are as follows:[4]
| Year | Name | Nationality | Position then |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Shoichiro Toyoda |  Japan | Honorary Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation |
| 2006 | Ernesto Zedillo |  Mexico | Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization |
| 2007 | Arnold Schwarzenegger |  United States | Governor of California |
| 2008 | Maumoon Abdul Gayoom |  Maldives | President of the Maldives |
| 2009 | Ban Ki-moon |  South Korea | Secretary-General of the United Nations |
| 2010 | Yukio Hatoyama | Japan | Prime Minister of Japan |
| 2011 | Dr. Manmohan Singh |  India | Prime Minister of India |
| 2012 | Tarja Halonen |  Finland | President of Finland |
| 2012 | Felipe Calderón Hinojosa | Mexico | President of Mexico |
| 2013 | James Alix Michel |  Seychelles | President of Seychelles |
| 2014 | Anand Mahindra | India | Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra |
| 2015 | José Manuel Durão Barroso |  Portugal | Former Prime Minister of Portugal and Former President of European Commission |
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen Awards
The Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen Annual Awards were launched at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) 2012, on the occasion of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen's 106th birth anniversary. Georgescu-Roegen had emphasised the need to account for inconvenient variables like energy and matter flows, fund and flow elements, and processes such as institutional inertia in the analysis of economic, ecological and social systems.
2015 Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen Awardees
Unconventional Thinking Award – Professor Jacques Grinevald[5] (Epistemologist and Historian, The Graduate Institute Geneva) was awarded with the Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen Award 2015 in Unconventional Thinking for his important contributions to the Decroissance (Degrowth) literature and for his service in advancing thinking around anthropocene and bioeconomics. Grinevald as a trans-disciplinary researcher has made notable contributions as an epistemologist and historian of scientific and technological developments.
Lifetime Achievement Award – Professor Herman Daly (Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland) was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his vision and for taking a courageous stance and swimming upstream against the currents of conventional economic thought. The concept of 'Steady-State Economics' by Daly revolted the mind of the orthodox economist. Daly has provided an invaluable service in advancing ecological economics, post-growth thinking for understanding human society and planet earth.
References
- ↑ "The 15th Delhi Sustainable Development: A Summit to Promote Sustainable Development". India Today.
- ↑ "15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS 2015)". IISD Reporting Services.
- ↑ "Arnold to be star attraction at Delhi green summit". The Times of India.
- ↑ "Sustainable Development Leadership Award". Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.
- ↑ "Nicholas-Georgescu-Roegen Award for Prof. Jacques Grinevald Feb 2015". ECOROPA.
Delhi Sustainable Development Summit
Sustainable Development Leadership Award
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen Awards