World Sustainable Development Summit
Introduction The '''World Sustainable Development Summit''' (WSDS) is an annual conference organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), an independent research institute with multidimensional capabilities. It was instituted in 2001, as the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS). WSDS 2024, which is the 23rd edition of the Summit, focused on the umbrella theme: '''Leadership for Sustainable Development and Climate Justice'''. The 23rd edition of the Summit will take place from '''February 7-9, 2024''' at the '''India Habitat Centre''', '''New Delhi''', '''India'''. WSDS brings together political leaders, 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 on a common platform. Over the years, the Summit series has witnessed the participation of 56 Heads of State and Government, 126 Ministers, 13 Nobel Laureates, 1932 Business Leaders, 3023 Speakers, and 39,483 Delegates.
Features of the World Sustainable Development Summit 2024 1. '''Sustainable Development Leadership Award (SDLA)''': Awarded every year since 2005 to an eminent global leader, the award felicitates their contributions in the field of sustainable development.2. '''Ministerial and High-level sessions''': Part of the plenary segment of WSDS, these sessions have panel discussions designed around select themes of environmental importance linked with the overall theme of the Summit. Special addresses include Ministerial Addresses, Science Leadership Addresses, and Leadership Addresses. Speakers include policymakers, business leaders, and academicians.3. '''Thematic Tracks''': The thematic tracks allow for discussions on finer nuances of the Summit's focus areas. These tracks engage domain experts and practitioners to provide feasible solutions to the challenges faced by the local and global communities in maintaining the balance between securing environmental sustainability and development.4. '''Act4Earth''': The Act4Earth initiative was launched in the valedictory session of WSDS 2022.5. '''Stakeholder Dialogues''': As part of the Act4Earth initiative, a series of Stakeholder Dialogues will be organised in the months of October and November 2023.The sessions will be on the topics of- Global Goal on Adaptation and Implications for Climate Justice; Minilateralism and Energy Transitions; Green and Climate-sensitive Budgeting and Internationalizing Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE).6. '''CEO Forum''': A platform for industry captains to brainstorm ideas for conducting businesses in a sustainable manner. 7. '''Youth Connect''': A platform to sensitize young students at the school and graduate level about issues of sustainable development and climate change by securing their participation in the Summit's discussions.
Act4Earth The Act4Earth Initiative was launched at WSDS 2022’s valedictory session. As part of the initiative, TERI will engage in research activities that intend to identify and analyze practices with the potential for maximum impact across various sectors and systems while being fairly implementable by government and relevant state actors. By reaching out to policymakers, experts, and key stakeholders, the initiative will solicit their input and feedback to come up with policy recommendations aimed at furthering climate action and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Delhi Sustainable Development Summit Since 2001, TERI has annually organized the WSDS, earlier known as the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, an international platform to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on all aspects of sustainable development. The event brought together various heads of state and government, thought leaders, policy-makers and members of industry and academia to deliberate on myriad issues.The Summit series has emerged as the premier international event on sustainability that focuses on the global future, but with an eye on the actions in the developing world which could bend our common future.
Sustainable Development Leadership Award In 2005, The Energy and Resources Institute 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:  Year  Name  Nationality  Position then 2005 Shoichiro Toyoda    Honorary Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation 2006 Ernesto Zedillo    Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization 2007 Arnold Schwarzenegger    Governor of California 2008 Maumoon Abdul Gayoom    President of the Maldives 2009 Ban Ki-moon    Secretary-General of the United Nations 2010 Yukio Hatoyama    Prime Minister of Japan 2011 Manmohan Singh    Prime Minister of India 2012 Tarja Halonen    President of Finland 2013 James Alix Michel    President of Seychelles 2014 Anand Mahindra    Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra 2015 José Manuel Durão Barroso    Former Prime Minister of Portugal and Former President of European Commission 2016 Pawan Kumar Chamling    Chief Minister of Sikkim state2019Frank Bainimarama   Prime Minister of Fiji2020Jeffrey Sachs   University Professor, Columbia University2022Michael Rubens BloombergChair of the Defense Innovation Board
References
External links *  World Sustainable Development Summit* The Energy and Resources Institute