Date | March 5–7, 2025 |
---|---|
Location | India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, India |
Organized by | TERI |
Website | Official site |
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 2025, which is the 24th edition of the Summit, focused on the umbrella theme: Partnerships for Accelerating Sustainable Development and Climate Solutions. The 24th edition of the Summit will take place from March 5–7, 2025 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 58 Heads of State and Government, 137 Ministers, 13 Nobel Laureates, 2045 Business Leaders, 3373 Speakers, and 40362 Delegates.
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 academics.
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 April and October 2024. The sessions will be on the topics of- SDG-Climate Synergies; Green Public Procurement and Climate Finance.
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.
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). [1]
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, [2] thought leaders, policy-makers and members of industry and academia to deliberate on myriad issues. [3]
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.
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: [4]
The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1 billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turner, who believed the UN was crucial for addressing the world's problems. Originally primarily a grantmaker, the UN Foundation has evolved into a strategic partner to the UN, mobilizing support to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and help the UN address issues such as climate change, global health, gender equality, human rights, data and technology, peace, and humanitarian responses. The UN Foundation's main work occurs through building public-private partnerships, communities, initiatives, campaigns, and alliances to broaden support for the UN and solve global problems. The UN Foundation has helped build awareness and advocate for action on, among others, antimicrobial resistance, regional action on climate change, local implementation of the SDGs, as well as global campaigns such as Nothing But Nets against malaria, the Measles & Rubella Initiative, the Clean Cooking Alliance, Girl Up, Shot@Life, and the Digital Impact Alliance, among others. In March 2020, the UN Foundation was also a key founder of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), helping to raise over $200 million USD within the first six weeks to support the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiative, with more than 20,000 corporate participants and other stakeholders in over 167 countries. The organization consists of a global agency, and local "networks" or agencies for each participating country. Under the Global Compact, companies are brought together with UN agencies, labour groups and civil society.
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an independent International research institute located in Laxenburg, near Vienna in Austria, founded as an East-West scientific cooperation initiative during the Cold War. Through its research programs and initiatives, the institute conducts policy-oriented interdisciplinary research into issues too large or complex to be solved by a single country or academic discipline. These include climate change, energy security, population aging, and sustainable development. The results of IIASA research and the expertise of its researchers are made available to policymakers worldwide to help them make informed and evidence-based policies.
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a group of 96 cities around the world that represents one twelfth of the world's population and one quarter of the global economy. Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on fighting the climate crisis and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities of urban residents.
Energy Carta is a non-profit organization founded in Singapore by a team of young adults.
The TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI) is a higher education institute in New Delhi, India which specializes in the field of sustainable development. It was established in 1998 by The Energy and Resources Institute. In 1999, the TERI School of Advanced Studies was granted the 'Deemed to be University' status by the Indian University Grants Commission.
The Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) is a youth organization in India that aims to raise the voice of Indian youth on the global platform, as South Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions affected by climate change and environmental issues. Further, IYCN is motivated by global need in the Indian context to adopt mitigation and adaptation policy measure to combat climate change. It is part of the International Youth Climate Movement, which has the same acronym of IYCM.
The Centre for Research on Energy Security (CeRES) is an Indian research center housed at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) focusing on Indian relations to energy and consequences on itself and the world, diplomatically, economically and socially. The center was created on 31 May 2005. The CeRES team is based in the India Habitat Centre office of TERI in New Delhi, India.
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) is a research institute in New Delhi that specializes in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development. Established in 1974, it was formerly known as the Tata Energy Research Institute. As the scope of its activities widened, it was renamed The Energy and Resources Institute in 2003.
The B4E Business for the Environment Summit is an international platform for dialogue and partnership for the environment.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an independent think tank founded in 1990 working to shape and inform international policy on sustainable development governance. The institute has three offices in Canada - Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Toronto, and one office in Geneva, Switzerland. It has over 150 staff and associates working in over 30 countries.
The World Resources Forum (WRF) is a non-profit organisation for sharing knowledge about the economic, political, social and environmental implications of global resource use. WRF promotes resource productivity among researchers, policymakers, business, NGOs and the public. In addition to organizing international and regional conferences, the WRF Secretariat coordinates multistakeholder dialogue projects, amongst others the Sustainable Recycling Initiative (SRI) as well as the H2020 projects Towards a World Forum on Raw Materials (FORAM), and CEWASTE. The WRF contributes to other EC-projects and projects with the German development organisation GiZ, UNEP and UNIDO.
Multistakeholder governance is a practice of governance that employs bringing multiple stakeholders together to participate in dialogue, decision making, and implementation of responses to jointly perceived problems. The principle behind such a structure is that if enough input is provided by multiple types of actors involved in a question, the eventual consensual decision gains more legitimacy, and can be more effectively implemented than a traditional state-based response. While the evolution of multistakeholder governance is occurring principally at the international level, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are domestic analogues.
The World Governments Summit is a global, neutral, non-profit organization based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It convenes annually, bringing together leaders from government, academia, and the private sector to engage in discussions on futurism, technology innovation, and other pressing issues. Since its inception in 2013, the Summit has served as a premier knowledge exchange hub, fostering conversations on future trends, challenges, and opportunities among government officials, policymakers, thought leaders, and industry experts. Featuring over 790 speakers from 150 countries and attracting more than 4,000 attendees, the Summit is organized by the World Governments Summit Organization, which is dedicated to shaping the future of governance through innovation and collaborative efforts.
Established in 1992, the Major Group for Children and Youth is the United Nations General Assembly mandated, official, formal and self-organised space for children and youth to contribute to and engage in certain intergovernmental and allied policy processes at the United Nations.
Sandrine Dixson-Declève is an international climate change, sustainable development, sustainable finance and complex systems thought leader. She is currently the Co-president of the Club of Rome, together with Mamphela Ramphele, the first women to lead the organization in its history.
Global Goals Week is a shared commitment between a coalition of over 160 partners across all industries, which mobilizes annually in September to bring together communities, demand urgency, and supercharge solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It was founded in 2016 by the United Nations Foundation, Project Everyone, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly "High-Level Week" in New York. The week includes events, summits, conferences, forums, workshops, pledges, and other activations in New York, around the world, and online. It usually runs alongside Climate Week NYC, the annual conference of Goalkeepers, Bloomberg Global Business Forum and many other high-level events.
Sustainable Development Goals and Lebanon explains major contributions launched in Lebanon towards the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs and the 2030 agenda.
Debra Rowe is known nationally and internationally for her work in education and sustainability. Through her work, she encourages people to create systems changes that can support a more sustainable future. At the national level, Rowe is the President of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development. In the education sector, she focuses on the role of educational institutions in preparing a workforce capable of supporting the development of a green economy and meeting sustainability goals. She also mentors groups such as Change the Chamber*Lobby for Climate, encouraging people to develop the skills to support and advocate for a sustainable future. Rowe has worked as a consultant with both the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Climate Action Africa commonly referred to as CMA is a climate resilience organization located at GRA Ikeja, Lagos. It was founded on July 14, 2021, by Oluchi Grace and Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata. It provides a platform for climate consciousness with data resources to support policies on evidence-based climate issues in Africa.