New Delhi, Delhi, India
At the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2008, an annual event organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Hon' able Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said, "Government of India will adopt a responsible and forward looking stance aimed at promoting sustainable development." Delivering his inaugural address at the Summit here today, the Prime Minister said that the impact of climate change falls differently on people and the poor are the worst hit. We need technology innovations for reduction of energy use by industry and other user sectors, he added. He further said we need massive action for afforestation, drought proofing, flood protection and the need to protect our coastal areas and glaciers that feed our river systems.
Dr. Singh emphasized the need to ensure an acceptable standard of living for all our people following sustainable path for that development. Climate justice must, therefore, inform all efforts at international collaboration in act of human solidarity, he added.
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, his counterparts from Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway and the presidents of Iceland Olafur Ragnar Grimsson and Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom were present at the summit.
Focusing on the theme "Climate Change and Sustainable Development" Dr RK Pachauri, Director General TERI, said that the world has seen a major enhancement of awareness related to climate change which has reached an all time high, resulting largely from the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC. It is a result of this awareness that the recent Conference of the Parties concluded on December 15 in Bali has resulted in a firm plan of action at the global level. DSDS 2008 will not only address the various dimensions of climate change and sustainable development but also focus on actions that are required to be taken globally as well as in India.
Agreeing to Dr Pachauri's remarks, Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said "The world has to address mitigation in such a way that we do not have to choose between development and environment. We have to have both. We have to create mechanisms for the rich world to transfer technology and financial resources to help mitigation in the developing world otherwise there will not be big enough advances," he said added.
President Gayoom of Maldives was awarded TERI's Sustainable Development Leadership award for 2008 for his pioneering work on alerting the world to climate change. He dedicated the award to the people of Maldives, an island community which was among those most in danger from climate change impacts like rising sea levels, he said.
The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) has now evolved as a major annual event globally which addresses the key challenges of sustainable development and means by which this can be attained.
Source: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) (Business Wire India)
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