The valedictory session of the 15th Annual Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), which was graced by interfaith leaders for the first time in fourteen years, took place in the capital on Saturday.
The summit was organized by The Energy Research Institute (TERI), under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Dr. RK Pachauri, Director General of TERI brought together a galaxy of speakers from diverse sectors today. The three day long summit is being held from 5-7th February
The theme of the concluding session was 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam," the world is one world family. Previously, last year when the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance (GIWA) was launched in Delhi, Dr. RK Pachauri lauded the efforts of HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Co-founder of GIWA, in bringing together key interfaith leaders to work together for improved Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
Pachauri was inspired to include an interfaith component for the first time in the history of DSDS so that interfaith leaders could catalyze a change in behaviour, perspective and priority towards global challenges of sustainable development and climate change.
Just before their session the interfaith leaders met with Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways, who was also speaking during the last day of the summit and shared their commitment and eagerness to work together as one for a more sustainable, stronger and more stable world for all.
The revered interfaith leaders during the session included; Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Co-founder of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, President of Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh), Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, Religious Head and Sajjada Nasheen of the Ajmer Sharif Shrine, Gurubachan Singh, Chief Jathedar Akal Takht, Amritsar, Archbishop Kuriakose Bharnikulangara, Faridabad Diocese, Venerable Bhikku Sanghasena, Founder President of Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre Leh-Ladakh, Acharya Rupchandra Muni, prominent Jain Monk, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, General Secretary of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance and President, Divine Shakti Foundation chaired the session.
"Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam, the world is one family, is the core tenet of the Hindu faith. One of the major behavior changes that we can make to encourage and inspire sustainable development is to change our vision of the world from a "bazaar", a market place, to a "parivar," a family. With that spirit of a family we must all work towards and attend to the needs of our future generations. Similarly in our family when our Mother is very sick and in the hospital we do not merely dialogue but we prepare to act and do everything we can to save her," said Swami.
Each year, the summit brings together the best minds from the fields of government, business, academia, media as well as many others. This year the summit was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha and Managing Director and CEO, YES Bank, Patron Member of TERI BCSD, Rana Kapoor, Managing Director of TATA Chemical Ltd and Chairman Executive Committee, TERI BCSD, R Mukundan, Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer, Unilever and Chairman, WBCSD.
During the important sessions there were high-level guests and speakers such as US Ambassador, Richard Rahul Verma, Minister of Environment and Science Prakash Javadekar, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Former Governor of California, USA as well as high level presidents and prime ministers of many countries, high level ministers of many countries, high level representatives of the UN and World Bank as well as many international organizations, corporations and many, many other key stakeholders.
The theme of the Summit was "Sustainable Development Goals and Dealing with Climate Change," especially because UN General Assembly (UNGA) is expected to arrive at a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the global community as a whole. DSDS 2015, would, therefore, provided a unique platform by which the outputs of the Summit would be shared with the UNGA in defining and arriving at a set of SDGs, which should be consistent with the MDGs that the UN has been following over the past decade and more.
The 21st Conference of the Parties (CoP) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will be held in France at the end of 2015, and it is expected that a global agreement on climate change would be finalized in that CoP. Hence, 2015 will herald in major initiatives in setting the SDGs as well as dealing with climate change.
