GBM Blog

Prof is on the road again! We are in India at the moment where we attended the 10th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. The speakers and delegate’s list read like a UN gathering – heads of state and government, activities, scientists among others. The 3-day summit focused on reflections post-Copenhagen. The most common sentiment shared was that although COP15 was a disappointment, there is still room for optimism. Prof focused on the African perspective and refreshingly adding that there is need for compassion, empathy and values to foster efforts to protect the environment and human society at large.

The criticism of the IPCC was not ignored during the summit. Leaders from around the world and most notably the Indian Prime Minister recorded their unwavering support of the IPCC. The summit ended with a standing ovation in support of Dr. R.K Pachauri. The feeling in Delhi, despite the storm, was that the core findings of the IPCC remain undisputed. Perhaps the PM of Norway said it best when he stated that despite the criticism of the IPCC, it would be irresponsible of us not to act on the overwhelming evidence before us – “the polar ice is melting and the globe is warming”. It was a most impressive summit. 

As we thanked some of the organizers (and there were hundreds of TERI staff involved!) and congratulated them for a successful summit, I asked a few of them how long it took them to pull this summit off… it was their 10th one after all...”it takes us a year to put it together” they seemed to almost say in unison. "We start planning again tomorrow." Well worth it!

Read Prof's speech from the Summit!