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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000503 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG ECON TSPL TRGY KSCA KGHG IN
SUBJECT:  DELHI SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT FOCUSES ON CLIMATE 
CHANGE 
 
NEW DELHI 00000503  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), held 
February 7 - 9, 2008, attracted a wide range of world leaders but 
proved to be more of a coup for it's organizers, The Energy and 
Resources Institute (TERI) than for the theme of sustainable 
development and climate change with few new ideas expounded on 
either issue.  Of note was strong Government of India (GOI) 
participation in the form of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 
inaugural address and a surprising lack of attacks on the United 
States coupled with a much echoed sense that U.S. climate change 
policy was changing for the better.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit is an annual conference 
hosted by TERI, an Indian NGO whose Director General is IPCC 
chairman Dr. R.K. Pachauri.  Over it's eight year history, the DSDS 
has been a reasonably important environmental event attracting 
Ministers of Environment from various countries.  This year was 
different.  The theme for 2008 was "Sustainable Development and 
Climate Change" and the event was inaugurated by Indian Prime 
Minister Manmohan Singh and attended by the leaders of Norway, 
Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and the Maldives as well as the former 
leaders of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Mexico.  Also in 
attendance were Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC; 
Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban; and two 
Nobel laureates, Professor Carlo Rubbia and Professor F. Sherwood 
Rowland.  Of particular note was the presence of senior officials 
from developing countries who usually do not participate in the DSDS 
such as Bhutan, Pakistan, Ghana, Iran, Laos, and Mauritania, all of 
whom sent representatives. 
 
¶3.  Taking advantage of the current prominence of the climate change 
issue as well as Dr. Pachauri's acceptance of a Nobel Prize on 
behalf of the IPCC, TERI used DSDS 2008 to showcase its ability to 
convene world leaders and express its desire to assume a global 
leadership role in sustainable development and environmental issues. 
 Already an important player in India, it's longstanding 
relationship with the Ministry of Environment and Forests and its 
ties to the Prime Minister's office and other key players within the 
GOI adds to its clout.  This is most notable in the area of climate 
change where in addition to Dr. Pachauri, TERI boasts two prominent 
members of the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change, 
Ambassador Dasgupta and Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, who are both 
Distinguished Fellows at TERI as well as members of the GOI 
delegation to virtually all international climate change meetings. 
In an effort to broaden TERI's global reach, Pachauri also took the 
opportunity to announce his plan to establish a presence in Africa. 
 
 
---------------------------- 
PM SINGH'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Lending a great deal of gravity and import to the conference, PM 
Singh began his speech by urging the nations of the world to "do 
something, do it now, and do it right" and promising that India will 
be at the forefront of the movement.  He went on to state India 
takes its responsibilities seriously and that his office was working 
on a national action plan to meet the challenge of climate change 
which is expected to be released in June 2008.  Highlights of the 
plan were reduction in energy use, flood protection, afforestation, 
and reform of the public transportation sector.  PM Singh noted he 
was considering setting up a national fund for green technologies 
and also articulated the idea that India's energy pricing policy may 
have contributed to environmental degradation. 
 
¶5.  On the issue of a Post-Kyoto framework, PM Singh stated he was 
prepared to commit that India's green house gas emissions would 
never exceed the average per capita emissions of developed 
industrial nations.  PM Singh noted this was a "solemn commitment" 
and that the world can no longer maintain a global development plan 
where some countries far exceed the carbon footprint of others.  He 
welcomed the opportunity to create a new global compact on climate 
change but insisted it must be based on the principle of common but 
differentiated responsibilities and must encompass a fair and 
transparent regime for the transfer of new technology to developing 
nations.  He concluded his speech by calling on young people to 
become more vocal on the issue of climate change.  He made no 
mention of either the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development 
and Climate Change (APP) or India's participation in the Major 
Economies Mechanism (MEM). 
 
------------------------ 
TREATMENT OF U.S. POLICY 
------------------------ 
 
 
NEW DELHI 00000503  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶6.  While there were some negative comments about U.S. climate 
policy such as a Bhutanese official's saying that all the U.S. has 
done is bought themselves more time and it is our time that they 
have bought, on the whole there were fewer attacks than at previous 
DSDS conferences.  Overall, most of the remarks regarding the U.S. 
tended to express a belief that American policy was changing for the 
better although there was no mention of the MEM and only a passing 
reference to the APP during the conference.  That said, in response 
to a question on how to get the United States more involved, the 
Spanish Minister of Environment, Maria Cristina Narbona Ruiz, stated 
the U.S. was already very involved and was becoming more so 
everyday.  She put up a surprisingly strong defense of the United 
States and stated the world would see the U.S. take an important 
leadership role with the coming of the next administration. 
 
¶7.  Discussion of the next administration was a common theme at the 
conference with the Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, Connie 
Hedegaard, stating "the U.S. is key, new steps by the new 
administration are necessary, if not then I do not see how we can be 
successful in reducing emissions."  Yvo de Boer drew unexpected 
applause when he said "we will have a new President next year" while 
discussing the post Bali scenario.  Seemingly somewhat surprised by 
the reaction, he added the caveat that his statement "is a reference 
only to the constitution." 
 
¶8. COMMENT:  TERI's reputation is growing and its advice heeded.  We 
expect TERI to be increasingly engaged not only with the GOI but 
also globally as it trades on both its unquestioned abilities and on 
Pachauri's status.  PM Singh's presence at the inaugural is an 
indication of how highly valued TERI is by the GOI and we strongly 
suspect both his speech and the forthcoming national action plan 
came about with a great deal of input from TERI.  The conference 
itself was short on new ideas and long on repetitive calls to action 
that have already been sounded in forums around the world.  Although 
not referring to DSDS, Yvo de Boer could have summed up the 
conference well when he said "people perceive climate change as a 
soap opera where every episode is exciting, but if you do not watch 
it for three years, you have not missed anything." END COMMENT. 
 
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