Rachel Kyte to speak at World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi

Rachel Kyte to speak at World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi

Rachel Kyte, SEforALL’s Chief Executive Officer and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, will be among the high-profile speakers this week at the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2016 in New Delhi.

Themed 'Beyond 2015: People, Planet & Progress', WSDS 2016 will run from 5-8 October at the India Habitat Centre. As one of the first international platforms following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the signing of the Paris Agreement, and building on the 15-year legacy of the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, WSDS 2016 will discuss how to mark out the path of the new global development agenda.

Among her speaking engagements, Kyte will deliver the keynote address on ‘Mainstreaming SDG7’, one of a number of Thematic Tracks running on the first morning of the Summit.

Later that day she will deliver a special address at the valedictory session of the WSDS Business Day on ‘Mobilising Business Strategies and Solutions’, which will explore the role that businesses can play in enabling sustainable development while enhancing their corporate value. The Valedictory Address will be by Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy.

Key features of WSDS 2016 include:

• Plenary sessions: International speakers will address the subjects of energy transitions, Nationally Determined Contributions, urbanization and water supply challenges, climate finance, as well as the climate-energy-food nexus
• Thematic tracks: Discussions on niche issues of sustainability - groundwater, climate change, short-lived climate pollutants, carbon pricing, WASH, urbanization, energy concerns while meeting development and pollution challenges, resource efficiency, as well as smart cities
• Greenovation 2016: An exhibition to provide global players the opportunity to showcase cutting-edge technologies and design solutions as part of the sustainability revolution
• Media Colloquium: A forum to sensitise young journalists by building up their knowledge on sustainability, thus enhancing their skills in climate change reporting
• Business Day 2016: Curtain-raiser to the WSDS, it is a platform for industry captains to conceptualise ideas for conducting business while protecting the environment
• Sustainable Development Leadership Award: Awarded every year since 2005 to an eminent global leader, felicitating their contributions in the field of sustainable development. DSDS 2015 awardee was Dr José Manuel Durão Barroso, Former President of European Commission & Former Prime Minister of Portugal.
• Regional Dialogues: Series of pre-event consultations, hosted in select cities across India. Themed as ‘Localizing the Post-2015 Development Agenda,’ the discussions at these Dialogues will now contribute to larger discussions at WSDS.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), which hosts SEforALL’s Capacity Building Hub, provides the Secretariat for WSDS 2016.

For more details on WSDS click here. For the full agenda, click here.