The World Climate Institute (WCI) hosted the first meet in 2023 on ‘Global Leadership in Climate Action’ under its Global Dialogue Series with the Hon. Barry Gardiner MP, Director of Climate Parliament and Former Shadow Secretary of State Energy & Climate Change for the UK Government, as the special guest. The event was organised in association with the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and was held in ITC Narmada, Ahmedabad.
The other speakers were H.E. Freddy Svane, Ambassador of Denmark to India; S. J. Haider IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Climate Change Government of Gujarat; Sameer Sinha Chair India Green Building Council; Pathik Patwari, President, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce; His Excellency Dr Kandeh Yumkella, Former UN Under Secretary General and Special Representative Sustainable Energy for All.
With COP27 having set the tone for the upcoming year, the event explored the leadership opportunities in climate action and how developing nations can take the lead in achieving Paris climate goals of limiting the temperature by 1.5-degree Celsius. The event hosted wide-ranging conversations around leadership in climate action, innovation in the climate space, financing the future of green industries and speeding up the climate revolution.
The event began with a conversation with Barry Gardiner on Climate Leadership. Commenting on the event, he said, “The WCI dialogue made clear that the world needs urgent transformative action. Global leadership is not about setting targets and hoping someone else will deliver them. We need Leaders who will place equity at the heart of our energy transformation. That means ponying up the finance to meet the emissions reductions targets that will bring us in line with the Paris goal of 1.5 degrees.”
Speaking on ‘Empowering Innovation in Climate’, H.E. Freddy Svane, Ambassador of Denmark to India, said, “Denmark is very proud of its collaboration with India in climate action as part of our Green Strategic Partnership. I am grateful to the World Climate Institute for bringing some of our groundbreaking initiatives to the forefront of global discourse. We look forward to deepening this relationship”.
Sameer Sinha, Chair India Green Building Council, added his remarks on innovation in the climate space and said,”Green Building is not just about construction, it’s about green, clean, safe and fulfilling lifestyles. This is very much also the message within Prime Minister Modi’s LiFE initiative (Lifestyle for Environment)” said the Chairman of India Green Building Council, Sameer Sinha.
“We are delighted to partner with the World Climate Institute to bring the full potential of global green business opportunities to our members, and thereby ensuring Gujarat and India positions itself at the cutting edge of innovation in clean technologies” said the President of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Pathik Patwari.
The meet addressed pertinent issues such as maximising value-creation by developing economies, policy incentives for green initiatives and role of governments and institutions to tap into the potential of new technologies to decode climate mitigation practices in rural and urban spaces. It concluded with an agenda-setting conversation on the road ahead, emphasising on how the road to COP28 looks like and who will be the key enablers and achievers in the current climate discourse.
The World Climate Institute is a London-based think tank that advances equitable climate action through facilitating and implementing collaborations between governments, businesses and society. The Institute supports national governments in their endeavors to achieve their NDCs, SDGs, and their GFANZ and Paris Climate commitments. WCI maps policy synergies between governments, businesses and civil society to advance equitable climate action. The programs identify country specific objectives around three main thematic areas of energy generation & transition, energy efficiency & demand reduction, and land use change & adaptation.
