The first ever summit covering sustainable action in India and developing countries has been held in Monaco.
The ‘Sustainable Action Dialogue’, a pre-event to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (MSSD) took place on Wednesday 3rd July at the Fairmont Hotel and focussed on the key themes of mutual interest for the Principality and India: renewable energies and electric mobility.
The dialogue was structured under the topics: ‘Renewable energies – a viable tool for the transition to clean energy’ and ‘Advancing electric mobility in cities: addressing crucial challenges (policies, regulations and technology)’, and included two sessions aimed at mobilising a key thematic dialogue in the presence of Indian and European experts.
The summit followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the New Delhi-based Institute of Energy and Resources (TERI) in New Delhi on 4th February in the presence of Prince Albert. It was viewed as an important step in consolidating links between two organisations committed to producing common tools for communication and knowledge development.
“The purpose of the MoU was to initiate collaboration that would identify and lead to joint projects in line with the sustainability goals of both organisations,” said Olivier Wenden, Executive Director of the Foundation.
The summit was a curtain raiser to the 2020 edition of TERI’s flagship event, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held from 29th to 31st January 2020 in New Delhi, India, under the theme ‘Towards 2030 goals: making the decade count’.
Annapurna Vancheswaran, General Director of TERI, identified the WSSD and the Sustainable Action Dialogue in Monaco as “important platforms for making sustainable development a common global goal”.
Over the years, the MSSD series has brought together 47 heads of state and government, 13 Nobel laureates, ministers from 67 countries, 1,600 entrepreneurs, more than 1,800 speakers, and over 12,000 delegates from around the world.
Considered one of the only global summits taking place in the least developed countries, the WSSD aims to provide long-term solutions for the benefit of the global community by bringing together the world leaders and important thinkers.
Discussions from the Sustainable Action Dialogue in Monaco will be reported during the main phase of the WSSD in January, with a view to translate them into concrete policies and sound projects.