DELHI SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT FOCUSES ON CLIMATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000503

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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.


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PM SINGH'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS
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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).

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TREATMENT OF U.S. POLICY
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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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