World Sustainable Development Summit


The World Sustainable Development Summit is the annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute. The WSDS 2021 will be held under the umbrella theme of ‘Redefining Our Common Future: Safe and Secure Environment for All'. The upcoming edition will be held as a hybrid event scheduled from 10- 12 February, 2021 in New Delhi, India.
The World Sustainable Development Summit brings together Nobel laureates, political leaders, decision-makers from bilateral and multilateral institutions, business leaders, high-level functionaries from the diplomatic corps, scientists and researchers, media personnel, and members of civil society; on a common platform to deliberate on issues related to sustainable development.
Post the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the signing of the Paris Agreement, the World Sustainable Development Summit aims to provide long-term solutions for the benefit of the global community by assembling the various stakeholders on a single platform and initiating a step in the direction of achieving constructive action in combating issues pertinent to the future of humanity.

Features of the World Sustainable Development Summit 2021

1. Corporate Conclave: A platform for industry captains to brainstorm ideas for conducting businesses in a sustainable manner. Sustainable Development Leadership Award : Awarded every year since 2005 to an eminent global leader, the Award felicitates their contributions in the field of sustainable development.
2. E-Expo: An online expo on all three days of the Summit, wherein green and sustainable technologies from around the world will be showcased to a global audience through a virtual platform.
3. Plenaries: Panel discussions designed around select themes of environmental import – relating to the overall theme of the Summit. Speakers include policy makers, senior business leaders and academicians.
4. Thematic Tracks: The thematic tracks allow for discussions on finer nuances of the Summit focus areas. These tracks are populated by domain experts and practitioners providing feasible solutions to challenges faced by local and global communities in maintaining the balance between securing environmental sustainability and development.
5. Virtual Sustainable Action Dialogues: The WSDS platform has over the years held a series of international and regional pre-events on issues of global importance in the run- up to the Summit. The discussions held during these pre-events are then carried forward to the main Summit stage where they are further deliberated by subject experts. With a special focus on the current pandemic and the global efforts being made to recover, the discussions of the WSDS 2021 pre- events will now be held as virtual dialogues through the year
6. Youth Connect: To sensitise young students at the graduate level about issues of sustainability and climate change by securing their participation in the Summit’s discussions.

Delhi Sustainable Development Summit

Since 2001, the Energy and Resources Institute has annually organized the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, an international platform to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on all aspects of sustainable development. This event brought together various heads of state and government, thought leaders, policy-makers and the crème de la crème of industry and academia to deliberate on myriad issues.
The Summit series have emerged as the premier international event on sustainability which focusses on the global future, but with an eye on the actions in the developing world which could bend our common future. The Summit series have over the years brought together 47 heads of state and government, 13 Nobel laureates, ministers from 64 countries, 1600 business leaders, more than 1800 speakers and over 12,000 delegates from across the world.

Sustainable Development Leadership Award

In 2005, The Energy and Resources Institute established The Sustainable Development Leadership Award to felicitate the efforts of global leaders in the field of sustainable development. The award winners are as follows:
YearNameNationalityPosition then
2005Shoichiro ToyodaHonorary Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation
2006Ernesto ZedilloDirector of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
2007Arnold SchwarzeneggerGovernor of California
2008Maumoon Abdul GayoomPresident of the Maldives
2009Ban Ki-moonSecretary-General of the United Nations
2010Yukio HatoyamaPrime Minister of Japan
2011Dr. Manmohan SinghPrime Minister of India
2012Tarja HalonenPresident of Finland
2012Felipe Calderón HinojosaPresident of Mexico
2013James Alix MichelPresident of Seychelles
2014Anand MahindraChairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra
2015José Manuel Durão BarrosoFormer Prime Minister of Portugal and Former President of European Commission
2016Pawan Kumar ChamlingChief Minister of Sikkim state
2019Frank BainimaramaPrime Minister of Fiji
2020Jeffrey SachsUniversity Professor, Columbia University