# World Sustainable Development Summit

The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is an annual conference organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), an independent research institute with multidimensional capabilities. It was instituted in 2001, as the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS). WSDS 2025, which is the 24th edition of the Summit, focused on the umbrella theme: Partnerships for Accelerating Sustainable Development and Climate Solutions. The 24th edition of the Summit will take place from March 5–7, 2025 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India. WSDS brings together 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. Over the years, the Summit series has witnessed the participation of 58 Heads of State and Government, 137 Ministers, 13 Nobel Laureates, 2045 Business Leaders, 3373 Speakers, and 40362 Delegates.

## Features of the World Sustainable Development Summit 2025

1. Sustainable Development Leadership Award (SDLA): Awarded every year since 2005 to an eminent global leader, the award felicitates their contributions in the field of sustainable development.
2. Ministerial and High-level sessions: Part of the plenary segment of WSDS, these sessions have panel discussions designed around select themes of environmental importance linked with the overall theme of the Summit. Special addresses include Ministerial Addresses, Science Leadership Addresses, and Leadership Addresses. Speakers include policymakers, business leaders, and academics.
3. Thematic Tracks: The thematic tracks allow for discussions on finer nuances of the Summit's focus areas. These tracks engage domain experts and practitioners to provide feasible solutions to the challenges faced by the local and global communities in maintaining the balance between securing environmental sustainability and development.
4. Act4Earth: The Act4Earth initiative was launched in the valedictory session of WSDS 2022.
5. Stakeholder Dialogues: As part of the Act4Earth initiative, a series of Stakeholder Dialogues will be organised in the months of April and October 2024. The sessions will be on the topics of- SDG-Climate Synergies; Green Public Procurement and Climate Finance.
6. CEO Forum: A platform for industry captains to brainstorm ideas for conducting businesses in a sustainable manner.
7. Youth Connect: A platform to sensitize young students at the school and graduate level about issues of sustainable development and climate change by securing their participation in the Summit's discussions.

## Act4Earth

The Act4Earth Initiative was launched at WSDS 2022’s valedictory session. As part of the initiative, TERI will engage in research activities that intend to identify and analyze practices with the potential for maximum impact across various sectors and systems while being fairly implementable by government and relevant state actors. By reaching out to policymakers, experts, and key stakeholders, the initiative will solicit their input and feedback to come up with policy recommendations aimed at furthering climate action and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

## Delhi Sustainable Development Summit

Since 2001, TERI has annually organized the WSDS, earlier known as the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, an international platform to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on all aspects of sustainable development. The event brought together various heads of state and government, thought leaders, policy-makers and members of industry and academia to deliberate on myriad issues.
The Summit series has emerged as the premier international event on sustainability that focuses on the global future, but with an eye on the actions in the developing world which could bend our common future.

## 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:
| Year | Name | Nationality | Position then |
| 2005 | Shoichiro Toyoda | Japan | Honorary Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation |
| 2006 | Ernesto Zedillo | Mexico | Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization |
| 2007 | Arnold Schwarzenegger | United States | Governor of California |
| 2008 | Maumoon Abdul Gayoom | Maldives | President of the Maldives |
| 2009 | Ban Ki-moon | South Korea | Secretary-General of the United Nations |
| 2010 | Yukio Hatoyama | Japan | Prime Minister of Japan |
| 2011 | Manmohan Singh | India | Prime Minister of India |
| 2012 | Tarja Halonen | Finland | President of Finland |
| 2013 | James Alix Michel | Seychelles | President of Seychelles |
| 2014 | Anand Mahindra | India | Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra |
| 2015 | José Manuel Durão Barroso | Portugal | Former Prime Minister of Portugal and Former President of European Commission |
| 2016 | Pawan Kumar Chamling | India | Chief Minister of Sikkim state |
| 2019 | Frank Bainimarama | Fiji | Prime Minister of Fiji |
| 2020 | Jeffrey Sachs | United States | University Professor, Columbia University |
| 2022 | Michael Rubens Bloomberg | United States | Chair of the Defense Innovation Board |
| 2025 | Bharrat Jagdeo | Guyana | Vice President of Guyana |
| 2025 | Marina Silva | Brazil | Minister of the Environment and Climate Change |