Three presidents confer sustainable leadership award on Indian PM |05 February 2011

Dr Singh was given the Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) Award 2011 for “his leadership and impetus to confront climate change and leading his government to make the issue a central facet of his government”.

He is credited with drawing up, in 2008, the Indian national action plan on climate change, which structured a developmental pathway in sync with ecological sustainability.

“India has to develop rapidly to ensure a reasonable and respectable level of existence of its citizens. Growth of the Indian economy will benefit other nations, too, through the instrument of international cooperation,” said Dr Singh during his inaugural address after receiving the award.

“However, we all have to ensure this is done progressively. Technology, research and environmental conscience thus holds the key.”

President Michel congratulated Prime Minister Singh for this achievement, and commended India for the steps it has taken to develop technology that will enable the developing world to construct its own path towards a renewable energy future.

“This award is symbolic of the great strides India is taking to tackle climate change and the sincerity of the Indian government in providing a conducive framework for making renewable energy technology available to all,” he said.

During his address to the summit, Mr Michel also noted that this forum is an example of the drive that can be generated from within the developing world.

“It should become the Davos of the developing world! In this summit we can bridge the gap between promises and pledges and achievable action,” he said.

“We can breach the inertia. We can drive sustainable development. We can address climate change without affecting the economies of the developing nations.

“India has achieved phenomenal growth in recent years, which is also driving the world economy. It has assumed the mantle of an economic giant with grace and humility. Seychelles is proud to be able to stand with India as it strides across these new frontiers.”

The issue of climate change and its disastrous impacts, which need immediate attention, was echoed by Dr Fernandez Reyna.

“There is much work to be done around the world in order to define and implement policies and practices that allow us prevent the negative impact of natural disasters,” he said.

“The world of the future should not be one of irresponsible development at the cost of fossil fuels, uncontrolled logging and other predatory actions, but sustainable progress through the use of renewable resources.”

Mr Karzai spoke of the great development challenges his country is facing because of continuing security problems as well as climate change.

“We have an important challenge ahead of us, and that is dealing with the impact of climate change on the habitat and livelihoods of our people,” he said.

“Some countries in our region have become energy-deficient, while others have enormous untapped energy resources. Though we recognise that energy security is important for sustained growth in our region, we have made slow progress in power transfer, grid connectivity and laying gas and oil pipelines.

“Afghanistan believes that the time has come for the much-discussed regional energy projects to become realities. We also believe it is time that we collaborate more effectively to tap into renewable sources of energy, which our region has in abundance.”