WSDS 2026: Day 3 Bulletin
The Climate Finance Imperative
Moderated by Ms Leena Nandan, Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the plenary explored mobilizing public, private, and innovative finance to bridge the gap in adaptation and build resilience in vulnerable communities. Other panelists included Ms Frauke Roeser, Founder and Managing Director, NewClimate Institute; Mr Amit Prothi, Director General, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure; Prof. Anand Patwardhan, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland; Dr Sujata Gupta, Asian Development Bank; Ms Valerie Hickey, Group Global Director for Environment, The World Bank; Dr Annapurna Vancheswaran, Sustainable Development Practitioner; Mr Dipak Dasgupta, Distinguished Fellow, TERI; Prof. Benito Müller, Managing Director, Oxford Climate Policy; and Ms Kanmani Chockalingam, Senior Fellow, McKinsey Global Institute.
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Accelerating Clean Energy Solutions
The plenary session explored how multi-level governance and public-private partnerships can accelerate decentralized energy solutions like micro-grids and rooftop solar. The session was moderated by Ms Priya Shankar, India Director, Climate and Environment Program, Bloomberg Philanthropies. Other panelists included Ambassador Arne Walther, Former Secretary General of the International Energy Forum and Former Chairman, International Energy Agency; Ms Ita Kettleborough, Director, Energy Transitions Commission; Ms Nameeta Prasad, Joint Secretary, MoEFCC, India; Ms Luísa Salgueiro, Mayor, Municipality of Matosinhos, Portugal; Mr Sharad Pungalia, Country Head, Gentari India; Mr Himal Tiwari, Chief Human Resource Officer, Chief Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility, Tata Power; and Ms Anjali Acharya, Managing Director, The Nature Conservancy India.
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WSDS 2026 Concludes with ‘Reflections, Resurgence, and Resolve for Our Common Future’
Mr Nitin Desai, Chairman, TERI, opened the valedictory session of WSDS 2026, emphasizing on the need to look at the links between environment, development, and society through a lens of immediate action. During this lively session, several prominent speakers including Mr Tanmay Kumar, Secretary, MoEFCC; Ms Isabelle Tschan, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP; Ms Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Co-Founder & Chairperson, Sustainability, ReNew; Ms Prachi Shevgaonkar, Founder, Cool The Globe; and Dr Ash Pachauri, Co-Founder, POP Movement presented their views on how climate change has become a major challenge before humankind today and how we need to work for the people and planet together. Ms Dia Mirza, UN Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador, gave a special address, noting, "We often treat nature as a weekend escape, but it is a fundamental human need. Whether we are fighting biodiversity loss or climate change, the solution starts with reconnection.”
Dr Shailly Kedia, Curator, WSDS, and Director, TERI, gave the summit report of WSDS 2026, which included more than 2,000 participants this year. Bringing the landmark silver jubilee edition to a close,
Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI, gave the vote of thanks.
The event marked several significant milestones, including the unveiling of Vasundhara Magazine, an initiative of the TERI SAS Magazine Club, and the debut of the ‘Mission LiFE’ Youth Ambassador Programme.
Another major highlight of the evening was the unveiling of The Politics of Sustainable Development, a pioneering new book authored by Mr Nitin Desai and published by TERI.
WSDS 2026 Partners
