GUYANA participated in the 11th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) in the Indian capital, New Delhi, under the theme `Tapping Local Initiatives and Tackling Global Inertia’. The February 3-5 summit at the Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi was opened by Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who said in his address, inter alia, “While we focus on specific actions related to dealing with climate change, we have to be guided by the overall imperative of moving global society in the direction of sustainability in growth and development. I am optimistic that this august gathering will not only highlight India’s role as a responsible and enlightened member of the international community, but will also contribute towards finding a solution to the global challenge, which impacts humanity as a whole”.
Guyana was invited to participate in that conference by Dr. R.K Pachauri, Nobel Prize Laureate and Director-General of The Energy and Research Institute (TERI). Speakers at the opening session included President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic and President James Alix Michel of the Seychelles.
Mr. Shyam Nokta, Head of the Office of Climate Change, was among speakers who discussed `Innovative Policies for Sustainable Development’. He spoke about Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy, which has been commended internationally as an innovative approach to addressing forests and climate change while promoting low carbon development, and which could serve as a model for other tropical forest countries.
Dr. Pachauri meets President Jagdeo
Dr. Pachauri also travelled from Delhi to Mumbai to meet with President Bharrat Jagdeo, and what evolved from that “highly-productive” meeting were ideas and visions of mutually beneficial areas of collaboration that were explored, with Guyana standing to gain immeasurably from projected initiatives in the near future, when announcements will be made after deals currently in the pipeline have been finalized.
Guyana’s association with Dr. Pachauri dates way back to the 90’s, and he even visited Guyana once, following an invitation by then Executive President, Dr. Cheddi Jagan.  The two intellectuals embraced each other’s brilliance and engaged at various times to explore mutual areas of cooperation, especially in the areas of science and technology. Dr. Jagan also visited Dr. Pachauri’s energy and research institute (TERI) in 1993, where he planted a eucalyptus tree, which has matured beautifully today.
Similarly, the relationship between the countries has withstood the test of time, consequencing several joint initiatives at various levels, not least Guyana’s National world-class all-purpose stadium at Providence and the proposed specialty hospital being negotiated by current Executive President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
LCDS creates international interest in Guyana
Shyam extolled the approximate 100 acres facility of TERI, located on the outskirts of Delhi, which is run by Dr. Pachauri, at which cutting-edge research is being done on science and technology, with a special focus on renewable energy and the use of indigenous material, such as using waste products for bio-gas generation – something Guyana hopes to produce in large-scale quantities through the Co2-friendly modern sugar factory in Skeldon.  Research is also being done at TERI in Shyam’s area of specialty, which is environment preservation, with intense studies being conducted on flora and fauna.
According to Shyam, in the wake of the immense interest generated worldwide by Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), Dr. Pachauri had expressed a keen interest in visiting Guyana again, preferably while President Jagdeo, for whom he has developed remarkable respect, still presides as Head-of-State.
Shyam also said that Dr. Pachauri still holds Dr. Jagan in high esteem, because not only did Dr. Jagan plant a eucalyptus tree on the grounds of the science and technology facility, he has also planted seeds of friendship and cooperation that have grown and matured as the tree has done, and Guyana and India are poised on the brink of some exciting collaborative initiatives, discussed at different levels between President Jagdeo and various heads of public and private organizations, which Shyam is reluctant to pre-empt by revealing prior to fructification.
Cricket-loving leaders of cricket-loving countries
Dr. Pachauri is an avid cricket fan whom, according to Shyam, is himself an extremely competent cricketer, with two world-class sporting facilities located on the grounds of TERI, where Indian Premier League (IPL) tournaments are held.
The engagements between Shyam and Dr. Pacahauri thus included cricket matches played on those fields, although Shyam was not forthcoming on whether he scored any runs, or if the 71-year-old Dr. Pachauri trounced him on the cricket pitch.
Shyam said that the cricket-crazy students at the institute are fans of some of Guyana’s world-class cricketers, and he managed to make linkages between the Guyanese cricketers and Dr. Pachauri and his students before he returned to Guyana. 
Mutual interest in climate change
The relationship between Shyam and Dr. Pachauri began during their first meeting in 2007 during the Conference of Parties (CoP) Meeting on climate change in Bali, Indonesia, and has subsequently
deepened into one of mutual respect during several meetings at international climate change fora over the years.
At each successive meeting, no matter how brief, Dr. Pachauri and Guyana’s young environmental specialist and LCDS advocate have deepened their relationship and the world-renowned Indian scientist has always expressed respect for, and interest in Guyana and the LCDS, which he lauds and supports.
Shyam had been invited to speak on Guyana’s LCDS at the conference and, although the modest young man did not say it himself, reports emanating from India indicate that his presentation was warmly received and highly-appreciated by the scientists and academics present at the forum, and he was lionized afterwards, which vindicates his dedication to the advocacy of Guyana’s LCDS, which he voluntarily promotes at the various fora – local and international.
Subsequent to his address at the conference, Shyam had several discussions with the academics, and especially with Dr. Pachauri, on Guyana’s strategies for ecological preservation and sustainability, and he deemed the Summit highly successful, with much potential gains to accrue to Guyana in the near future.
Plans to make Guyana ‘a living laboratory’
As regards to the disparity – every way, between Guyana and India, Shyam says that potential collaborative synergies yet abound, with a primary one being the LCDS, whereby there are plans in the
works to make Guyana “a living laboratory”, a proposal that has been touted in Chapter Nine of the LCDS manual, which states, in part, as follows, under the heading: ‘International Centre for Bio-Diversity Research and Low Carbon Development, Curriculum Development and IT Training’, with an opening paragraph that states “Successfully creating a new low carbon economy will require a suite of investments in the education sector, and in 2010/11, priority will be given to:
International Centre for Bio-Diversity Research and Low Carbon Development – Guyana’s rainforest has some of the richest bio-diversity in the world. Moreover, rainforests currently provide sources for 25% of today’s medicines, representing a drugs market of close to US$100 billion.  Guyana will seek to partner with national and international educational, research and commercial establishments to set up an International Centre dedicated to researching (and where possible, deriving economic value from) Guyana’s rich bio-diversity.  The centre will work with emerging global institutes (e.g. the Green Growth Institute) to ensure that Guyana is integrated with international advances in this field.  Requests for Proposals will be developed and issued…”
Guyana to establish facilities for Bio-research
It is to explore the possibilities of this and other related paths that Dr. Pachauri and other international scientists are interested in visiting Guyana and developing programmes and projects of mutual cooperation and benefits.
According to Shyam, Guyana can learn from the experience of India, which has done tremendous research in the area of bio-diversity.  “They have established world-class research and educational institutions, and they have experts that we could draw on…We have a history of association in this field, because India’s world-renowned scientist, Dr. Swaminathan, who also heads one of the most successful institutes on scientific research and education in India, was the first chairman of Iwokrama and has been very instrumental in moving the Iwokrama programme forward.”
That interest has been maintained, said Shyam, who explained that many top scientists have indicated their willingness to work with Guyana on environmental and other issues.
“In keeping with our LCDS framework,” emphasized Shyam, “we would like to have Guyana move in that direction – to have Guyana develop facilities for learning, applied learning as well”.
Involving indigenous communities
In that way, Shyam said “ we want to be able to bring into the country experts and researchers from international institutions.  We intend to expand our exploration into the reservoir of knowledge and experience of our indigenous people, because for centuries they have grounded their survival systems on the bio-diversity of our rainforest.”
“This will also be compatible with Government’s thrust to create job opportunities and consequential wealth for Amerindian communities and allow for them to be able to serve in professional capacities in their indigenous communities without their being forced to seek employment on the coastland after they have completed their studies,” he stressed.
“In the next weeks and months the experts will be engaging us in discussions to define and determine specifics, because they are quite enthusiastic about the work we are doing on the LCDS programme, and they are also keen to explore ways of moving the process along.
“They have recognized that this is something very innovative, and that the lessons learnt from the LCDS can help other countries as well to adapt to climate change and create mitigating synergies and infrastructures.
“While each country has to find its own approach to domestically address the climate change phenomenon, ours is, however, one of the most innovative, integrated and comprehensive programmes, and aspects of it can be applied to many other countries; hence the international interest in Guyana.”   
Shyam said that, while some countries are either looking at one aspect or another in the climate change dilemma – for instance, giving primary concern to the energy sector; or focusing on a particular geographic area, Guyana’s approach, while on a national scale, is adaptable to other countries, which are keen to learn from the LCDS model.
Shyam is enthused with the fact that, contrary to allegations by some Guyanese persons and organizations with vested interests, the LCDS continues to generate great interest and receive tremendous response from reputable persons and institutions worldwide.  With the fructification of the initiatives currently in the pipeline, it is being envisaged by the administration that the collaboration between India and Guyana, will enable the programme to move forward and achieve many of the projected plans envisioned in the LCDS module.
DSDS seeks solutions on climate change
The DSDS, organised annually by TERI since 2001, is an international undertaking that provides a platform for knowledge exchange and debate on all aspects of sustainable development. Over the past ten years, it has emerged as one of the most important forums on global sustainability issues, with a focus on developing world solutions. DSDS 2011 examined the vital importance of local initiatives throughout the world in creating a momentum towards building a sustainable future.
DSDS 2011 is a unique platform for showcasing examples of local initiatives that successfully address the planet’s most pressing problems. The summit gathered leaders and innovators from politics,
NGOs, corporations, academia, and other stakeholders to work and focus together on the all important need to find a way to turn these examples of local initiatives into global momentum.
DSDS 2011 will serve both as a platform for and a challenge to the world, to learn together the key lessons from local success stories that are needed to move the world in the right direction.
The closing session of the summit was addressed by Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Dr. R.K. Pachauri.