INDIA CLIMATE WATCH – JANUARY 2010 (Issue 10)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
From the Editor’s desk
PM launches National Solar Mission
NAPCC to get budget and India low-carbon strategy
Regulation on Renewable Energy Certificates announced
BASIC take on Copenhagen Accord
Storm in a tea-cup? Himalayan glacier decline
Hungary’s EU presidency prioritises climate in India relations
India-Iceland partnership on geo-thermal
Indo- Pak conference discusses climate change
Himalayan water security discussed in region
Climate Action Group speaks up for Sunderbans
Events Round-up for January 2010
Editor:
Malini Mehra
Research & Reporting:
Kaavya Nag, Pranav Sinha, Somya Bhatt
From the Editor’s desk
The year has opened with post-Copenhagen recriminations and an unprecedented assault on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its chairman, Dr Rajendra Pachauri. While Copenhagen continues to draw mixed assessments, the broadside against the IPCC and the invective carried in the UK’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper against Dr Pachauri caught many by surprise. Not that it should have. The infiltration of the email system of the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (CRU) for a month late last year and the ensuing ‘Climategate’ storm with allegations of misconduct and bias by British climate scientists, should have alerted us that an orchestrated campaign against climate science had begun. Taking place conveniently in the lead-up to Copenhagen – no mistake that – Climategate sought to discredit the scientific basis for action on human-induced climate change. In that it had an effect, as opinion polls across the world showed a subsequent weakening of public confidence in assertions made by scientists and politicians for action on climate change.
Glaciergate, the revelation of mistakes in the IPCC’s peer-review process that allowed an error regarding the projected date of Himalayan glacier disappearance to appear in the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, has caused similar damage to the reputation of climate scientists and the integrity of the IPCC as the gold-standard for climate research. The IPCC was slow to react to press allegations and too easily dismissed them out of hand before undertaking an internal assessment. The fact that the IPCC Chairman was under pressure at the same time for allegations of personal corruption did not help the IPCC’s media management. Beyond just a PR fiasco, the Glaciergate controversy has been highly personally damaging for Dr Pachuari and revealed for the first time the deficiencies in the IPCC’s own internal processes. Releasing a sex romp novel in the month that the IPCC came under the most intense public scrutiny of its life was perhaps not the wisest decision taken by its Chairman. Neither was the IPCC’s protracted admission that errors of oversight in the Glaciergate instance had been committed, and, indeed, that more could be expected given the IPCC’s over-reliance on scientists working in a volunteer capacity, rather than as full-time, paid professionals able to provide full due diligence of contributions. Overall, not a good month for science or scientists.
If the dirt thrown by Climategate and Glaciergate – however strongly politically-motivated by the climate-skeptic lobby – is not to stick, action must be taken swiftly. Both Dr Pachauri and the IPCC need to clear their names and re-establish the credibility that they enjoyed prior to these attacks. In the former it might well be suing those responsible for libelous personal attacks. In the case of the latter, it must surely be some degree of institutional reform to ensure that the deficiencies that have been brought to light lead to a changes in the peer-review and related processes. A number of proposals for reform of the IPCC are on the table. If the IPCC is serious about regaining public confidence – as opposed to merely the confidence of the cheerleaders of the climate advocate lobby – it must take them on board.
One thing we can be certain of – the climate skeptic and deniars lobby is not going away. The failure of the Copenhagen summit opened the gates of the last-chance saloon for the climate deniars. Here was manna from heaven. Climategate and Glaciergate have merely swelled their ranks and we will be seeing many more such orchestrated campaigns against the science, public trust, climate finance, carbon trading, and many more such issues in the coming months. We have been warned. If action on climate change is to have a chance, we will need a stronger strategy than one that has been on display so far.
PM launches National Solar Mission
After more than half a year of media leaks and speculation, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, finally officially launched the NAPCC’s Solar Mission, named the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission, in New Delhi on 11 January 2010. The PM issued a strong call on industry to create ’Solar Valleys’ along the lines of Silicon Valleys that had spurred the Indian IT industry across India. The PM proposed that these solar valleys become hubs for solar science, engineering and research, fabrication and manufacturing.
The National Solar Mission’s strategy is strongly predicated on research and development (R&D) as a key element of the overall intention to establish India as the global leader in solar energy. The R&D strategy includes basic research, applied research, technology validation and demonstration, R&D infrastructure in public private partnership and Centres of Excellence in thematic areas.
The National Solar Mission (NSM) proposes three major initiatives:
• Creating volumes to allow large-scale domestic manufacture
• A long-term policy to purchase power, and
• Supporting R&D to reduce material consumption, improve efficiency, develop new materials and storage methods.
The PM stressed that the regulatory and incentive framework unveiled under the mission had been carefully crafted with several innovative features to rapidly scale up of capacity. This was intended to encourage technological innovation, generate economies of scale and lead to a steady lowering of costs. Once parity with conventional power tariff was to be achieved, there would be no technological or economic constraint to the rapid and large-scale expansion of solar power in India.
That is the theory at least. Press reports both before and after the official announcement were skeptical of the government reaching its targets and delivering on promises set out in the NSM. There was much pre-announcement press speculation on whether the GoI would keep to its pre-Copenhagen announced target of 20,000 MW of Solar by 2020, or whether this was being downgraded by 80-90 percent. Prominent critics such as Sunita Narain of CSE charged that the government had over-reached itself and not done its economics on the costs of solar right. The Government stuck to its guns and clarified that the 20,000 MW target would be met over a 2017-2022 timeframe. However, with ministries known to be fighting among themselves and finance for the Mission being a key sticking point, the matter was still unresolved. It is expected that clarity will be provided once the Union Budget is announced on 26 February and the allocations for different Missions under the NAPCC made clear.
NAPCC to get budget and India a low-carbon strategy
India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) may finally get some teeth this fiscal year. Nearly two years after the NAPCC’s launch in June 2008, the eight ‘missions’ outlined in it are likely to be allocated funds from the union budget. These funds are domestic funds and do not include international aid transfers. India’s special envoy on climate change, Shyam Saran, said “the ministries implementing each of the missions will be provided the necessary budget for it.” He also indicated that each of the missions would be discussed by the Planning Commission and incorporated into the twelfth five-year plan 2012-17. India Climate Watch is following developments closely and will be reporting on the 26 February 2010 Union Budget in detail in the February issue.
The flagship mission of the NAPCC, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, officially launched by the Prime Minister on 11 January 2010 after much leaking and press speculation will also be brought into the budget plans.
Other post-Copenhagen domestic plans on the policy anvil include a low-carbon strategy for India, to be headed by a 26-member expert group under the Planning Commission. The expert group is expected to a release a report providing cost-benefit analyses for alternative low-carbon strategies for India and an action plan for critical low-carbon initiatives. This is intended to chart out a low-carbon strategy in keeping with India’s voluntary commitment to reduce its carbon emission intensity by 20-25% by 2020 compared to 2005 levels.
The expert panel is to be headed by economist Kirit Parikh and is said to include Ajay Mathur (Director, Bureau for Energy Efficiency), Ambuj Sagar (IIT Delhi) and stakeholders from business and industry. Following a first meeting in mid-January in Delhi, the group is scheduled to submit an interim report by end-April and the final plan by end-September 2010 outlining a map for low-carbon growth starting 2011. The report is intended to set specific targets throughout the 12th Five Year Plan and be consistent with the overarching objectives of poverty alleviation, sustainable development and inclusive growth.
Regulation on Renewable Energy Certificates announced
In order to promote the production of electricity from renewable energy sources, as well as develop a market for electricity, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) issued an important piece of regulation on Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) on 14 January 2010. This new framework of REC is expected to help boost the capacity of Renewable Energy (RE) in the country.
India’s Electricity Act 2003 and National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) are both intended to provide a roadmap for increasing the share of renewable in total generation capacity in the country. The Act also requires all states to purchase a certain percentage of their total electricity consumption from renewable energy sources through Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs). But RE resources are not evenly spread across different parts of the country and this inhibits State Electricity Regulatory Commissions in RE-deficient States from specifying higher RPOs. On the other hand, States capable of harnessing RE potential beyond the RPO level fixed by SERCs are discouraged from producing more because of higher generation costs.
The REC regulation seeks to address this mismatch between availability of RE sources and the requirement of obligated entities to meet their renewable purchase obligations. It provides a broad architecture of REC at the national level and is also expected to encourage RE capacity addition in States where there is potential for RE generation as the REC framework seeks to create a national-level market for generators to recover their cost.
Some important attributes of the regulation are:
• Central-level agency to be designated for registration and issuance of REC to RE generators participating in the scheme.
• Value of REC will equivalent to 1 MWh of electricity injected into the grid from renewable energy sources.
• REC will be exchanged only in the Power Exchanges approved by CERC
• The distribution companies, Open Access consumer, Captive Power Plants (CPPs) will have option of purchasing the REC to meet their Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO)
• Compliance auditors to ensure compliance of the requirement of the REC by the participants of the scheme.
BASIC take on Copenhagen Accord
Environment ministers from the BASIC grouping – Brazil, South Africa, India and China – the four developing country giants met in New Delhi recently and officially declared that they intended to “communicate information on their voluntary mitigation actions” under the Copenhagen Accord, as well as meet its 31 January 2010 deadline.
Following their meeting on 23-24 January 2010, the four nations issued a joint statement leaving little room for doubt that while the BASIC group is in support of the Copenhagen Accord, and while they will submit their voluntary mitigation actions, they clearly recognize the Accord as being “in the nature of a political document.”
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also understood to have sent a strongly-worded response to a letter sent by Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, urging all “friends of the Chair” (India is one of them), to publicly associate themselves with the Accord. The letter, which appears to throw UN weight behind The Accord as a political agreement (as opposed to the UN’s Kyoto and Bali Action Plan processes), may be the reason for the PM Singh’s strong response.
In their joint statement, the BASIC countries emphasised that while the Accord represents a “high level political understanding”, the UNFCCC process remains at the core of the negotiations, and is still the only game in town. And that while the Copenhagen Accord might ‘”facilitate a successful conclusion” of the two-track process under the UNFCCC, it is still the two-track processes that is the deal-making entity.
The joint statement asks the COP President (Denmark) to convene five pre-COP 16 meetings and an early flow of the USD 10 billion fast-track fund pledged for 2010 towards least developed and most vulnerable countries in the Accord. It also acknowledges the absence of the G77 Chair (Yemen) at the meeting. In effect appeasing the G77 and acknowledging the importance of funds going first and fastest to the small island states, African nations and least developed countries, as well as underscoring the importance of the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Action Plan for the developing world.
This joint statement, as well as India and China’s individual submissions to the UN with regards the Accord, have put much speculation to rest on just how much the two countries are willing to put on the table. India’s energy intensity targets are up on the table as offerings to combat climate change, but the letter sent to the UNFCCC makes no mention of the Copenhagen Accord, nor of India associating with it.
While over 95 countries have so far put in their voluntary mitigation action pledges, only four have signed on to the Copenhagen Accord. It seems evident therefore, that making pledges through the Accord is one thing, while acceding to it appears to be quite another.
Storm in a tea-cup? Himalayan glacier declineThe raging debate over the rate of glacier retreat in the Himalayas being lower than what was predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), may have calmed slightly since its turbulent beginnings some weeks back, but it has resulted in high-octane fuel being added to the climate denier camp.
What started out as a challenge to the IPCC quote: “Glaciers in the Himalaya are receding faster than in any part of the world and, if the present rate continues, the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high if the Earth keeps warming at the current rate” (Working Group 2, page 493, Fourth Assessment Report, 2007), and the controversial “2035” year has turned into a wholescale challenge to the scientific integrity and credibility of the IPCC itself.
The projection of Himalayan glacier melt being “very likely” by 2035, apparently had its origins in a New Scientist magazine news report from 1999. The article quoted scientist Syed Hasnain, Himalayan glaciologist, as saying “most glaciers in the Himalayan region will vanish within 40 years” due to global warming – a statement the Indian scientist now challenges.
The IPCC reportedly relied on three documents, none of which were peer-reviewed – the gospel of the scientific vetting process, and what was mandated procedure for the IPCC – to arrive at the 2035 deadline. The IPCC has since issued a statement, accepting that “the assessment (of 2035) refers to poorly substantiated estimates… the clear and well-established standards of evidence, required by IPCC procedures, were not applied properly.”
Indian Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, who first challenged the 2035 deadline after a study released by the MoEF said that Himalayan glaciers are not retreating ‘abnormally’, says the retraction of this statement from the IPCC 2007 report has ‘vindicated’ his position. It must be noted, however, that Minister Ramesh’s claims of being vindicated, are not entirely based on peer-reviewed science of the highest quality. Nevertheless, the controversy over one unverified scientific prediction has been taken up by the international media and public at large, particularly by the climate denier camp, and helped damage the previously unimpeachable credentials of the IPCC.
The fact remains that the state of Himalayan glacier science and the impacts of climate change on India’s glaciers remains pathetic and this deficiency would be better addressed by more studies across all glacier types, not media brouhaha that does more damage than good. Robust and clearly justified scientific conclusions will only come once more quality data and studies are collated on Himalayan glaciers.
The hue and cry over the IPCC’s ‘Glaciergate’ has managed to distract attention from the main issue at hand – namely that glaciers around the world are in a state of retreat. While more detailed and specific studies still need to be carried out across all Himalayan nation states, a statement released by ICIMOD – a redoubtable source of regional scientific evidence on mountains – brings much needed perspective to the Himalayan glacier controversy when it concludes that the “majority of glaciers in the region are in a general condition of retreat, although with some regional differences.”
For full details on Indian media coverage, key statements and commentary on Glaciergate, go to CSM’s India/ climate change portal: www.climatechallengeindia.org
Hungary’s EU presidency to prioritise climate in India relations
Hungary together with Spain and Belgium, take over the presidency of the European Union (EU) from Sweden in 2010. In his capacity as part of the EU presidency trio, Péter Balázs, foreign minister of Hungary, paid an official visit to India between 16 – 21 January 2010. He engaged in talks with his counterpart, S.M. Krishna and reviewed several international issues. Mr. Balázs told his Indian counterpart that Hungary would give special attention to the strategic partnership of the European Union and India. Among other issues, they discussed climate change and were in agreement on climate change being one of the most important issues facing the international community. Mr. Balázs also emphasized on the use of renewable energy resources and the mutual development and application of green technologies.
Hungary, together with Spain and Belgium, have worked out priorities in the area of environmental protection during their turn at the EU presidency. Hungary has proposed giving special emphasis to five areas, including an evaluation of the 6th Environmental Action Programme and the preparation of the next such programme, sustainable development, climate change, water management and biological diversity.
India-Iceland partnership on geo-thermal
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) organized an India-Iceland Workshop on Renewable Energy on 15 January 2010 in New Delhi, with a focus on the development and utilization of Geothermal Energy and Small Hydro Power. India had previously signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iceland on Indo-Iceland Renewable Energy Cooperation in October 2007 and this was a continuation of the dialogue.
Addressing the India-Iceland workshop on Renewable Energy in New Delhi, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, said bilateral co-operation with Iceland was essential to making progress in the area of geothermal energy development. Twenty-four percent of Iceland’s energy requirements is produced by five geothermal power plants, and 87% of the country’s heating requirement is met by geothermal heating. Iceland has also been recognized by UNESCO as a region that will provide training in geothermal energy development. Mr. Abdullah indicated that Iceland’s expertise should be leveraged to train Indian scientists and technicians on all aspects of geothermal energy utilisation.
The two countries intend to establish a working committee to identify areas of cooperation and to monitor and evaluate cooperation activities. With high-temperature geothermal fields in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Chhattisgarh, the possibility of developing these are of keen interest to India.
Indo- Pak conference discusses climate change
An India-Pakistan peace conference organised in New Delhi in mid-January by the Heinrich Boell Foundation India office and partner NGOs from Pakistan also discussed climate change and its impacts on Indo-Pak relations. The climate change session was chaired by Lalita Ramdas (Chair, Greenpeace International Board). Panelists included Dr. Abid Suleri (Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan), Dr. Vandana Shiva (Founder, Navdanya), Farooq Tariq (Spokesperson, Pakistan Labour Party) and Amb. Chandrashekhar Dasgupta (Distinguished Fellow, TERI).
The proceedings of the conference echoed public sentiment in both India and Pakistan for peace between the two nations. However, the range of issues discussed gave a clear indication that people find climate and environmental issues as core components of a successful peace-process. A declaration at the end of the conference also saw participants resolving to work towards each of the areas identified in the sessions.
On climate change they agreed to:
• Start common initiatives to adapt to the common challenge of climate change
• Cooperate on international climate negotiations and within the SAARC grouping
• Engage in joint approaches towards transfer of technology on renewable energy, adaptation and mitigation. India should assist Pakistan to develop a low carbon strategy and facilitate the transfer of regenerative technologies to Pakistan
• Conduct joint research on ecological and climate related issues
Himalayan water security discussed in region
India’s Strategic Foresight Group (SFG) and the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) organized the Second International Workshop on Himalayan Sub-regional Cooperation for Water Security in Dhaka on 15-16 January, 2010. Attended by 25 distinguished water experts from India, Bangladesh, China and Nepal, the conference affirmed that water scarcity is of major concern to the region and calls for greater collaboration over shared water resources.
The conference was a salutary reminder that increasing stress on the Himalayan region is leading to further problems of glacier retreat, floods, food security and inequity and that overcoming the challenge of increasing stress on the Himalayan river basin will require co-operation among the regional countries sharing the basin.
The workshop concluded with a declaration called the “Dhaka Declaration on Water Security”. The importance of water security in the Himalayan region and the need of a political commitment from the Basin countries were recognised. Recommendations were made by experts to prepare a roadmap for data sharing and transparency in information exchange. Establishment of joint research projects involving all countries were suggested and the issue of defending the interests of all the concerned countries were further highlighted.
Climate Action Group speaks up for Sunderbans
The Climate Action Group (CAG), an alliance of 15 civil society organisations in West Bengal, including CSM Kolkata as a founder partner, appealed to Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Environment & Forests, during a recent visit to Kolkata, to take urgent action on protecting and conserving the Sunderbans. In a letter submitted to the Minister in Kolkata, the CAG noted how cyclone Aila had ravaged much of coastal West Bengal in 2009 and had devastating impacts on the Sunderbans.
The CAG reminded the Minister that the Sundarbans are already subject to extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels, resulting in a loss of agriculture, livelihoods and habitation. But this combined with the impacts of climate change has put the Sunderbans’ five million people, its 54 islands, famed mangroves, Bengal tigers and other biodiversity at serious risk.
The CAG appealed to the MoEF to launch a Mission for the Sundarbans with core focus areas including Sustainable Agriculture, Safe Drinking Water, Renewable Energy and Mangrove Afforestation. The CAG has also called for the early implementation of a Disaster Management System Plan with a focus on Early Warning Systems, Evacuation Plans, and for building up a functional rescue centre for climate refugees from the Sunderbans. The CAG has also assured the Ministry of its support towards appropriate design and material for building embankments over 3,500 km along the coastline of Sunderbans.
The CAG now awaits a response from the Minister and MoEF.
Events Round-up for January 2010
1. 5-7 January 2010, EWRI’s 3rd developing nations conference: India 2010 – 3rd International Perspective on Current & Future State of Water Resources & the Environment, Chennai: This conference was organised by Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI), and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras. Participants were from a diverse background and professions including engineers, scientists, planners, economists and legal professionals from all over.
2. 8-15 January 2010, Energy Conclave, Kanpur: In order to address the global energy concerns of depleting fossil fuels and climate change, this eight day conclave was organised by Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. The conclave touched upon various aspects of energy issue including nuclear energy, energy policy, transport, energy delivery and PV technology and provided a platform to know, interact, exchange new ideas, discuss new developments and finally look at the challenges ahead for a sustainable future.
3. 11 January 2010, Climate Change and its impact on Indo-Pak Relations, New Delhi: As a part of India Pakistan Conference A Road map towards Peace, this session was organised at the India International Centre keeping in mind that Climate change and its impact on India Pakistan relations has become particularly relevant today, with water wars emerging as a real possibility. The session was chaired by Lalita Ramdas of Greenpeace International and included other distinguished speakers from both India and Pakistan.
4. 15-16 January 2010, Smart Energy – Generation, Promotion & Conservation, Patiala: with the aim of providing a forum and an opportunity to researchers, scientists, engineers, academicians, technologists, entrepreneurs and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences, new ideas and give views on recent developments in the areas of Smart Energy and Environment, and discuss the practical challenges encountered, changing world energy requirements and the solutions adopted this conference was organised by Chitkara University. The areas covered included clean/green power, energy management systems and smart environment protection.
5. 18-19 January 2010, New Frontiers in Biofuels, New Delhi: This conference was organised by Delhi Technological University (DTU) formerly known as Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), with the objective of harbouring a platform to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experience among scientists involved in various segments of biofuel research.
6. 19 January 2010, Assocham 12th Energy Summit, New Delhi: Organised by ASSOCHAM with the aim of providing a common platform to the representatives from the oil, gas, power, infrastructure, financing, equipment manufacturing and other related sectors for a meaningful B2B dialogue. The theme of the discussion was mainly centred on evolving and exploring business opportunities in oil & gas sector, which lay emphasis on sustainability and security aspects.
7. 23 January 2010, Environment Sustainability Leadership Program, New Delhi: Organised by the Climate Project India, it was a climate change training programme for the civil society. The objective of this program was to equip people with inspiring and comprehensive tools for spreading the critical message of climate change.
8. 24 January 2010, BASIC Meet, New Delhi: A BASIC meet was held in the Capital on 24th Jan. to build a common stand on climate and Copenhagen Accord. After the meet it was made clear that the accord is political in nature and the BASIC countries declared their support for accord. The idea of starting a climate fund to help poor nations with latest technologies to fight climate change was also given shape.
9. 26 January 2010, Inauguration of Renewable Energy Centre Developed by VSSU and ONergy at West Bengal, 24 Parganas: jointly developed and promoted by VSSU and ONergy, distribute sustainable renewable energy solutions in rural West Bengal, the Centre was inaugurated on 26th January 2010.
10. 27 January 2010, CSM’s first Kannada language 1-star (introductory) workshop on basics of Climate change: was organised in Bangalore targeting the students of Netaji S.C. Bose High School, Bangalore.
11. 28-29 January 2010, Conference on ‘Advancements in Renewable Energy Sector’, Mumbai: A two day conference was held in Mumbai with the focus on the expected dynamic growth in the Clean Energy Sectors of Solar, Wind, Waste-to-Energy, Energy Efficiency & Cogeneration. The program covered legislation, policies and regulatory overview, financing opportunities and market trends, technological innovation and case-studies with a focus on various Renewable Energy Sectors.
12. 28 January 2010, National level symposium on Energy and the Environment, Coimbatore: The main objective of this seminar which was organised by Karpagam Polytechnic College was to tap the potential and innovations from the learning minds and to find appropriate solutions for the existing challenges in the area of renewable energy and the environment and thereby transmitting the ideas for the development of the community.
13. 28 January 2010, Cleantech Mentoring Workshop, Bangalore: New Ventures India, a programme of CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre and World Resources Institute, Washington D.C, organised this workshop in collaboration with TiE Bangalore and CIIE, Ahmedabad. The main objectives of this workshop were to Connect Cleantech entrepreneurs with investors and talent, create frank conversations about business models, risks, and collaboration and help interested talent to seek opportunities with cleantech businesses.
14. 30 January, 2010, Kolkata Sustainability Summit 2010, Kolkata: The first ever sustainability summit in Kolkata, brought together policymakers, experts and youth, to discuss a action roadmap, on how to act on sustainable and equitable development.