Energy Summit Promotes Dialogue Between U.S. and India
[Washington, D.C., U.S.A.] Yale University and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) are convening the U.S.-India Energy Partnership Summit on October 1, 2009 in Washington, D.C. to contribute to the ongoing high-level dialogue between the United States and India in such areas as renewable energy, climate change and technological innovation.
The summit will support the dialogue on how to promote enabling policies for the rapid development and deployment of green technologies in both the U.S. and India and the opportunity for partnership in this vital area. It will include representatives from government, industry, academia and civil society.
“As two of the largest energy consumers in the world, it is critical that both the United States and India contribute to a global action plan on climate change if we are to achieve a sustainable energy future,” said Rajendra K. Pachauri, director-general of TERI. “We hope that this summit will be an opportunity to take another major step in that direction.” Pachauri is also the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and director of the newly established Yale Climate and Energy Institute.
“There is no longer a question about the urgent need to address climate change and our energy needs. India and the United States, along with China and other major economies, have to be leaders in this discussion,” said Richard C. Levin, president of Yale University. “With Rajendra Pachauri directing the Yale Climate and Energy Institute, Yale and TERI have an opportunity at this crucial moment to convene the stakeholders from India and the United States and advance the ongoing discussion about energy and climate.”
The sessions will focus on sharing ideas and best practices between the U.S. and India and will build on the existing discussions between the two countries. Since 2005, senior officials from both governments have engaged in the U.S. – India Energy Dialogue, co-chaired by the U.S. Secretary of Energy and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India. On the occasion of her visit to India, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and India’s Minister of External Affairs S. M. Krishna pledged to intensify collaboration on energy security and climate change with a focus on increasing energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean energy technologies.
Speakers at the U.S.-India Energy Partnership Summit include Farooq Abdullah, India’s Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy; Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy; Jairam Ramesh, India’s Minister of State with Independent Charge for Environment and Forests; David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy & International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy; Todd D. Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change, U.S. Department of State; John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Thomas Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist, New York Times; Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Chairman and CEO,? DuPont; and many others speakers from the United States and India representing a range of stakeholders.
The U.S.-India Energy Partnership Summit is generously supported by The Energy Foundation, Yale University, Dow Chemical Company, Johnson Controls, UOP LLC—A Honeywell Company, Corning, the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, and Methane to Markets Partnership, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
For more information, including a complete schedule and list of speakers, visit the Energy Summit web site.
Contacts:
U.S.A.
Suzanne Taylor Muzzin: 203-432-8555
Annapurna Vancheswaran, avanche@teri.res.in or 203-996-0341
India
Vineet Handa: +91 98 1166 0897
Rajiv Chhibber: +91 98 1042 6698
Media Contact
Suzanne Taylor Muzzin: suzanne.taylormuzzin@yale.edu, 203-432-8555