Date: Wednesday 30 September 2009
Time: 1-2.30pm
Venue: Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street
Speaker: RK Pachauri
Discussants: Naina Lal Kidwai, Urjit Patel, Minouche Shafik
Chair: Professor Lord Stern

India is the world's fifth largest emitter of CO2, after China, the USA, the EU and Russia. But in relative terms, India is a low carbon economy, with per capita emissions about a quarter of the global average. In spite of projected growth in emissions, these are likely to remain below the developed country average.

India is also one of the countries most exposed to the projected impacts of climate change, particularly on food production, water availability and coastal cities. Already 2.6% of GDP is spent each year on adapting to climate change. Compared with the industrialised world, India has a 'wider spectrum of choices' as it confronts the global threat of climate change, with a large potential for technological developments. This event brings together experts to discuss the business and policy initiatives in India on climate change.

RK Pachauri is chair of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change and director general of TERI. Mr Pachauri received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC which he was elected to chair in 2002. He was appointed as Director, Yale Climate and Energy Institute from July 2009. He has been active in several international forums dealing with the subject of climate change and its policy dimensions.

Naina Lal Kidwai is head of HSBC India. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School, she has been recognised in India and abroad with several awards and listings for leadership and business. Repeatedly ranked in the Fortune global list of Top Women in Business, 12th in the Wall Street Journal 2006 Global Listing of Women to Watch and listed by Time Magazine as one of their 15 Global Influential 2002. She received the Padma Shri from the Government of India for her contribution to Trade and Industry.

Urjit Patel has been with Reliance Industries Limited since 2007; he is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. Prior to this, he spent a decade working in the Indian financial sector specialising in funding private infrastructure projects. He has also worked at the International Monetary Fund and as an adviser to both the Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi. His current research interests include Indian macroeconomics, energy and climate change mitigation.

Minouche Shafik is permanent secretary of UK Department for International Development. Previously, she served as Vice President, Private Sector and Infrastructure at the World Bank and was part of the senior management group of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). She also chaired several international consultative groups that support microfinance, energy, water and sanitation for the poor, urban development and slum upgrading, information technologies for development, and private participation in infrastructure. She is an alumnus of the LSE.

This event is supported by HSBC, TERI and the City of London.

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