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Rajendra Shende

Mr. Rajendra Shende, IIT-Alumni and former Director in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Mr. Shende is founder and Chairman of TERRE Policy Centre and is leading expert in sustainable development technologies and policies at global and local level. In United Nations he coordinated the implementation of singularly successful global environmental accord for the protection of the ozone layer. He was leading proponent of leveraging inter linkages of the multilateral environmental agreements, mainly the Montreal Protocol (Ozone Agreement) and Kyoto Protocol (Climate agreement ). He advised in146 developing countries to implement the Montreal Protocol and derive the climate benefits by mitigating emissions of Green House Gases ( GHGs) . He strategized social media approaches for UNEP to promote implementation of the global accords at local level. He was one of the first bloggers in UN-system. Mr.Shende was Coordinating Lead Author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC) that shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore. He is recipient of number of global and national awards that include Climate Protection award from USA. His was the first ever programme in UN system to win Stratospheric Ozone Layer Protection award from USA. The global partnership he forged to deploy Natural Refrigerants won Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government award. India’s former President Dr.Abdul Kalam felicitated him for the his work in multi-agency Public-Private Partnership that developed a model product Solar Refrigerator for preservation of vaccine. Mr Shende was recognized by UNEP for his unique approaches in creating action-based awareness , networking and capacity building programme , which later became models for other environmental agreements. Regular speaker, he has addressed the public meetings in Beijing University, MIT, Berkeley, INSEAD, HSC He published more than 100 awareness documents including ‘ Two Protocols One Solution’ and ‘ Networking Counts’ In TERRE, a not-for-profit organization he mentors the strategies for energy and food security through developing evidence based policies and promoting action based projects and partnerships. He continues to be advisor for United Nations activities and spends his time between India and France.

Involve the future in ‘UN Summit of the Future’

Involve the future in ‘UN Summit of the Future’

September 23, 2024

‘A once-in-a-generation opportunity’ is how the United Nations describes the ‘Summit of the Future’ that began on Sunday at the UN Head Quarters in New York.  The Summit is described as ‘a high-level event, bringing world leaders together to forge a new international c...

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‘Huddle negotiations’ run into hurdles in Bonn Climate meet

‘Huddle negotiations’ run into hurdles in Bonn Climate meet

June 24, 2024

With the global climate change negotiations moving forward with dreadfully inadequate actions and suicidally slow  speed  for over a decade and the divisions between developing and the developed world reaching new levels, a new terminology called ‘huddle-negotiations’ is be...

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Year 2024: Hottest elections trapped in triple crisis

Year 2024: Hottest elections trapped in triple crisis

March 25, 2024

The year 2024 is all about voting. As many as 76 of the 196 countries in the world will be engaged in  the national elections in which people citizens across the world will decide who will govern them for next few years. The elections, called festivals of democracy, are spread t...

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CMSCOP14: Birdwatching can help humans cope with climate change

CMSCOP14: Birdwatching can help humans cope with climate change

February 12, 2024

‘Nature knows no borders’ is the slogan for the most important UN wildlife conference this year.  The 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals CMSCoP14 will be hosted by the Government of Uzbekistan in the historic ...

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COP28 moves climate debate from ‘just words’ to just transition

COP28 moves climate debate from ‘just words’ to just transition

December 28, 2023

Oil from the United Arab Emirates is shipped to the outside world starting from narrow Strait of Hormuz and then wider Gulf of Oman and then into vast Ocean to reach various part of the world. Under Presidency of the UAE, the recently concluded climate change negotiations, COP28 ...

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What is expected and what is not expected from COP28 in Dubai

What is expected and what is not expected from COP28 in Dubai

December 1, 2023

About 80,000 participants including political leaders, diplomats, business managers, academicians, researchers have gathered in Dubai to participate in the 28th Conference of Parties or COP28. The Conference of Parties is held annually by United Nations Framework Convention on Cl...

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World needs transformational diplomacy, not transactional diplomacy

World needs transformational diplomacy, not transactional diplomacy

July 13, 2023

A mighty military parade would march down the Avenue de Champs Elysée, the most dignified avenue in France, while fighter jets would zoom past up in French skies to celebrate ‘Fête nationale française’ –French National Day on  July 14. It is also called Bastille Day...

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G7 meeting failed to read LeMay leaflets

G7 meeting failed to read LeMay leaflets

May 21, 2023

Before the bombing of Hiroshima, under the orders of American General Curtis LeMay, millions of leaflets were dropped from American military planes warning the citizens of grave consequences of war weapons. The leaflets informed of urgent precautions like safe shelter or evacuati...

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Climate Justice & G20: Making the most of Modi’s moment

Climate Justice & G20: Making the most of Modi’s moment

April 6, 2023

Rapidly unravelling first quarter of India’s leadership of G20 has witnessed major developments at global stage on  climate change, chronic concerns on COVID and continued conflict between Russia and Ukraine. These triple crises are  affecting geo-politics, world economic...

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Oil magnate to lead global conference to phase out oil, and why not?

Oil magnate to lead global conference to phase out oil, and why not?

February 11, 2023

‘Merchant of Death’ was the term used to describe Alfred Bernhard Nobel, a Swedish scientist and businessman who made millions selling dynamite, that he had invented. These explosives became the game changer in history of wars. Dynamite was the single most destructive inventi...

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Daydreams & nightmares after 50 years of fruitless climate change negotiations

Daydreams & nightmares after 50 years of fruitless climate change negotiations

January 9, 2023

Exactly four decades ago, in 1982, the then President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak designated a desert city, Sharm El Sheikh, as The City of Peace in 1982. That was 10 years after the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was agreed upon by the world leaders...

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COP27 should be all about Climate Justice

COP27 should be all about Climate Justice

October 31, 2022

Never in the history of UN’s Climate Change Conference African continent has been so well prepared.  On the eve of the global meet, COP 27, to be held at Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh, in Egypt, in about a week, the delegates from African countries are well set to mak...

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