The Union minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change inaugurated the twenty-five-year edition of The Energy and Resources Institute's World Sustainable Development Summit and launched Him-CONNECT, a platform organised by the Ministry to link researchers in the Himalayan region with start-ups, industry, investors and policymakers. The inauguration brought together representatives from government and institutions, including the vice-president of Guyana and senior figures from TERI and Tata Trusts. The minister noted his long association with TERI and the forum's growth.

He described the summit as a unique forum from the Global South that converts the science of sustainability into policy, partnerships and practical action. Him-CONNECT was presented as a structured mechanism to translate research supported under the National Mission on Himalayan Studies into scalable solutions and a bridge between science and society. The minister acknowledged exhibitors from Himalayan states and union territories and said their participation demonstrated the strength of innovation emerging from mountain ecosystems.

He warned that the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement shows the world is not on a trajectory to limit warming to one point five degrees Celsius, with emissions reductions insufficient, adaptation finance inadequate and uneven implementation of the sustainable development goals. He urged that transformation must go beyond policy tweaks to structural shifts in energy systems, economic models, consumption patterns and global governance. The summit theme was presented as a strategic necessity at a defining moment for the planet.

He outlined India's vision of achieving 500 gigawatt (GW) of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, reducing the emissions intensity of gross domestic product (GDP) by 45 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and attaining net-zero by 2070. He said the National Green Hydrogen Mission and climate-resilient infrastructure are central to that agenda. He added that globally transformation requires tripling renewable energy, doubling energy efficiency, scaling up adaptation finance and reforming multilateral development banks to unlock climate finance. He affirmed that the summit's silver jubilee should mark acceleration from pledges to performance and reiterated India's readiness to partner with other nations.