Programme overview

G-STIC Conference January 2022

Sessions labeled will take place in one of the following conference venues: Dubai Exhibition Centre, Sustainability Pavilion, Norway Pavilion, Belgian Pavilion and Brazil Pavilion. Sessions labeled will be live-streamed from Dubai and can be followed online.

Dubai Exhibition Centre – Main Hall – 2A South

10:30
Aligning curricula and teacher education, especially with Artificial Intelligence

Education

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Education

Aligning curricula and teacher education, especially with Artificial Intelligence

17/01/2022, 10:30 - 12:00 GST (Dubai)

07:30 - 09:00 CET/WAT (Brussels, Nigeria)

08:30 - 10:00 SAST (Cape Town)

01:30 - 03:00 EST (New York)

15:30 - 17:00 KST (Seoul)

14:30 - 16:00 CST (Beijing)

12:00 - 13:30 IST (New Delhi)

03:30 - 05:00 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Access to new technologies should provide the education sector with the means to innovate education systems and expand the access to better quality education for all. What matters even more is how innovative technology is used in the classroom by teachers to facilitate and encourage student learning beyond simple knowledge acquisition, and nurture a culture that values learning.

There is a general agreement that rapid technological change could have an important impact on the achievement of the SDGs. The vital role of science, technology and innovation in sustainable development and in facilitating efforts to address global challenges to improve education is widely recognised.

Technology is already a big part of the current classrooms, as teachers and education developers are looking for ways to improve our education systems. New technologies as artificial learning, digital innovations and educational software not only change the field of study for students, they also change the role of teachers and their approach to education.

During the Covid-19 crisis the education-system changed radically. The pandemic is giving technology massive insights at scale as to what human development and learning looks like, allowing it to potentially shift from just content dissemination to augmenting relationships with teachers, personalization, and independence.

On the other hand: moving the world’s students online has exposed deep inequities in the education system, from the shocking number of children who rely on school for food and a safe environment, to a digital divide in which kids without devices or reliable internet connections are cut off from learning completely.

Chaired by

Jan  De Groof

Jan De Groof

European Association for Educational Law and Policy

President

Keynote speech

Promoting inclusive education in the post-pandemic, technology-driven society

Leymah  Gbowee

Leymah Gbowee

2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; African peace activist; Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa Founder and President

Laureate Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist, social worker and women’s rights advocate. She is Founder and President of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, based in Monrovia. Leymah is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women’s nonviolent peace movement. Leymah Gbowee’s personal and professional experiences attest to the significant role education plays in the advancement of girls and women. As of April 2017, Gbowee is also Executive Director of the Women of Peace and Security Program at AC4, Earth Institute, Columbia University. She is best known for leading a nonviolent movement that brought together Christian and Muslim women to play a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s devastating, fourteen-year civil war in 2003.

Keynote speech

The role of technology and Artificial Intelligence in the future of education

Dirk Van Damme

Dirk Van Damme

Distinguished Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Curriculum Redesign (CCR), Harvard University; Former Head of CERI (Centre for Educational Research and Innovation)

Dirk Van Damme currently is working as a distinguished Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Curriculum Redesign (CCR), Harvard University. He is the former Head of the Innovation and Measuring Progress Division (IMEP), which covers both the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and the Indicators of Educational Systems (INES) programme, in the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills. He holds a PhD degree in educational sciences from Ghent University and is also professor of educational sciences in the same university (since 1995).

He also was part-time professor in comparative education at the Free University of Brussels (1997-2000) and visiting professor of comparative education at Seton Hall University, NJ, USA (2001-2008). His main fields of study and research have included comparative education, lifelong learning and higher education policy. Alongside his academic career and before joining the OECD in 2008, he has been professionally involved in educational policy development in various governmental positions.

He also served as an expert for several national and international organisations, mainly in the higher education and quality assurance sector. His current interests focus on innovation in education, comparative analyses of educational systems, new developments in the learning sciences and knowledge management in education.

Panel discussion

Alexandre  Lyambabaje

Alexandre Lyambabaje

Vice Chancellor of University of Rwanda; former Executive Secretary of the Inter-University Council for East Africa

Alexandre Lyambabaje is the University of Rwanda Vice Chancellor. Prior to his appointment, he served as the Executive Secretary of the Inter-University Council for East Africa. He has served in different capacities in the Government of Rwanda. In 1999, he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education. In 2000, he was appointed Minister of Commerce, Tourism, Industry, Investments Promotion and Cooperatives, a position he held until 2003. He also contributed to the regional integration process through active participation in the ministerial meetings of East African Community and COMESA. Prof Lyambabaje holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and a Doctorate in Mathematics from University de Rennes in France.

Nazar Mohamed Hassan

Nazar Mohamed Hassan

UNESCO Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States

Senior Science & Technology Regional Advisor

Nazar M. Hassanhas been the Senior Regional Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Specialist for the Arab States at UNESCO since 2009, where he has initiated several networks to build up the region’s techno-preneurship culture. Previously, he worked as Senior Economist in the Sustainable Development Division of UN ESCWA (Lebanon).

Hassan has a number of published papers and reports in the areas of sustainable development goals, science policy development, and strategic energy management, together with a number of patents in renewable energy. He is one of authors and editors of volumes 20 and 21 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook 2018 and 2019, which is refereed by the University of Bremen. Hassan is also one of the co-authors of the Arab States chapter within the 2016 UNESCO World Science Report.

Hassan is an engineer by profession, and he has received his PhD (systems optimization) in 2003 from University of Massachusetts, Amherst in the United States, with a focus on Sustainable Energy Development.

Gong Ke

Gong Ke

World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO)

President

Gong Ke, Chairman, the Academic Committee of Nankai University; Executive Director, Chinese Institute for New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategies; Former Rector Nankai University and Tianjin University, China.

Gong Ke is an electronics engineer with the expertise in information, communication technology, and more than 30 years’ experience in engineering education, research and management. Gong Ke has been working in the field of telecommunication and electronic engineering. He has led many projects of Chinese high-tech research and development programs, for terrestrial and satellite wireless communication. He has led the development of the Chinese technical standard of digital TV transmission, the first Chinese micro-satellite, the rural radio communication system, etc, and won numbers of rewards including the National Award for Technical Invention.

He is author/co-author of more than 100 technical papers. From 2013 to 2017, he was appointed by Ban Ki-moon to the Scientific Advisory Board of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Chandrika Bahadur

Chandrika Bahadur

UN SDSN Association

President

Chandrika Bahadur is the President of the SDSN Association. Previously she was Director of Education Initiatives at the UN SDSN. From 2008-2011, she was advisor to the Chairman and Managing Director at Reliance Industries, where she helped set up Reliance Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic foundation focusing on areas of education, health, rural development, and urban renewal.

Q&A

Closing remarks

Jan  De Groof

Jan De Groof

European Association for Educational Law and Policy

President

Michelle Ran Ye

Michelle Ran Ye

KU Leuven

Professor at Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences

12:00
Lunch & Networking
13:00
High-level opening session: setting the scene

All themes

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High-level opening session: setting the scene

17/01/2022, 13:00 - 14:15 GST (Dubai)

10:00 - 11:15 CET/WAT (Brussels, Nigeria)

11:00 - 12:15 SAST (Cape Town)

04:00 - 05:15 EST (New York)

18:00 - 19:15 KST (Seoul)

17:00 - 18:15 CST (Beijing)

14:30 - 15:45 IST (New Delhi)

06:00 - 07:15 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

The COVID-19 pandemic presents both an enormous challenge and tremendous opportunities for realising the 2030 Agenda and SDGs.

On one hand, it threatens achievements already made in many areas. Everyone has been affected, but the impact is being disproportionally experienced among the poorest and most vulnerable.

On the other hand, the intersection between health and sustainability challenges might never have been clearer. This is an opportunity to be seized. Far from undermining the case for the SDGs, the root causes of and unequal impacts from COVID-19 precisely demonstrate why the 2030 Agenda is needed, while underscoring the urgency for it to be implemented.

The COVID-19 crisis has affected societies and economies around the globe and will permanently reshape our world as it continues to unfold. While the fallout is both amplifying familiar risks and creating new ones, change at this scale also creates new openings for managing systemic challenges and ways to build back better.

We are being forced to revisit our values and design a new area of development that truly balances economic, social and environmental progress, as envisioned by the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. Building the greener and more inclusive future which helps countries reach these is dependent on integrated solutions.

During this opening session, the keynote speakers will provide their perspectives on why deep changes are needed, how they can be enabled and how they can be deployed to work for the benefit of all.

Facilitated by

Francesca  Vanthielen

Francesca Vanthielen

Moderator

Welcome by the co-hosts

Dirk Fransaer

Dirk Fransaer

VITO

Managing Director

Paulo Gadelha

Paulo Gadelha

Fiocruz

Former President, Coordinator Strategy for 2030 Agenda

As coordinator of the Fiocruz Strategy for the 2030 Agenda, Gadelha is in charge of promoting strategic engagement between Fiocruz and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His background includes studies of the application of technology in public health, healthcare models, and enhancing Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) for the SDGs.

Gadelha served as president of Fiocruz from 2009 to 2016, leading scientific achievements in biomedical sciences, generation of scientific and technological knowledge, and health and social development promotion. Between 2016 and 2021, Dr. Gadelha was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as a member of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (UN-TFM) ‘10-Member Group’ to provide expertise and support to the UN Inter-agency Task Team (IATT) on STI for the SDGs.

Previously, he founded and directed the “Casa de Oswaldo Cruz,” a Fiocruz institute dedicated to the sociology and history of science and health. Dr. Gadelha also served as a member of the National Health Council’s Science and Technology Intersectoral Commission. As President of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health, he chaired the 11th World Congress on Public Health. In 2017, with UN/DESA, he chaired the efforts of Fiocruz in organizing the 1st Consultation on Health and STI in the 2030 Agenda’s implementation.

Opening remarks

António Guterres

H.E. António Guterres

United Nations

Secretary-General

Reem Al Hashimi

H.E. Reem Al Hashimi (TBC)

United Arab Emirates

Minister of State for International Cooperation

Keynote speech

Leymah  Gbowee

Leymah Gbowee

2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; African peace activist; Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa Founder and President

Laureate Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist, social worker and women’s rights advocate. She is Founder and President of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, based in Monrovia. Leymah is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women’s nonviolent peace movement. Leymah Gbowee’s personal and professional experiences attest to the significant role education plays in the advancement of girls and women. As of April 2017, Gbowee is also Executive Director of the Women of Peace and Security Program at AC4, Earth Institute, Columbia University. She is best known for leading a nonviolent movement that brought together Christian and Muslim women to play a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s devastating, fourteen-year civil war in 2003.

Panel discussion

Helen Clark

Helen Clark

Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Former administrator UNDP

Kehkashan  Basu

Kehkashan Basu

Founder-President, Green Hope Foundation, UN Human Rights Champion

Kehkashan Basu is a Winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize for her work on children’s rights and the environment, and the first-ever Voices Youth Gorbachev-Shultz Legacy Award for her work on nuclear disarmament.

Kehkashan is the Founder President of the social innovation enterprise Green Hope Foundation, which provides over 225,000 young people in 25 countries a networking platform to engage in the sustainable development process and take actions to mitigate climate change. Her internationally acclaimed work on sustainability has resulted in her being named one of the Top 100 SDG Leaders in the world and one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.

She is the youngest member of Canada’s Women in Renewable Energy forum and the youngest Councillor of World Future Council. She has just been elected to the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, making her, at 20 years old, its youngest trustee in its 127-year history.

Leymah  Gbowee

Leymah Gbowee

2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; African peace activist; Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa Founder and President

Laureate Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist, social worker and women’s rights advocate. She is Founder and President of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, based in Monrovia. Leymah is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women’s nonviolent peace movement. Leymah Gbowee’s personal and professional experiences attest to the significant role education plays in the advancement of girls and women. As of April 2017, Gbowee is also Executive Director of the Women of Peace and Security Program at AC4, Earth Institute, Columbia University. She is best known for leading a nonviolent movement that brought together Christian and Muslim women to play a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s devastating, fourteen-year civil war in 2003.

14:15
Coffee break & Networking
14:30
Technological solutions to address health crises and its impacts

Health

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Health

Technological solutions to address health crises and its impacts

17/01/2022, 14:30 - 16:00 GST (Dubai)

11:30 - 13:00 CET/WAT (Brussels, Nigeria)

12:30 - 14:00 SAST (Cape Town)

05:30 - 07:00 EST (New York)

19:30 - 21:00 KST (Seoul)

18:30 - 20:00 CST (Beijing)

16:00 - 17:30 IST (New Delhi)

07:30 - 09:00 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are playing an essential role in solving the current COVID-19 crisis and will continue to do so for future catastrophes. The pandemic was a catalyst for new developments and faster evolution of vaccines. Tests and pharmaceuticals were innovated at unprecedented speed.

The intensive use of telemedicine and other communication technologies also helped increase the productivity and responsiveness of health systems. Meanwhile, the integration of mathematical sciences for prediction and modeling of essential elements proved to be a valuable resource for health field decision-makers.

The impressive gains achieved were only possible due to significant collaboration between sectors, including the private sector and countries, under coordination by the World Health Organization. But while STI have the potential to embrace universal access, an insupportable duality is being created between those who can afford knowledge and technology and those who cannot. International collaboration is necessary to enhance equity on digital and technology access and to guide strategically STI development for the future.

This session will present lessons learned from the international community about the emergency of the pandemic, the challenges in controlling it, as well as the recovery plans and preparedness for future outbreaks.

Chaired by

Paulo Gadelha

Paulo Gadelha

Fiocruz

Former President, Coordinator Strategy for 2030 Agenda

As coordinator of the Fiocruz Strategy for the 2030 Agenda, Gadelha is in charge of promoting strategic engagement between Fiocruz and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His background includes studies of the application of technology in public health, healthcare models, and enhancing Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) for the SDGs.

Gadelha served as president of Fiocruz from 2009 to 2016, leading scientific achievements in biomedical sciences, generation of scientific and technological knowledge, and health and social development promotion. Between 2016 and 2021, Dr. Gadelha was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as a member of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (UN-TFM) ‘10-Member Group’ to provide expertise and support to the UN Inter-agency Task Team (IATT) on STI for the SDGs.

Previously, he founded and directed the “Casa de Oswaldo Cruz,” a Fiocruz institute dedicated to the sociology and history of science and health. Dr. Gadelha also served as a member of the National Health Council’s Science and Technology Intersectoral Commission. As President of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health, he chaired the 11th World Congress on Public Health. In 2017, with UN/DESA, he chaired the efforts of Fiocruz in organizing the 1st Consultation on Health and STI in the 2030 Agenda’s implementation.

Keynote speech

Measures to respond to COVID-19 and prevent future pandemics

Helen Clark

Helen Clark

Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Former administrator UNDP

Keynote speech

Paving the way to the future: the UN research roadmap for COVID-19 recovery

Steven J. Hoffmann

Steven J. Hoffmann

Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Scientific Director IPPH

Keynote speech

Climate crisis health effects and responses

Andy Haines

Andy Haines

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health

Keynote speech

Health as a universal human right: the Health for All Network

Marco  Krieger

Marco Krieger

Fiocruz

Vice-President of Health, Production and Innovation

Panel discussion

16:00
Coffee break & Networking
16:30
International coalitions reveal the true value of water

Water

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Water

International coalitions reveal the true value of water

17/01/2022, 16:30 - 18:00 GST (Dubai)

13:30 - 15:00 CET/WAT (Brussels, Nigeria)

14:30 - 16:00 SAST (Cape Town)

07:30 - 09:00 EST (New York)

21:30 - 23:00 KST (Seoul)

20:30 - 22:00 CST (Beijing)

18:00 - 19:30 IST (New Delhi)

09:30 - 11:00 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

International coalitions are essential for tackling water-related issues. Not just for dealing with transboundary situations, but also for sharing best practices to ensure water is properly conserved and made available to all. We have therefore invited representatives from new and already-established international coalitions to share their experiences and visions with regard to promoting cooperation and revealing the true value of water. Understanding the lessons they’ve learnt will further equip us to achieve Water SDGs and create conditions that enable new coalitions to form.

Facilitated by

Francesca  Vanthielen

Francesca Vanthielen

Moderator

Zsofi Lang

Zsofi Lang

Zsofi Lang Drawings

Illustrator

Introduction

Katrien Van Hooydonk

Katrien Van Hooydonk

VITO

Project Lead Strategic Partnerships WaterClimateHub

Presentation

Broadening an EU water initiative: The Water Joint Programming Initiative and the European Partnership Water4All

Esther Diez Cebollero

Esther Diez Cebollero

French National Research Agency

Scientific Officer

Olivier Bouc

Olivier Bouc

French National Research Agency

Scientific Officer

Presentation

AfriAlliance: Bottom-up water innovation through communities of practice

David Smith

David Smith

Water, Environment and Business for Development

Director

Presentation

FAO partnership approach to agriculture water management

Lifeng Li

Lifeng Li

FAO

Director Land and Water Division

Presentation

Expanding innovation through global collaboration

Dean Amhaus

Dean Amhaus

The Water Council

President & CEO

Presentation

Invisible or obvious? A comprehensive approach to water for building back better and greener and for leaving no one behind

Ana Novak

Ana Novak

Permanent Representation of the Republic of Slovenia to the European Union

Development Cooperation CODEV-PI

Presentation

A Green Blue Deal for the Middle East

Yana Abu Taleb

Yana Abu Taleb

EcoPeace Middle East

Jordanian Director

Stefan Deconinck

Stefan Deconinck

PolResearch

Policy Consultant

Interactive Q&A

Closing remarks

Joshua Newton

Joshua Newton

Josh’s Water Jobs

Founder

Dubai Exhibition Centre – Break-out – 2A Suite

10:30
Learning Lab: mapping innovation ecosystems to achieve the mission economy

Entrepreneurship

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Entrepreneurship

Learning Lab: mapping innovation ecosystems to achieve the mission economy

17/01/2022, 10:30 - 12:00 GST (Dubai)

07:30 - 09:00 CET/WAT (Brussels, Nigeria)

08:30 - 10:00 SAST (Cape Town)

01:30 - 03:00 EST (New York)

15:30 - 17:00 KST (Seoul)

14:30 - 16:00 CST (Beijing)

12:00 - 13:30 IST (New Delhi)

03:30 - 05:00 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Entrepreneurial approaches provide novel ways for turning ideas into impact. More specifically, public-purpose-driven entrepreneurship is about understanding local needs and coming up with innovative solutions paired with appropriate business models that promote social inclusion and environmental resilience.

There is growing interest in the role science, technology, and innovation can play in addressing a broad set of societal challenges. However, identifying and/or designing and scaling appropriate solutions is no small undertaking. Transforming today’s economy into a mission economy requires a broad range of actors from different sectors to work together as they take on different roles in the process (such as research, innovation, regulation, market access and skill development). This raises its own challenge, as interactions between these actors within the entrepreneurial ecosystem are often not well understood, especially in the context of SDGs.

The Learning Lab is an interactive, hands-on participatory workshop aimed at bringing together different stakeholders who are passionate about SDGs and entrepreneurial approaches to achieving them. Following the release of a report on the topic, participants will be able to test a framework for better understanding of SDGs-driven innovation ecosystems.

Objectives of this session:

  • Present framework – building on concepts related to entrepreneurial ecosystems, place-based innovation, and the mission-oriented economy – aimed at fostering breakthrough partnerships at a local level to drive progress in the SDGs
  • Explore the role of different actors within an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the functions that such a network needs to fulfill in order to reach the mission around which it was constructed
  • Use the framework provided to help visualise the network of actors and their interactions in order to accelerate progress or partnerships for the SDGs
  • Use a systems thinking approach to identify gaps or bottlenecks that limit impact of entrepreneurial activities aimed at achieving targets at a local/national level and SDGs at a global level
  • Design and test integrated policy and technology innovations across different areas (e.g., resource mobilisation, impact monitoring, technology assessment, behavioural change) that further stimulate the ecosystem to meet its mission

Facilitated by

Nadim Choucair

Nadim Choucair

Founder, 2030 Cabinet & Co-Founder, Global Goals Directory

Carolina Rojas

Carolina Rojas

Public Entrepreneurial Policy Liaison - Latin & Central America, IEEE Entrepreneurship Program Coordinator, Engineering for Change

Carolina Rojas is the Technical Focal Point & E4C Fellow at the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth, the UNMGCY Carolina is pursuing her B.Sc in Mechanical Engineering and works as a Fellowship Program Coordinator at Engineering for Change and Research & Administrative Assistant at the Fab Lab in Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá.

She has four years of experience working and volunteering in the global development sector and is currently involved in projects that aim to create bridges between people and manufacturing technologies to strengthen the capacity of vulnerable communities in Panama to develop local solutions to waste challenges by creating eco-products and green entrepreneurship initiatives. Her interests in the circular economy led her to co-found Re-inventa, an NGO led by young professionals who are working with local communities in Panama to promote citizen participation in the circular economy through local waste transformation efforts.

Carolina contributes to sustainable development efforts both through engineering and science policy, she serves as Technology Focal Point for the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth, and as Public Policy Liaison for IEEE Entrepreneurship. Her ultimate goal as a professional is to develop projects where access to appropriate technology is considered a catalyst for the socio-economic growth of local communities.

Donovan  Guttieres

Donovan Guttieres

KU Leuven & IEEE Entrepreneurship Steering Committee

PhD researcher & Global Public Entrepreneurial Policy Liaison

Donovan Guttieres is a PhD researcher within the Access-To-Medicines Research Centre within the Faculty of Business & Economics at KU Leuven (Belgium), working on systems-based approaches to promoting pandemic preparedness. Donovan has a master’s degree in technology and policy from the Institute for Data, Systems and Society (IDSS) at MIT. Before that, he received a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering from Boston University. Guttieres is a member of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations’ Young Engineers / Future Leaders and currently serves as Global Public Entrepreneurial Policy Liaison on the 2021 IEEE Entrepreneurship Steering Committee.

Gloria See

Gloria See

Edge Effects LLC

Founder

Jasmine Ong Jun Min

Jasmine Ong Jun Min

Public Entrepreneurial Policy Liaison – Asia & Pacific, IEEE Entrepreneurship Junior Consultant, Bureau of Policy and Programme Support, UNDP

Marios  Antoniou

Marios Antoniou

CYTA

Head Interconnection and Mobile Services National Wholesale Market

14:30
Global value chains for decarbonisation of the energy system

Energy

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Energy

Global value chains for decarbonisation of the energy system

17/01/2022, 14:30 - 16:00 GST (Dubai)

11:30 - 13:00 CET/WAT (Brussels, Nigeria)

12:30 - 14:00 SAST (Cape Town)

05:30 - 07:00 EST (New York)

19:30 - 21:00 KST (Seoul)

18:30 - 20:00 CST (Beijing)

16:00 - 17:30 IST (New Delhi)

07:30 - 09:00 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), energy generation is by far the world’s largest source of GHG emissions from human activities. About two thirds of global GHG emissions are linked to burning fossil fuels to generate energy for heating, electricity, transport and industry. Decarbonising the energy system means replacing fossil fuel sources (such as coal, oil/petroleum, and natural gas) with those that emit far less carbon dioxide (such as wind, geothermal, solar and hydro).

Industries and the transport sector are playing a major role in the energy transition by adopting new technologies, developing new value chains and replacing fossil fuel-based approaches with renewable and sustainable ones.

One such approach is power-to-X, in which various conversion, storage and reconversion pathways make use of surplus electric power from renewable sources. Power-to-X thereby offers a multitude of economic, environmental and societal benefits including reduced CO2 emissions and increased energy independence. Enabling energy storage through power-to-X approaches is crucial for achieving the objectives of energy system decarbonisation.

This session will bring together experts and practitioners from different fields, including industry stakeholders who are adopting these new technologies, building pilot demonstrations and setting up new value chains, along with policy makers responsible for determining regulations and R&D people who are at the forefront of making the relevant technologies available, at scale. In particular, these speakers will include leading players from Europe, which is at the forefront of these changes, and from the Middle East region, which is rich with solar energy and opportunities for implementing decarbonisation.

Facilitated by

Jan  Vaes

Jan Vaes

VITO

Program Manager Sustainable Chemistry

Presentation

Elvira  Lutter

Elvira Lutter

Austrian Federal Government

Program and Research Manager, Climate and Energy Fund

Presentation

Kjell  Wouters

Kjell Wouters

EXMAR

Project Development Manager

Presentation

Grant Strem

Grant Strem

Proton Technologies Canada

Chairman

Presentation

Tor Martin  Anfinnsen

Tor Martin Anfinnsen

Equinor

SVP New Value Chains

Presentation

Ludo Diels

Ludo Diels

Emeritus at Antwerp University, Chair of the Advisory and Programming Group of Processes4Planet

Panel discussion

16:30
Systems change made real: climate solutions to address global sustainable development

Climate

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Climate

Systems change made real: climate solutions to address global sustainable development

17/01/2022, 16:30 - 18:00 GST (Dubai)

13:30 - 15:00 CET/WAT (Brussels, Nigeria)

14:30 - 16:00 SAST (Cape Town)

07:30 - 09:00 EST (New York)

21:30 - 23:00 KST (Seoul)

20:30 - 22:00 CST (Beijing)

18:00 - 19:30 IST (New Delhi)

09:30 - 11:00 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

COP26 concluded with a clear statement that the 1.5 degrees scenario is still alive, but will only remain so if promises are kept and commitments translated into rapid action. Systematic approaches and transformations will be crucial for delivering solutions at the necessary speed and scale, while guaranteeing fairness in transition.

Spurred on by all that has been revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of what needs to be done has shifted heavily towards the intricately linked nature of societal challenges and the exponential combination of solutions needed to tackle them. Climate action discussions cannot be separated from those around other challenges, such as housing, healthcare, digitalisation, the future of work, redefining production and consumption, rethinking mobility and transport, and designing long term recovery strategies.

Turning ambitions into large-scale implementation means addressing the “missing middle”:

  • How can engagements and commitments be translated into viable, replicable and affordable solutions, while taking regional disparities into account?
  • What is the role of urban environments as centres of promise and hope, hubs of knowledge, culture, diversity and creativity? And as testing grounds for technology, innovation and change?
  • What are the transformative answers that shift the focus from a sector-based and problem-oriented approach to a need-based and solution-oriented journey and endeavour?
  • What does it take to go beyond silos and departmental thinking and deliver integrated, on-the-ground solutions?
  • How can we really improve quality of life, build resilience against future shocks, integrate nature-based solutions and indigenous knowledge, secure land value to help decarbonisation, design sustained funding for wicked problems, train and reskill people to deal with complexity, and rebuild communities to go beyond individualism and seemingly opposed agendas?
  • What is the story and narrative that builds on core human needs and involves all societal actors, and allows for deep change?

And, ultimately, how can all this be orchestrated?

This session will comprise of an open dialogue between world class innovation and sustainability experts who are able to connect systemic and often abstract challenges with on-the-ground experience, and who help design pathways to make the twenties a decade of delivery.

Facilitated by

Jorn Verbeeck

Jorn Verbeeck

KPMG

Senior Manager Sustainability/ESG

Panel discussion

Massamba Thioye

Massamba Thioye

UNFCCC Global Innovation Hub

Director

Indy Johar

Indy Johar

Dark Matter Labs

Executive Director

Meggan Spires

Meggan Spires

ICLEI Africa

Director Climate Change, Energy & Resilience

Abdullah Khair

Abdullah Khair

Student Energy

Strategic & Global Partnerships Manager

Syed  Munir Khasru

Syed Munir Khasru

The Institute for Policy and Governance (IPAG)

Chairman

Kirsten  Dunlop

Kirsten Dunlop

EIT Climate-KIC

CEO

Aromar Revi

Aromar Revi

Director, IPPC author, SDSN co-chair, IIHS

Sustainability Pavilion

18:45
Looking at climate change from different angles: surprising impacts and responses

Climate

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Climate

Looking at climate change from different angles: surprising impacts and responses

17/01/2022, 18:45 - 20:00 GST (Dubai)

15:45 - 17:00 CET/WAT (Brussels, Nigeria)

16:45 - 18:00 SAST (Cape Town)

09:45 - 11:00 EST (New York)

23:45 - 01:00 KST (Seoul)

22:45 - 00:00 CST (Beijing)

20:15 - 21:30 IST (New Delhi)

11:45 - 13:00 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Climate change impacts are often expressed in terms of rising sea levels, rising temperatures, flooding, shrinking glaciers and thawing permafrost. Less talked about, are the consequential impacts on people’s lives, such as damage to homes, higher insurance premiums, reduced food availability, reduced water quality and rises in allergies and other health problems.

In this session, speakers will examine how these challenges can be addressed from various angles, including governance, economic measures and financing.

The recent COP26 in Glasgow produced a series of commitments to mitigation and conservation efforts, including pledges to end deforestation and overseas financing of oil and gas projects, reduce methane emissions and a steel and aluminium trade agreement. However, fulfilling such pledges costs money. It is up to governments to implement policies which unlock access to the relevant climate finance. This session will also take learnings from COP26 into account, in the effort to accelerate utilisation of the technologies designed to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Facilitated by

Francesca  Vanthielen

Francesca Vanthielen

Moderator

Presentation

Zakia  Khattabi

H.E. Zakia Khattabi

Minister of Climate, Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal

Federal Government of Belgium

Presentation

Syed  Munir Khasru

Syed Munir Khasru

The Institute for Policy and Governance (IPAG)

Chairman

Presentation

Marcela  Main

Marcela Main

UNFCCC

Project manager-Resilience Frontiers

Presentation

Addressing climate change through a feminist lens

Kehkashan  Basu

Kehkashan Basu

Founder-President, Green Hope Foundation, UN Human Rights Champion

Kehkashan Basu is a Winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize for her work on children’s rights and the environment, and the first-ever Voices Youth Gorbachev-Shultz Legacy Award for her work on nuclear disarmament.

Kehkashan is the Founder President of the social innovation enterprise Green Hope Foundation, which provides over 225,000 young people in 25 countries a networking platform to engage in the sustainable development process and take actions to mitigate climate change. Her internationally acclaimed work on sustainability has resulted in her being named one of the Top 100 SDG Leaders in the world and one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.

She is the youngest member of Canada’s Women in Renewable Energy forum and the youngest Councillor of World Future Council. She has just been elected to the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, making her, at 20 years old, its youngest trustee in its 127-year history.

Presentation

Relationship between climate policy and waste & materials policy

Philip  Heylen

Philip Heylen

ISWA Ambassador & Chair of Sustainable Cities Initiative, UN HABITAT Advisor on Waste Wise Cities program, Honorary Vice Mayor City of Antwerp, Business Development Manager Ackermans & van Haaren

Keynote speech

Chad  Frishmann

Chad Frishmann

Drawdown

Senior Director Research and Technology

Panel discussion

20:00
Networking reception

Brazilian Pavilion

20:00
VIP dinner hosted by Fiocruz