COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE

Accelerating mitigation and adaptation

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Global mean surface temperature during the decade 2006-2015 was observed to be 0.87°C higher than the average over the 1850-1900 period. A reflection of the long-term warming trend since pre-industrial times.

Rising temperatures and sea levels, together with ocean acidification, is seriously affecting many coastal areas, which encompass many underdeveloped countries and small islands. More frequent occurrence and higher intensity of natural disasters is threatening the natural ecosystem. At the same time, humanity is facing risks to health, loss of property and compromised water and food security.

The climate sessions will explore climate change challenges and possibilities for accelerating both its mitigation and our adaptation to it. We will look into governance, economic measures and financing for implementing adaptation options that help achieve SDGs.

Conference programme

Climate

17 January 2022

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

Climate

×

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

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

Climate

×

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

19 January 2022

10:00
Climate adaptation technology: youth-led innovative approaches

Climate

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Climate

Climate adaptation technology: youth-led innovative approaches

19/01/2022, 10:00 - 11:15 GST (Dubai)

07:00 - 08:15 CET/WAT (Brussels, Nigeria)

08:00 - 09:15 SAST (Cape Town)

01:00 - 02:15 EST (New York)

15:00 - 16:15 KST (Seoul)

14:00 - 15:15 CST (Beijing)

11:30 - 12:45 IST (New Delhi)

03:00 - 04:15 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Today’s young people will have the longest to live with the consequences of current climate actions, in whatever way these impact the parts of the world they’re growing up in. Awareness of this is driving an increasing number of youngsters to take their own actions to avoid disaster, leading climate adaptation efforts in their communities and regions. As a result, young climate entrepreneurs have developed many innovative adaptation solutions to bring real and concrete change.

This session, which is co-organised by the UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee (TEC) and UNFCCC Youth Constituency (YOUNGO), will explore youth-led innovative approaches to adaptation technologies. As well as showcasing solutions they’ve come up with, and discussing lessons learnt and good practices in scaling these up, it will examine the role and importance of youth in driving all this forward, with regard for the factors which contribute to meaningful participation across various levels.

Facilitated by

Cathy Yitong Li

Cathy Yitong Li

Contact point on technology

YOUNGO

Opening remarks

Suil Kang

Suil Kang

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology

Chief Supervisor

Keynote speech

Saleemul Huq

Saleemul Huq (TBC)

International Centre for Climate Change and Development

Director

Panel discussion

Ifeoluwa  Olatayo

Ifeoluwa Olatayo (TBC)

Soupah Limited

Founder

Claudia Maria Laspirilla Pina

Claudia Maria Laspirilla Pina

Adaptation Fund Board Secretariat

Innovation facility

Nisreen Lahham

Nisreen Lahham

International Water Management Institute

Regional Project Manager

Daria Chekalskaia

Daria Chekalskaia

Climate Investment Fund

Intern for Youth Engagement Programme

Closing remarks

Stephen Minas

Stephen Minas

Technology Executive Committee

Chair

24 October 2021

16:00
CO2 capture and utilisation (CCU) in the Middle-East

Climate

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Climate

CO2 capture and utilisation (CCU) in the Middle-East

24/10/2021, 16:00 - 17:30 GST (Dubai)

14:00 - 15:30 CEST/SAST (Brussels, Cape Town)

13:00 - 14:30 WAT (Nigeria)

08:00 - 09:30 EDT (New York)

21:00 - 22:30 KST (Seoul)

20:00 - 21:30 CST (Beijing)

17:30 - 19:00 IST (New Delhi)

09:00 - 10:30 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Despite strong ties to the hydrocarbon sector, this region is increasingly committing to reducing its carbon footprint and introducing renewable and sustainable energy sources. Several large-scale enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects have been launched and other approaches involving CCU are gaining ground. Technology plays an important role, and synergies with Europe mean there are opportunities to collaborate. This session will showcase latest developments.

Chaired by

Deepak Pant

Deepak Pant

VITO

Senior Scientist

Presentation

CO2 sequestration through Mineral Carbonation: Current practice and future prospective

Muftah El-Naas

Muftah El-Naas

Qatar University

Director Gas Processing Center

Currently a professor at Qatar University’s Gas Processing Center, Muftah H. El-Naas has also served as the Center’s Director and Chair of QAFCO. His areas of expertise include CO2 capture, water purification, biotechnology, plasma technology and membrane separation. Most of his recent research work focusses on the development of new, environmentally friendly processes for the Oil and Gas industry.

Presentation

Towards efficient utilisation of Carbon Dioxide: the role of heterogeneous catalysis

Jorge  Gascon

Jorge Gascon

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Professor Chemical Engineering

Born in Huesca (Spain) in 1977, Jorge completed his master’s degree in chemistry in 2002 and his PhD cum laude in Chemical Engineering in 2006, both at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). He was post-doc (2006 to 2009), Assistant Professor (2010 to 2012), Associate Professor (2012 to 2014) and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Professor (2014 – 2017) of Catalysis Engineering at TUDelft (NL). Since 2017, he has been Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director at the KAUST Catalysis Center. Recently, he was appointed Lead of the KAUST Circular Carbon Initiative.

Gascon is a member of the board of the International Zeolite Association Commission on Metal Organic Frameworks. He has been the recipient of the prestigious VENI (2010), VIDI (2013) and ERC Starting (2013) personal grants and of the 2013 ExxonMobil Chemical European Science and Engineering Award. He is also a 2018 and 2019 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited researcher. Jorge’s group at KAUST aims to develop and deploy sustainable technologies for the production of chemicals, energy carriers and new environmental applications. Process intensification, feedstock efficiency and reduction of energy usage are their main objectives. With an H-Index of 81 and over 26,000 citations, he has published over 280 journal articles, 9 patents and several book chapters.

Presentation

CCU Matters: The importance of having abundant renewable energy for CCU solutions

Walter Eevers

Walter Eevers

VITO

Director of Research & Development

Walter Eevers is Director of Research & Development at VITO, Belgium. After obtaining his PhD in electrically conductive polymers from Antwerp University, he joined Nitto Europe where he was responsible for R&D and business development until becoming General Manager of Techno-Marketing. Walter became involved in global technology sourcing and marketing by setting up multiple collaborations with universities and research institutes.

In 2012, Eevers helped found Nitto Denko Europe Technical Centre in Lausanne as a company dedicated to research activities for medical devices. Eevers is also an external Expert and Vice Chair for the EU Commission, Conacyt (Mexico) and the Qatar Foundation for innovation programmes and projects. He is Vice-President of CO2 Value Europe, an industry association promoting and stimulating CCU.

Eevers is also Chairman of the Board of EnergyVille, the collaboration between KU Leuven, University of Hasselt, IMEC and VITO for sustainable energy research. In his current position, he has stimulated several spinoffs from VITO and held board positions in them. As a visiting professor at University of Antwerp for polymer chemistry, he is guiding research activities in the field of biobased polymer developments.

 

Presentation

CO2-capture using innovative solid adsorbents to facilitate industrial mineral carbonation

Dirk Vangeneugden

Dirk Vangeneugden

VITO

Business Development Manager

Dirk Vangeneugden is a project and business developer at VITO for sustainable materials and chemistry. He is strongly engaged in national and international R&D projects on chemical catalysis and sorption. Fields of expertise include 3D printing, surface engineering and coating, as well as CO2 capture and conversion. He is actively involved in technology transfers to industry and supporting spin-off initiatives.

Presentation

Andrew Torn

Andrew Torn (TBC)

Emirates Steel

Vice President & CTO

25 October 2021

11:15
Role of NDCs in concerted efforts to achieve climate goals

Climate Energy

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Climate Energy

Role of NDCs in concerted efforts to achieve climate goals

25/10/2021, 11:15 - 12:45 GST (Dubai)

09:15 - 10:45 CEST/SAST (Brussels, Cape Town)

08:15 - 09:45 WAT (Nigeria)

03:15 - 04:45 EDT (New York)

16:15 - 17:45 KST (Seoul)

15:15 - 16:45 CST (Beijing)

12:45 - 14:15 IST (New Delhi)

04:15 - 05:45 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of long-term climate goals. They embody each country’s efforts to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Agreement states that every country is to prepare, communicate and maintain its intended successive NDCs.

Together, these actions will determine whether the world achieves the Agreement’s aims, including reversing the rise of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as soon as possible and following through with rapid reduction. Goals which can be met by utilising the best-available science to achieve a balance between human-caused emissions and their removal in the second half of this century. It is understood that developing countries will take longer to peak their emissions and that reductions will be undertaken on an equitable basis. All must be done in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, which are critical priorities for many developing countries.

This session will explore the challenges related with using NDCs as a mechanism for achieving climate goals and associated SDGs. How can we create and establish innovative financial mechanisms for implementing them, together with building national and regional capacity? And how can we accelerate this? High-level keynote speakers will share latest insights, examples and best practices.

Chaired by

Francesca  Vanthielen

Francesca Vanthielen

Moderator

Keynote speech

Lazarus Chakwera

H.E. Lazarus Chakwera

Republic of Malawi

President

Lazarus Chakwera is a Malawian theologian and politician who has been President of Malawi since June 2020. In addition to the Presidency, he is also self-appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Defence. Mr Chakwera has been leader of the Malawi Congress Party since 2013, and was previously Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly following highly controversial elections held on 21 May 2019, which were overturned by the Constitutional Court. He was appointed chairman of SADC on 17 August at the SADC 41st Annual Summit held on 9 August to 19 august in Lilongwe, Malawi. He was President of the Malawi Assemblies of God from 1989 to 14 May 2013.

Presentation

Amani Abou-Zeid

H.E. Amani Abou-Zeid

African Union Commission

Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy

Amani Abou-Zeid is the newly elected Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the African Union Commission (AUC). She is in charge of sectors covering Energy, Transport, Tourism and ICT. Prior to joining the AUC, Abou-Zeid has served for more than 30 years in leadership roles at top-tier international organisations, such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), UNDP and USAID, with a focus on infrastructure and energy programmes.

Over her career, Abou-Zeid has amassed a rare mix of experience from across Africa, France, UK and Canada. She has managed large and complex development programmes, including the largest operations portfolio of the African Development Bank (AfDB). An Egyptian national, Abou-Zeid speaks French, English, Arabic and Spanish. She is a trained telecommunications engineer with an MBA in project management from the French University for African Development (Université Senghor), a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Social and Economic Development from University of Manchester, UK. She also has a degree in Arts from Université Sorbonne-Paris IV.

Abou-Zeid has received numerous international awards and recognition for her leadership and excellence, including the honour of “Officier de l’Ordre de Wissam Alaouite” from His Majesty King Mohamed VI of Morocco and being recognised as a World Young Leader by the European Union.

Presentation

Rashid Ali Abdallah

Rashid Ali Abdallah

Africa Energy Commission

Executive Director

Rashid Ali Abdallah has been executive director of the African Energy Commission (AFREC) since November 2018. He has more than 20 years of experience in energy, sustainable development and environmental policy at national, regional and continental level. Prior to joining AFREC, Abdallah served as the Head of the Energy Division within the African Union Commission’s Department of Infrastructure and Energy.

In his current role, Abdallah spearheads and leads the delivery of AFREC’s work programmes and strategy, in cooperation with the African Union Commission and African member states, based on continental, regional and national priorities.

A Sudanese national, Abdallah has bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering (from the University of Khartoum) and project management (from the University of Birmingham, UK) and a Post Graduate Diploma in energy engineering from Khartoum University.

Presentation

Youssef  Nassef

Youssef Nassef

UNFCCC

Director Adaptation

Presentation

Rose  Mwebaza

Rose Mwebaza

Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)

Director

Rose Mwebaza is the Director of the CTCN and brings 20 years’ experience providing policy advice on a wide range of climate change, environment and sustainable development issues. She has previously served as Chief Natural Resources Officer at the African Development Bank and held leadership positions within the UN Development Programme. Mwebaza was a Lecturer at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, for 10 years, serving as the Head of Department for Commercial Law and Deputy Dean of the Law School.

Mwebaza holds a PhD in environment and natural resource governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, a master’s degree in international comparative law (with a Certificate of Academic Excellence) from the University of Florida, U.S.A and a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B, Hons.) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Presentation

Leen Govaerts

Leen Govaerts

VITO

Unit Manager Smart Energy & Built Environment

Presentation

Eirik Wærness

Eirik Wærness

Equinor

Senior Vice President and Chief Economist

Senior Vice President and Chief Economist in Equinor, group responsible for macroeconomics and energy and commodity market analyses, and head of strategy in mid- and downstream.

Broad experience from government, academics and private sector companies, as advisor and in different leadership positions. In Equinor, leader of Corporate Strategy, Corporate Planning and Analysis, Economic Analysis in Upstream Norway, Energy Market Analysis in addition to current role.

Currently non-executive member of the Board of Innovation Norway, and member of the Global Commission to examine Geopolitics of Energy Transformation, set up by IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, as well as non-executive member of the Board of Centre for applied research at the Norwegian School of Economics.

July 2016 – February 2018 non-executive member of the Board of the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet).

From 2014 in different energy initiatives under World Economic Forum, including special advisor for their work on energy architecture and member of the global council on the future of energy.
In the period 2010-2013 member of the Executive Board of the Central Bank of Norway.

Previous work experience from the Centre for applied research at the Norwegian School of Economics, Norwegian Ministry of Finance, Total E&P Norway, and Pöyry Management Consulting/Econ Centre for economic analysis.

Presentation

Hicham Bouzekri

Hicham Bouzekri

Development and Industry Integration, MASEN

Director of Research

Hisham Bouzekri obtained his engineer diploma in electronics and communications from L’École Mohammadia d’Ingénieurs in 1995. After two years working as a microelectronics industrial process engineer for SGS-Thomson in Casablanca, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 1997 to join the Master of Science program at the University of Florida, from which he graduated in 1998. He went on to get a PhD in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University in 2002. After graduating, Bouzekri was among the pioneers who established STMicroelectronics’ Rabat Integrated Circuit Design Center, a first in Africa.

Hisham Bouzekri held several management positions within STMicroelectronics and ST-Ericsson while concurrently holding an adjunct faculty position at Al Akhawayn University. Over the span of his 24 years of experience, he has co-authored a number of scientific publications and industry standards in wireless communications, and was elected an IEEE senior member.

In 2013, Bouzekri joined Mascir management team, a Moroccan not-for-profit foundation conducting market-oriented R&D in microelectronics, biotechnology & nano-materials. He served as its Chief Executive Officer until 2016.

Between 2017 and 2019, Bouzekri consulted with multiple national and international organisations, including the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) and the United Nations – ESCWA, on establishing innovation and knowledge economy ecosystems. He currently serves as MASEN’s Director of R&D and Industrial Integration.

Closing remarks

14:00
Solutions to overcome data scarcity for NDC’s

Climate Energy

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Climate Energy

Solutions to overcome data scarcity for NDC’s

25/10/2021, 14:00 - 15:30 GST (Dubai)

12:00 - 13:30 CEST/SAST (Brussels, Cape Town)

11:00 - 12:30 WAT (Nigeria)

06:00 - 07:30 EDT (New York)

19:00 - 20:30 KST (Seoul)

18:00 - 19:30 CST (Beijing)

15:30 - 17:00 IST (New Delhi)

07:00 - 08:30 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

While NDCs embody countries’ efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change, mitigating it by reducing GHG emissions remains a critical part of many policies (and SDG13). Verifiable data is crucial for determining efficient strategies and is pivotal for updating NDCs, as well as monitoring and reporting on implementation and progress. However, it is not available in many areas. This session will zoom in on solutions for overcoming data scarcity and focus on capacity building needs.

Presentation

Youssef  Nassef

Youssef Nassef

UNFCCC

Director Adaptation

Presentation

Rashid Ali Abdallah

Rashid Ali Abdallah

Africa Energy Commission

Executive Director

Rashid Ali Abdallah has been executive director of the African Energy Commission (AFREC) since November 2018. He has more than 20 years of experience in energy, sustainable development and environmental policy at national, regional and continental level. Prior to joining AFREC, Abdallah served as the Head of the Energy Division within the African Union Commission’s Department of Infrastructure and Energy.

In his current role, Abdallah spearheads and leads the delivery of AFREC’s work programmes and strategy, in cooperation with the African Union Commission and African member states, based on continental, regional and national priorities.

A Sudanese national, Abdallah has bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering (from the University of Khartoum) and project management (from the University of Birmingham, UK) and a Post Graduate Diploma in energy engineering from Khartoum University.

Presentation

Filip Lefebre

Filip Lefebre

VITO

Urban Climate Service Manager

Filip Lefebre is a business developer and project manager in VITO’s Environmental Modelling business unit’s Climate Service team. This team delivers innovative, sustainable and scientifically sound products and services to better manage, predict and control our shared natural resources (air, water, land, soil, eco-systems), based on computer modelling and information technology. It specialises in the processing of past, present and future climate data into information and services suitable for use by customer-oriented organisations. The Climate Service Team’s expertise covers urban climate services as well as climate health, biodiversity and agriculture services.

Filip has a PhD in physics of regional climate modelling of the Greenland ice sheet (2001) from the Catholic University of Louvain.

Presentation

Cassius Chiwambo

Cassius Chiwambo

Government of Malawi

Director Ministry of Energy

Cassius Chiwambo is a Director at Ministry of Energy in Malawi. He has vast experience in Petroleum and Minerals. Cassius has both Technical as well as Legal skills having done Masters of Mining at Curtin University in Western Australia, Energy and Mineral Law and Policy at Dundee University in Scotland. He is a final year PhD Student pursuing Energy and Petroleum Law at the same institution.

He worked as an Acting Commissioner of Petroleum in Malawi from 2016 to June, 2020 before before appointed as a Director of Energy in July, 2020.

Cassius Chiwambo is the brain behind Malawi’s Upstream Petroleum Sector, having promoted the exploration of actual fuels and also Renewable Sources of Energy from Geothermal and others.

He is currently championing the realization of 1000 MW to the National Grid in 4 years (From 2021 to 2024), which is an Industrial-Economical vision made by His Excellency Dr. Lazarus Mac Cathy Chakwera, the State President of Malawi and supported by Malawi’s National Planing Commission (NPC) and the Agenda 2063 on Universal Access to Electricity.

Panel discussion

Debate

Youssef  Nassef

Youssef Nassef

UNFCCC

Director Adaptation

Rashid Ali Abdallah

Rashid Ali Abdallah

Africa Energy Commission

Executive Director

Rashid Ali Abdallah has been executive director of the African Energy Commission (AFREC) since November 2018. He has more than 20 years of experience in energy, sustainable development and environmental policy at national, regional and continental level. Prior to joining AFREC, Abdallah served as the Head of the Energy Division within the African Union Commission’s Department of Infrastructure and Energy.

In his current role, Abdallah spearheads and leads the delivery of AFREC’s work programmes and strategy, in cooperation with the African Union Commission and African member states, based on continental, regional and national priorities.

A Sudanese national, Abdallah has bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering (from the University of Khartoum) and project management (from the University of Birmingham, UK) and a Post Graduate Diploma in energy engineering from Khartoum University.

Filip Lefebre

Filip Lefebre

VITO

Urban Climate Service Manager

Filip Lefebre is a business developer and project manager in VITO’s Environmental Modelling business unit’s Climate Service team. This team delivers innovative, sustainable and scientifically sound products and services to better manage, predict and control our shared natural resources (air, water, land, soil, eco-systems), based on computer modelling and information technology. It specialises in the processing of past, present and future climate data into information and services suitable for use by customer-oriented organisations. The Climate Service Team’s expertise covers urban climate services as well as climate health, biodiversity and agriculture services.

Filip has a PhD in physics of regional climate modelling of the Greenland ice sheet (2001) from the Catholic University of Louvain.

Cassius Chiwambo

Cassius Chiwambo

Government of Malawi

Director Ministry of Energy

Cassius Chiwambo is a Director at Ministry of Energy in Malawi. He has vast experience in Petroleum and Minerals. Cassius has both Technical as well as Legal skills having done Masters of Mining at Curtin University in Western Australia, Energy and Mineral Law and Policy at Dundee University in Scotland. He is a final year PhD Student pursuing Energy and Petroleum Law at the same institution.

He worked as an Acting Commissioner of Petroleum in Malawi from 2016 to June, 2020 before before appointed as a Director of Energy in July, 2020.

Cassius Chiwambo is the brain behind Malawi’s Upstream Petroleum Sector, having promoted the exploration of actual fuels and also Renewable Sources of Energy from Geothermal and others.

He is currently championing the realization of 1000 MW to the National Grid in 4 years (From 2021 to 2024), which is an Industrial-Economical vision made by His Excellency Dr. Lazarus Mac Cathy Chakwera, the State President of Malawi and supported by Malawi’s National Planing Commission (NPC) and the Agenda 2063 on Universal Access to Electricity.

15:45
Enablers and hurdles for accelerating NDC implementation

Climate Energy

×

Climate Energy

Enablers and hurdles for accelerating NDC implementation

25/10/2021, 15:45 - 17:15 GST (Dubai)

13:45 - 15:15 CEST/SAST (Brussels, Cape Town)

12:45 - 14:15 WAT (Nigeria)

07:45 - 09:15 EDT (New York)

20:45 - 22:15 KST (Seoul)

19:45 - 21:15 CST (Beijing)

17:15 - 18:45 IST (New Delhi)

08:45 - 10:15 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the attainment of long-term climate goals. They embody each country’s efforts to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Together, these actions will determine whether the world achieves the Agreement’s aims, including reversing the rise of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as soon as possible and following through with rapid reduction.

This session will explore the challenges related to using NDCs as a mechanism for achieving climate goals and associated SDGs. As a starting point, we need to identify the hurdles and enablers for implementing them, while building national and regional capacity. The UNFCC Technical Committee’s background paper on Mapping Barriers and Enabling Environments in Technology Needs Assessments, Nationally Determined Contributions, and Technical Assistance of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (published September 2018) summarises a detailed analysis which will form this session’s basis for discussion.

Chaired by

Rose  Mwebaza

Rose Mwebaza

Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)

Director

Rose Mwebaza is the Director of the CTCN and brings 20 years’ experience providing policy advice on a wide range of climate change, environment and sustainable development issues. She has previously served as Chief Natural Resources Officer at the African Development Bank and held leadership positions within the UN Development Programme. Mwebaza was a Lecturer at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, for 10 years, serving as the Head of Department for Commercial Law and Deputy Dean of the Law School.

Mwebaza holds a PhD in environment and natural resource governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, a master’s degree in international comparative law (with a Certificate of Academic Excellence) from the University of Florida, U.S.A and a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B, Hons.) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Introductory video: the vision of G-STIC

Opening remarks

Rose  Mwebaza

Rose Mwebaza

Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)

Director

Rose Mwebaza is the Director of the CTCN and brings 20 years’ experience providing policy advice on a wide range of climate change, environment and sustainable development issues. She has previously served as Chief Natural Resources Officer at the African Development Bank and held leadership positions within the UN Development Programme. Mwebaza was a Lecturer at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, for 10 years, serving as the Head of Department for Commercial Law and Deputy Dean of the Law School.

Mwebaza holds a PhD in environment and natural resource governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, a master’s degree in international comparative law (with a Certificate of Academic Excellence) from the University of Florida, U.S.A and a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B, Hons.) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Keynote speech

Jairam  Ramesh

H.E. Jairam Ramesh

Former India Minister of Environment

Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)

Jairam Ramesh is a well-known economist, government official and senior pioneer of the Indian National Congress. He is a member of parliament representing Andhra Pradesh state, a position he has held since June 2004.

In 2011, Jairam Ramesh was elevated to the Union Council of Ministers of India and appointed Minister of Rural Development and Minister of the new Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Between May 2009 and July 2011, he was Minister of State at the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Ramesh has been a columnist for The Business Standard, Business Today, The Telegraph, The Times and India Today, and has also anchored a number of popular television programmes on business and the economy. In addition, Jairam Ramesh is the author of the books: “Making Sense of Chindia: Reflections on China and India” (2005), “Mobilising Technology for World Development” (Co-editor, 1979), “To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story” (2015) and “Old History, New Geography” (2016).

Presentation

Insights on the implementation of NDCs in Malawi

Cassius Chiwambo

Cassius Chiwambo

Government of Malawi

Director Department of Energy

Cassius Chiwambo is a Director at Ministry of Energy in Malawi. He has vast experience in Petroleum and Minerals. Cassius has both Technical as well as Legal skills having done Masters of Mining at Curtin University in Western Australia, Energy and Mineral Law and Policy at Dundee University in Scotland. He a final year PhD Student pursuing Energy and Petroleum Law at the same institution. He worked as an Acting Commissioner of Petroleum in Malawi from 2016 to June, 2020 before before appointed as a Director of Energy in July, 2020.

Cassius Chiwambo is the brain behind Malawi’s Upstream Petroleum Sector, having promoted the exploration of actual fuels and also Renewable Sources of Energy from Geothermal and others. He is currently championing the realization of 1000 MW to the National Grid in 4 years (From 2021 to 2024), which is an Industrial-Economical vision made by His Excellency Dr. Lazarus Mac Cathy Chakwera, the State President of Malawi and supported by Malawi’s National Planing Commission (NPC) and the Agenda 2063 on Universal Access to Electricity.

Presentation

Designing a funding framework for the impacts of slow-onset climate change – Insights from recent coastal retreat experiences

Swenja Surminski

Swenja Surminski

Climate Change & the Environment

Deputy Director

Swenja Surminski is Deputy Director and Head of Adaptation Research at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, which is part of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Here, she oversees social science research projects on climate adaptation, climate change Loss and Damage and disaster risk finance, with a geographic scope ranging from the UK to developing countries.

Swenja’s research investigates climate risk management and resilience strategies. It focusses on public policies, financial instruments and individual behaviour through a mix of inter-disciplinary approaches, integrating concepts from geography, climate science, economics and governance studies.

Prior to joining LSE in 2010, Swenja spent more than ten years in the insurance industry working on climate and risks management, holding roles at companies such as Munich Re, Marsh Mc Lennon and the Association of British Insurers. Swenja was a Fulbright Scholar in the US, studying Ecological Economics and International Relations at the University of New Hampshire. She received a PhD in political science from Hamburg University for her work on ‘Climate Change and the Insurance Industry’ in 2002.

Presentation

Blue-green measures for climate adaptation

Griet  Verstraeten

Griet Verstraeten

Department of Environment

Policy Officer Climate Adaptation

Griet Verstraeten works as a policy advisor on climate change adaptation in the Flemish Government Department of Environment and Spatial Development. She is also the lead expert for Belgium on the European Adaptation Strategy.

In her role as policy advisor, Griet coordinates the work on local policy for Flanders carried out by the Flemish Task Force on Climate Change Adaptation and representatives from other Flemish Government departments (including agriculture and fisheries, mobility and infrastructure, economy and innovation, health, nature and forestry, environment, water, spatial planning). She is responsible for the development and implementation of the Flemish Plan on Climate Change Adaptation and for the communication, knowledge exchange and awareness-raising associated with it.

Griet has a master’s degree in bioscience engineering (land and forest management) from KU Leuven, a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Antwerp and over 20 years’ experience in spatial planning, environmental policy, sustainable development and international cooperation. Verstraeten is an expert in international and European policies on climate change adaptation, with specific expertise on the implementation of nature-based solutions.

Griet Verstraeten represents the Flemish Government in the Belgian national working group on climate change adaptation (under the national climate commission) and is an active member of Working Group VI, the network on climate change adaptation under DG Climate.

Presentation

Innovative financing as a catalyst for climate technology transfer

Rywon Yang

Rywon Yang

Green Technology Center

Senior Researcher

Rywon Yang is a senior researcher in the Climate Technology Cooperation Division of the Green Technology Center—Korea. She has two main areas of research. One is linkages between technology and finance in climate change. The other is legal and regulatory aspects of climate technology transfer in developing countries.

Rywon Yang has developed GCF projects (concept notes, readiness proposals) and implemented CTCN technical assistance projects on both adaptation and mitigation technologies for countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and Kenya. Previous to this, she worked for the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Justice as a legal specialist. She participated in UNFCCC negotiations as a member of the Korean delegation, and examined the legal implications of negotiation texts for documents such as the Paris Agreement.

Rywon has also led several legal technical assistance projects for revising legal and institutional frameworks, as well as organised capacity building trainings for legal professionals from developing countries, namely Laos, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea. She earned her master’s in law from University Pantheon-Sorbonne Paris I in France.

Presentation

Key findings of the deep dive session on data scarcity

Leen Govaerts

Leen Govaerts

VITO

Unit Manager Smart Energy & Built Environment

Q&A and panel discussion

Cassius Chiwambo

Cassius Chiwambo

Government of Malawi

Director Department of Energy

Cassius Chiwambo is a Director at Ministry of Energy in Malawi. He has vast experience in Petroleum and Minerals. Cassius has both Technical as well as Legal skills having done Masters of Mining at Curtin University in Western Australia, Energy and Mineral Law and Policy at Dundee University in Scotland. He a final year PhD Student pursuing Energy and Petroleum Law at the same institution. He worked as an Acting Commissioner of Petroleum in Malawi from 2016 to June, 2020 before before appointed as a Director of Energy in July, 2020.

Cassius Chiwambo is the brain behind Malawi’s Upstream Petroleum Sector, having promoted the exploration of actual fuels and also Renewable Sources of Energy from Geothermal and others. He is currently championing the realization of 1000 MW to the National Grid in 4 years (From 2021 to 2024), which is an Industrial-Economical vision made by His Excellency Dr. Lazarus Mac Cathy Chakwera, the State President of Malawi and supported by Malawi’s National Planing Commission (NPC) and the Agenda 2063 on Universal Access to Electricity.

Griet  Verstraeten

Griet Verstraeten

Department of Environment

Policy Officer Climate Adaptation

Griet Verstraeten works as a policy advisor on climate change adaptation in the Flemish Government Department of Environment and Spatial Development. She is also the lead expert for Belgium on the European Adaptation Strategy.

In her role as policy advisor, Griet coordinates the work on local policy for Flanders carried out by the Flemish Task Force on Climate Change Adaptation and representatives from other Flemish Government departments (including agriculture and fisheries, mobility and infrastructure, economy and innovation, health, nature and forestry, environment, water, spatial planning). She is responsible for the development and implementation of the Flemish Plan on Climate Change Adaptation and for the communication, knowledge exchange and awareness-raising associated with it.

Griet has a master’s degree in bioscience engineering (land and forest management) from KU Leuven, a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Antwerp and over 20 years’ experience in spatial planning, environmental policy, sustainable development and international cooperation. Verstraeten is an expert in international and European policies on climate change adaptation, with specific expertise on the implementation of nature-based solutions.

Griet Verstraeten represents the Flemish Government in the Belgian national working group on climate change adaptation (under the national climate commission) and is an active member of Working Group VI, the network on climate change adaptation under DG Climate.

Leen Govaerts

Leen Govaerts

VITO

Unit Manager Smart Energy & Built Environment

Closing remarks

Rose  Mwebaza

Rose Mwebaza

Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)

Director

Rose Mwebaza is the Director of the CTCN and brings 20 years’ experience providing policy advice on a wide range of climate change, environment and sustainable development issues. She has previously served as Chief Natural Resources Officer at the African Development Bank and held leadership positions within the UN Development Programme. Mwebaza was a Lecturer at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, for 10 years, serving as the Head of Department for Commercial Law and Deputy Dean of the Law School.

Mwebaza holds a PhD in environment and natural resource governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, a master’s degree in international comparative law (with a Certificate of Academic Excellence) from the University of Florida, U.S.A and a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B, Hons.) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

26 October 2021

11:30
Ensuring a climate resilient recovery after COVID-19 (hosted by CTCN)

Climate

×

Climate

Ensuring a climate resilient recovery after COVID-19 (hosted by CTCN)

26/10/2021, 11:30 - 13:00 GST (Dubai)

09:30 - 11:00 CEST/SAST (Brussels, Cape Town)

08:30 - 10:00 WAT (Nigeria)

03:30 - 05:00 EDT (New York)

16:30 - 18:00 KST (Seoul)

15:30 - 17:00 CST (Beijing)

13:00 - 14:30 IST (New Delhi)

04:30 - 06:00 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

The transition to clean energy presents countries with a range of challenges. This session will look at case studies and discuss a wide range of issues concerning decarbonisation plans and roadmaps, as well as integrating circularity into supply chains. It will also explore new and innovative business models and nature-based solutions. Questions will be raised about the considerations which have to be taken into account when investing in and implementing climate resilience actions. Answers will be sought for how climate resilience be strengthened and incorporated into countries’ planning.

Welcome

Rose  Mwebaza

Rose Mwebaza

Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)

Director

Rose Mwebaza is the Director of the CTCN and brings 20 years’ experience providing policy advice on a wide range of climate change, environment and sustainable development issues. She has previously served as Chief Natural Resources Officer at the African Development Bank and held leadership positions within the UN Development Programme. Mwebaza was a Lecturer at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, for 10 years, serving as the Head of Department for Commercial Law and Deputy Dean of the Law School.

Mwebaza holds a PhD in environment and natural resource governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, a master’s degree in international comparative law (with a Certificate of Academic Excellence) from the University of Florida, U.S.A and a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B, Hons.) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Introduction: the CTCN report

Sergio La Motta

Sergio La Motta

Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)

Advisory Board

Sergio La Motta is a member of the Advisory Board of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN). He is also the Italian representative in the steering committee of Low Carbon Societies Research Network (LCS-RNet) and a member of the Italian National Competent Authority for the implementation of the Emission Trading System (ETS).

Sergio has a degree in physics from the University of Pisa. He began his professional career in the photovoltaic laboratory at ENEA and has been a member of the Italian negotiation team for climate issues since 1997.

Presentation

Developing a circular economy at local level in Costa Rica

Leida Mercado

Leida Mercado

CATIE

Leader Development Economy and Environment Research Program

Since 2013, Leida Mercado has held the position of Professor at the Tropical Agricultural and Higher Education Center (CATIE), as well as senior researcher for the Environment for Development Initiative (EfD). Leida has more than 20 years of experience providing policy advice on issues related to sustainable development, climate change, and the use of economics to improve environmental performance.

Prior to working at CATIE, Mercado worked for 12 years as an environmental economics adviser at the United Nations Development Program and as environmental officer in the Venezuelan Ministry of the Environment. She has provided consultancy work for FAO, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Mercado has published various articles in high impact scientific journals, as well as technical reports and policy briefs aimed at conveying scientific data to support policymaking. Since 2018, she has been working on issues related to the circular economy.

Mercado holds a PhD in Environment and Economics and a Master’s degree in International Agriculture from Cornell University, NY, U.S.A; as well as an engineering degree in Agriculture from the Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.

Presentation

Developing a national policy for deploying and scaling up e-mobility in Ghana

Subash Dhar

Subash Dhar

UNEP DTU Partnership

Senior Economist

Subash is a Senior Economist at UNEP DTU Partnership and a Senior Fellow at the Global Centre for Environment and Energy, Ahmedabad University. He is a Lead Author for the Transport Chapter in the ongoing sixth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and was a contributing author for the fifth assessment of the IPCC. His research interests include sustainable urban transport, low carbon development in developing countries, technology transfer and climate change and he has published a number of peer-reviewed papers on these topics.

He has extensive experience in implementing projects and proposal development. He was the project manager for the BMU funded Promoting Low Carbon Transport project in India and has been the Regional Coordinator for Asia within the Technology Needs Assessment project. He has experience of working with most countries within Asia Pacific region. He has been involved in promoting electric mobility in Asian cities as a means for reducing air pollution, improving access and reducing CO2 emissions.

He has authored a number of guidebooks/toolkits for capacity building in the area of technology transfer and low carbon transport including the UN Environment toolkit for Low Carbon Mobility Planning for cities. He has also helped the Government of India in revising their ‘Comprehensive Mobility Plan – A toolkit’ for the Indian cities. Subash holds a doctoral degree from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Presentation

Ecosystem-based adaptation and Power to Gas roadmap in Laos

Khampasong Khamvene

Khampasong Khamvene

MONRE

Technical Officer Department of Climate Change

He is Technical Officer, Department of Climate Change, MONRE. He is responsible for assisting in the field of climate change adaptation and climate vulnerability assessment. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is the National Designated Entity for Laos.

Q&A

Panel discussion

Panel debate: role of climate technology in ensuring climate resilient recovery from COVID-19

Diala Hawila

Diala Hawila

International Renewable Energy Agency

Programme Officer

Diala has worked on various topics related to policy assessment, such as the study on renewable energy auctions “Analysing 2016 and Renewable Energy Auctions: A Guide to Design”, as well as socio-economic impacts of renewable energy via projects such as “Renewable Energy Benefits: Leveraging Local Capacity of solar PV and onshore wind”. Diala is one of the authors of IRENA’s regional market analysis on Southeast Asia. She obtained her master’s degree in engineering systems and management, focusing on sustainability and renewable energy, from the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi. Prior to that, she was a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, providing advisory services to government entities in fields such as energy and waste management.

Maija Bertule

Maija Bertule

UNEP-DHI Centre on Water & Environment

Senior Technical Advisor

Originally from Latvia, Maija is now based in Denmark and has been part of the UNEP-DHI Centre team for more than 6 years. She has a degree in international development and environmental planning. Her work over recent years has focused on supporting global monitoring and reporting of SDG 6, climate change adaptation, green infrastructure and strategic science, and indicator use for improved water management. Maija is part of the core team at the UNEP-DHI Centre, as well as the SDG indicator 6.5.1 team in UNEP, supporting countries in their reporting on integrated water resources management implementation.

Matthew  Kennedy

Matthew Kennedy

CTCN

Advisory Board Member

Matthew has 20 years of experience in the fields of sustainable energy, development, climate change mitigation & adaptation, climate finance, mobility, innovation management and natural resource management. He’s currently leading Arup’s climate, carbon services and sustainability workstreams across Europe. This includes delivering carbon, environment and climate initiatives within infrastructure, buildings and cities, and shaping Arup’s decarbonisation roadmap aligned to a science-based target approach.

Kennedy has engaged with the private sector on sustainable energy, transport and climate mitigation. He has also applied knowledge of climate financing architecture and mainstreaming climate resilience to multiple development sectors, and delivered technology needs assessments and market transformation measures in LDCs across Africa, South East Asia and the Middle East. He has collaborative experience of international finance organisations, development agencies, scientific and technical bodies, private sector entities, developing country counterparts, and civil society organisations.

Closing

Frans Snijkers

Frans Snijkers

VITO

Programme Director G-STIC

Frans Snijkers, Director of Cleantech Flanders and Programme Director of G-STIC, holds a bachelor’s degree in sciences from Hasselt University and a master’s degree in sciences (chemistry), from the Catholic University of Leuven.

Frans Snijkers previously worked at Philips (now Philips Electronics nv.) for 14 years. He began his career as a scientific collaborator in research on thermionic cathodes, cathode ray tubes and innovative display technologies at the Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. This was followed by a 9-year period as a project manager in product and process development at Philips Display Components in Eindhoven.

After 14 years in industrial R&D, Snijkers became a researcher/project leader and later team leader of the Ceramic Materials and Powder Metallurgy team at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO).

In addition to project acquisition, he has played an active part in several international (mainly European) projects and projects for Flemish companies. He has organised and co-organised conferences, supervised jointly doctoral projects and is the author or co-author of about 100 scientific papers published in international journals and about a dozen patents.

Frans Snijkers represents VITO on the Board of Directors of VLOOT, the Flemish umbrella organisation for technology providers.

14:00
Flemish ports as a breeding ground for low CO2 emission technologies

Climate Energy

×

Climate Energy

Flemish ports as a breeding ground for low CO2 emission technologies

26/10/2021, 14:00 - 15:30 GST (Dubai)

12:00 - 13:30 CEST/SAST (Brussels, Cape Town)

11:00 - 12:30 WAT (Nigeria)

06:00 - 07:30 EDT (New York)

19:00 - 20:30 KST (Seoul)

18:00 - 19:30 CST (Beijing)

15:30 - 17:00 IST (New Delhi)

07:00 - 08:30 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Seaports are not only transhipment hubs for goods. They are also energy hubs which play both a direct role in reducing CO2 emissions and an indirect one by capturing CO2 from the industrial players based in them and using it as raw material for other industries. Alongside this, the vehicles and vessels which operate in ports are becoming greener, which is significantly contributing to CO2 emission reduction. Ports thereby play a pioneering role in acting as a catalyst for stimulating the companies that use them to make their own ecosystems greener.

Chaired by

Walter Eevers

Walter Eevers

VITO

Director of Research & Development

Walter Eevers is Director of Research & Development at VITO, Belgium. After obtaining his PhD in electrically conductive polymers from Antwerp University, he joined Nitto Europe where he was responsible for R&D and business development until becoming General Manager of Techno-Marketing. Walter became involved in global technology sourcing and marketing by setting up multiple collaborations with universities and research institutes.

In 2012, Eevers helped found Nitto Denko Europe Technical Centre in Lausanne as a company dedicated to research activities for medical devices. Eevers is also an external Expert and Vice Chair for the EU Commission, Conacyt (Mexico) and the Qatar Foundation for innovation programmes and projects. He is Vice-President of CO2 Value Europe, an industry association promoting and stimulating CCU.

Eevers is also Chairman of the Board of EnergyVille, the collaboration between KU Leuven, University of Hasselt, IMEC and VITO for sustainable energy research. In his current position, he has stimulated several spinoffs from VITO and held board positions in them. As a visiting professor at University of Antwerp for polymer chemistry, he is guiding research activities in the field of biobased polymer developments.

 

Introduction

Annick  De Ridder

Annick De Ridder

Port of Antwerp

Chairman of the board of directors

Presentation

Luc  Arnouts

Luc Arnouts

Port of Antwerp

Director International Relations & Networks

Since obtaining his master’s degrees in law from the University of Antwerp and in general management from the University of Ghent, Luc Arnouts has continually been active in the port and logistics sector. His career and gaining of operational experience in stevedoring, warehousing and ocean freight forwarding began at the logistics company Group Katoennatie. From there, he moved to SGS-Group Belgium, where he was General Manager of SGS-Van Bree, a member of the Central Management Committee and the Strategic Committee, and in charge of SGS’s logistics and port handling business in Belgium. In 2000, Arnouts joined the leading European airport handling company Aviapartner as VP of Cargo Handling Europe and a member of its Central Board.

In 2007, Luc Arnouts moved to the Antwerp Port Authority as its Chief Commercial Officer. Since 2017, he has been its Director of International Relations and Networks. And as Vice President, he is a member of the Management Board. Alongside these roles, Arnouts is also a member of the board of directors of Port of Antwerp International (a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp focussed on international consultancy, port management and participations in overseas port projects), a member of the board of directors of APEC (the Port of Antwerp’s training subsidiary), and president of the board of directors of RTC, an inland rail terminal.

Presentation

North-CCU-Hub: carbon capture and utilisation as part of the strategy for achieving climate neutrality in the North Sea Port

Simon De Corte

Simon De Corte

Ghent University

Kickstart manager for materials valorisation

Simon De Corte has a PhD in environmental engineering from Ghent University, where he is currently its technology transfer advisor. He has been involved in the organisation of several regional, national and European innovation initiatives and communities related to circular economy. Bringing together research, industry and policy has always been at the core of his activities.

Alongside his job at Ghent University, Simon is currently a programme manager at North-CCU-Hub, a joint initiative of industry, governmental actors and knowledge institutes in the North Sea Port area (ranging from Ghent in Belgium to Terneuzen and Vlissingen in The Netherlands) that’s developing a roadmap for carbon capture & utilisation (CCU) in the region. Both commercial and innovative technologies are being deployed in project initiatives.

North-C-Methanol is a first demonstration project that aims to produce 45,000 tonnes of green methanol per year, based on green hydrogen. Production of fuels, proteins and construction materials based on CCU are also currently being investigated. Simon is involved at both strategic and operational level.

Presentation

Carbon capture and storage: the role of the port in development of a CO2 storage hub

Mark Tandy

Mark Tandy

TOTALEnergies

Senior Business Developer

Mark Tandy is a business development manager in the Carbon Capture and Storage team at TotalEnergies. Having worked in the energy sector since obtaining his MBA from the Saïd Business School at Oxford University, he has held a number of senior commercial management and director level positions, and worked on projects all over the world. This experience has given him a deep understanding of the practical application of business models and joint venture management.

In addition to applying his transactional expertise, Mark has worked closely with regulators, policy makers and government, most recently as an active participant in the UK government’s consultation on CCS and low-carbon hydrogen business models. In his current role at TotalEnergies, to which he applies over 15 years of experience in CCS, Mark is responsible for new business and partnerships in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

TotalEnergies itself has been active since the late 1990s in the development of carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCUS) to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, 10% of the company’s R&D budget is allocated to relevant technologies. It also supports the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which manages an investment fund of over $1 billion for clean technologies, including CCUS. Alongside its flagship project in Norway, Northern Lights, the company is maturing a number of other CCS projects in Europe and other parts of the world.

Presentation

Hydrogen in the power sector and its role in climate neutrality

Jan  Mertens

Jan Mertens

ENGIE

Chief Science Officer

Jan Mertens is ENGIE’s Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), responsible for co-building ENGIE’s long-term vision on technologies, identifying key international research players in selected emerging technologies and initiating partnerships.

His research activities cover topics related to life cycle assessment, emissions monitoring, carbon capture, carbon use and water footprinting, and he is the author of over 50 international peer-reviewed publications.

Since 2019, Jan has also been Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, working in the domain of sustainable electricity generation.

Presentation

Kathy Van Damme

Kathy Van Damme

Port of Ostend

Board member

Kathy Van Damme is a board member of the Port of Ostend. With a strong background in the energy sector’s environmental and regulatory aspects, she has worked in this field for more than 15 years. Her broad scope of experience, all focused on ports and industry, includes technological developments for energy storage, energy transition, macro-economic consequences of climate change and investments in energy. Kathy Van Damme has also been a policy advisor on energy and environment at Fedustria and the European Panel Federation, and a manager at several energy companies in Flanders.

Panel discussion

Debate

Luc  Arnouts

Luc Arnouts

Port of Antwerp

Director International Relations & Networks

Since obtaining his master’s degrees in law from the University of Antwerp and in general management from the University of Ghent, Luc Arnouts has continually been active in the port and logistics sector. His career and gaining of operational experience in stevedoring, warehousing and ocean freight forwarding began at the logistics company Group Katoennatie. From there, he moved to SGS-Group Belgium, where he was General Manager of SGS-Van Bree, a member of the Central Management Committee and the Strategic Committee, and in charge of SGS’s logistics and port handling business in Belgium. In 2000, Arnouts joined the leading European airport handling company Aviapartner as VP of Cargo Handling Europe and a member of its Central Board.

In 2007, Luc Arnouts moved to the Antwerp Port Authority as its Chief Commercial Officer. Since 2017, he has been its Director of International Relations and Networks. And as Vice President, he is a member of the Management Board. Alongside these roles, Arnouts is also a member of the board of directors of Port of Antwerp International (a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp focussed on international consultancy, port management and participations in overseas port projects), a member of the board of directors of APEC (the Port of Antwerp’s training subsidiary), and president of the board of directors of RTC, an inland rail terminal.

Simon De Corte

Simon De Corte

Ghent University

Kickstart manager for materials valorisation

Simon De Corte has a PhD in environmental engineering from Ghent University, where he is currently its technology transfer advisor. He has been involved in the organisation of several regional, national and European innovation initiatives and communities related to circular economy. Bringing together research, industry and policy has always been at the core of his activities.

Alongside his job at Ghent University, Simon is currently a programme manager at North-CCU-Hub, a joint initiative of industry, governmental actors and knowledge institutes in the North Sea Port area (ranging from Ghent in Belgium to Terneuzen and Vlissingen in The Netherlands) that’s developing a roadmap for carbon capture & utilisation (CCU) in the region. Both commercial and innovative technologies are being deployed in project initiatives.

North-C-Methanol is a first demonstration project that aims to produce 45,000 tonnes of green methanol per year, based on green hydrogen. Production of fuels, proteins and construction materials based on CCU are also currently being investigated. Simon is involved at both strategic and operational level.

Mark Tandy

Mark Tandy

TOTALEnergies

Senior Business Developer

Mark Tandy is a business development manager in the Carbon Capture and Storage team at TotalEnergies. Having worked in the energy sector since obtaining his MBA from the Saïd Business School at Oxford University, he has held a number of senior commercial management and director level positions, and worked on projects all over the world. This experience has given him a deep understanding of the practical application of business models and joint venture management.

In addition to applying his transactional expertise, Mark has worked closely with regulators, policy makers and government, most recently as an active participant in the UK government’s consultation on CCS and low-carbon hydrogen business models. In his current role at TotalEnergies, to which he applies over 15 years of experience in CCS, Mark is responsible for new business and partnerships in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

TotalEnergies itself has been active since the late 1990s in the development of carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCUS) to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, 10% of the company’s R&D budget is allocated to relevant technologies. It also supports the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which manages an investment fund of over $1 billion for clean technologies, including CCUS. Alongside its flagship project in Norway, Northern Lights, the company is maturing a number of other CCS projects in Europe and other parts of the world.

Jan  Mertens

Jan Mertens

ENGIE

Chief Science Officer

Jan Mertens is ENGIE’s Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), responsible for co-building ENGIE’s long-term vision on technologies, identifying key international research players in selected emerging technologies and initiating partnerships.

His research activities cover topics related to life cycle assessment, emissions monitoring, carbon capture, carbon use and water footprinting, and he is the author of over 50 international peer-reviewed publications.

Since 2019, Jan has also been Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, working in the domain of sustainable electricity generation.

Kathy Van Damme

Kathy Van Damme

Port of Ostend

Board member

Kathy Van Damme is a board member of the Port of Ostend. With a strong background in the energy sector’s environmental and regulatory aspects, she has worked in this field for more than 15 years. Her broad scope of experience, all focused on ports and industry, includes technological developments for energy storage, energy transition, macro-economic consequences of climate change and investments in energy. Kathy Van Damme has also been a policy advisor on energy and environment at Fedustria and the European Panel Federation, and a manager at several energy companies in Flanders.

Walter Eevers

Walter Eevers

VITO

Director of Research & Development

Walter Eevers is Director of Research & Development at VITO, Belgium. After obtaining his PhD in electrically conductive polymers from Antwerp University, he joined Nitto Europe where he was responsible for R&D and business development until becoming General Manager of Techno-Marketing. Walter became involved in global technology sourcing and marketing by setting up multiple collaborations with universities and research institutes.

In 2012, Eevers helped found Nitto Denko Europe Technical Centre in Lausanne as a company dedicated to research activities for medical devices. Eevers is also an external Expert and Vice Chair for the EU Commission, Conacyt (Mexico) and the Qatar Foundation for innovation programmes and projects. He is Vice-President of CO2 Value Europe, an industry association promoting and stimulating CCU.

Eevers is also Chairman of the Board of EnergyVille, the collaboration between KU Leuven, University of Hasselt, IMEC and VITO for sustainable energy research. In his current position, he has stimulated several spinoffs from VITO and held board positions in them. As a visiting professor at University of Antwerp for polymer chemistry, he is guiding research activities in the field of biobased polymer developments.

 

16:00
Research and policy perspectives on CO2 as a resource

Climate Energy

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Climate Energy

Research and policy perspectives on CO2 as a resource

26/10/2021, 16:00 - 17:30 GST (Dubai)

14:00 - 15:30 CEST/SAST (Brussels, Cape Town)

13:00 - 14:30 WAT (Nigeria)

08:00 - 09:30 EDT (New York)

21:00 - 22:30 KST (Seoul)

20:00 - 21:30 CST (Beijing)

17:30 - 19:00 IST (New Delhi)

09:00 - 10:30 BRT (Rio de Janeiro)

Stabilising the climate will require strong, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gasses and achieving net zero CO2 emissions. CCU needs to be a key pillar in the transition. This session examines what it will take to create an action plan for developing CCU into a new industrial sector, including the enablers and hurdles to accelerating CCU adoption, and what policy, institutional and regulatory changes are required.

Chaired by

Deepak Pant

Deepak Pant

VITO

Senior Scientist

Presentation

Getting to carbon-neutral: electrifying nature’s carbon cycle

Jan  Vaes

Jan Vaes

VITO

Program Manager Sustainable Chemistry

Presentation

The new role of CO2: from harmful fossil emissions to raw material for sustainable products

Christian  Breyer

Christian Breyer

Lappeenranta University of Technology

Professor

Christian Breyer is Professor for Solar Economy at LUT University, Finland. His main expertise is the integrated research of technological and economic characteristics of renewable energy systems, specialising in energy system modelling for 100% renewable energy on both local and global scale. Breyer’s team has published more studies on 100% renewable energy systems for countries or major regions than any other in the world. These cover integrated sector analyses with power, heat, transport, desalination, industry and negative CO2 emission options. Power-to-X investigations is one of his team’s core research fields. Christian has had more than 300 scientific papers published, of which more than 100 have been in scientific journals.

Loving the Alien: CO2 deserves our affection but save a seat for some other surprising climate change allies

Jan  Mertens

Jan Mertens

ENGIE

Chief Science Officer

Jan Mertens is ENGIE’s Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), responsible for co-building ENGIE’s long-term vision on technologies, identifying key international research players in selected emerging technologies and initiating partnerships.

His research activities cover topics related to life cycle assessment, emissions monitoring, carbon capture, carbon use and water footprinting, and he is the author of over 50 international peer-reviewed publications.

Since 2019, Jan has also been Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, working in the domain of sustainable electricity generation.

Using CO2 as a resource: barriers and accelerators

Volker  Sick

Volker Sick

University of Michigan

Professor Mechanical Engineering

Volker Sick is the DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He leads the Global CO2 Initiative at the University of Michigan that seeks to get CO2 capture and use recognised and implemented as a mainstream climate solution.

Cold plasma technology for CO2 conversion: a hot topic!

Annemie  Bogaerts

Annemie Bogaerts

University of Anwerp

Professor Chemistry

Annemie Bogaerts is a full professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Antwerp and head of the research group PLASMANT (Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – ANTwerp).

Having obtained her master’s degree and PhD in chemistry from the University of Antwerp, in 1993 and 1996 respectively, her research focusses on the study of non-equilibrium plasmas by modelling and experimenting with plasma chemistry, plasma reactor design and plasma-surface interactions. Their eventual use is intended for sustainable chemistry and energy/environmental applications, such as CO2 conversion into value-added chemicals, N2 fixation and CH4 conversion, as well as plasma medicine (cancer treatment). Annemie Bogaerts has an ERC Synergy Grant for plasma catalysis for small molecule conversion (electrification of chemical reactions).

 

Keynote speakers

Climate

Thematic coordinators

Climate

Thematic partners