Nature is Changing: Copenhagen and beyond – what does it mean for Asia?

October 27, 2009

Event title: Nature is Changing: Copenhagen & Beyond – What does it mean for Asia?
Date/Time: 11 Nov 2009, 5-7pm
Venue: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Auditorium, Level 3 Blk B, Faculty of Law, NUS Bukit Timah Campus, 469G Bukit Timah Road Singapore 259772
RSVP: Admission is free, but registration is required. To enable us to gauge attendance, do register online at http://www.siiaonline.org, or contact us 65164202/6134 or lkyspppl@nus.edu.sg.

SYNOPSIS
Nature is changing – more frequent and unpredictable violent storms, heat waves, forest fires, floods, droughts, retreating glaciers and ice sheets, rising sea levels – these are just a few examples of the impacts of Climate Change on the world today. As world leaders meet at the Conference of Parties in Copenhagen to agree on a global response to the problem, the whole world is grappling to understand what Climate Change means to us, and what we can do about it.

In this dialogue, experts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will explore the impacts of Climate Change on Asia’s people, economies and states. We will discuss issues affecting our environments from the Himalayas to the oceans. We will talk about the role of policy at global and national levels and its effectiveness in addressing these issues. Finally, we discuss the opportunities of nature-based solutions, and the positive actions Asian policy makers and the business community can take to improve Asia’s resilience to the impacts of Climate Change. Please come and discuss these topics with IUCN, raise your own concerns and explore possible responses to one of the most important issues affecting our lives today.

PROGRAMME
5.00-5.30 Registration
5.30-6.15 In Conversation with guests from the International Union for Conservation of Nature
Moderated by Assoc. Prof. Simon Tay, Chairman, Singapore Institute of International Affairs,
and Schwartz Fellow, Asia Society
6.15-7.00 Q&A session
Speaker(s):

Ms. Aban Marker Kabraji
IUCN Asia Regional Director

Ms. Aban Marker Kabraji has dedicated 20 years of her professional career to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Aban first joined IUCN as the Country Representative for Pakistan in 1988 for 11 years before initiating the establishment of an IUCN Asia Regional Office in Bangkok. Today, as the Director of IUCN Asia Regional Office she provides strategic leadership across ten countries and two expert groups covering a wide spectrum of thematic environmental programmes. Throughout her career, she has been actively involved in negotiating with governments in implementing international treaties and conventions (CBD, CITES, and Ramsar). She maintains a special interest in gender, social equity and security, to the extent of undertaking programme activities in politically less secure areas where other environmental organizations have found it difficult to work.

Dr. T. P. Singh, Ph.D
Regional Group Head, Ecosystems and Livelihoods, Bangkok

Dr. Singh is responsible for the development and management of IUCN’s regional programmes related to the areas of Forests, Wetlands & Water, Environmental law, Protected Areas, Business & Biodiversity, Climate Change and Energy. He is also involved in developing IUCN’s new country programmes in India and Indonesia. Dr. Singh has three decades of experience in the natural resource management sector. Trained initially in botany and forestry, Dr. Singh’s technical and research skills are interdisciplinary in nature covering sustainable development, community based natural resource management, rural livelihood systems, watershed management, forestry and climate change and policy analysis.

Mr. Ganesh Pangare
Water and Wetlands Programme Coordinator, IUCN Asia

Ganesh Pangare is the Coordinator for the Water and Wetlands Program, IUCN, Asia Regional Office. His main area of work during the past twenty years has been in people‐centered water interventions, such as indigenous water harvesting systems, micro‐watershed management, participatory irrigation management, urban water bodies, and wastewater management. Currently his main thrust of work is in the area of pro‐poor water sector reforms and policy at local, national, regional and global levels for livelihood and food security, with a focus on primary stakeholder participation.

Mr. Donald J. Macintosh, Ph.D.
Coordinator Mangroves for the Future (MFF), IUCN Asia Regional Office

Don Macintosh has more than 35 years experience in education, research and international development, including working experience in about 30 countries, plus teaching and research supervision of university post‐graduate students from countries in the Caribbean, African, Asian and Pacific regions. As Coordinator of MFF, Don Macintosh oversees management of the MFF Regional Secretariat and implementation of the initiative. MFF is a partnership-based and people-centered initiative to promote the health, well-being and security of the coastal communities living in the Greater Indian Ocean region. MFF involves more than 10 countries: Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Maldives, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tanzania, Viet Nam.

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