Climate & Environment Forum

Wednesday 18th January

MC: Huda Masalmeh

Manager & Sustainability Consultant,

Eedama


10.30 | Keynote presentation

HE Rashid Alblooshi

Undersecretary,

Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development

Presentations: Commitments to a low carbon future

  • These presentations will focus on what individual governments or companies are doing to reduce their emissions and contribute to local or global decarbonisation plans. 
  • Presenters will outline the strategies they have put in place, how they are tackling their direct and indirect emissions, how they are working with their supply chains and how they are monitoring their progress.

Presented by:

10.40 

Dr. Deane Falcone

Chief Scientific Officer,

Crop One

10.55

Yasmin Fansa

MENA Sustainability Lead,

PepsiCo

11.10

Sherif Tawfik

Chief Sustainability Officer Middle East &

Africa, Microsoft

11.25

Bill Lenihan

CEO,

Zola Electric

11.40 | Panel: Readying the UAE for COP28 – youth expectations

  • What outcomes from COP27 will shape discussions that take place at COP28 in the UAE
  • How will UAE-based companies help the government’s climate ambitions
  • What initiatives could be introduced that will make a significant difference to climate strategies

Confirmed speakers:

Moderator: Aisha AlMazroui

Project Manager,

Abu Dhabi Environment Agency

Hanan Bakr Sakr

Finance Resilience Lead,

Climate Champions Team, UNFCCC

Huda Masalmeh

Manager & Sustainability Consultant,

Eedama

Ali Al Shimmari

Chairman and International Assets Manager,

TAQA Youth Council - GCC, TAQA

Hind Al Huwaidi

Managing Director,

BEEAH Education

Zada Haj

Co-founder,

Dana

12.20 | Presentation: The youth voice - climate action through climate education


Presented by:

12.30 | Break

14.00 | Panel: Role of climate-linked finance in decarbonisation strategies

  • Climate-linked finance explained, with examples of how it can be used
  • How does it change expectations on actions taken by companies that use it?
  • What benefits does this bring to countries and governments trying to reduce emissions?

Confirmed speakers:

Moderator: Hanan Bakr Sakr

Finance Resilience Lead,

Climate Champions Team, UNFCCC

Aisha Al Abdooli

Director, Green Development,

Ministry of Climate Change & Environment, UAE

Sarah Pirzada Usmani

Managing Director, Head of Sustainable,

Asset & Project Finance, FAB

Jennifer Chammas

Regional Head of Sustainability,

CMB MENAT Global Commercial Banking, HSBC

Darin Rovere

Founder & CEO,

Sustainability Excellence

14.40 | Presentation: Why climate ambitions need innovation in capital finance

James Fierro

Founder & CEO,

ECO Capacity Exchange

What technologies will significantly help decarbonisation strategies

  • A focus on the digitalisation and technology advancements that will shape efforts to decarbonise, and why

14.55 | Presentation: Advanced technology use in Mangrove forests

Vahid Fotuhi

Founder & CEO,

Blue Forest

15.10 | Presentation:

Thomas Blood

CS Sustainability Leader,

EMEA, Amazon Web Services

15.25 | Panel: Working with your supply chain to tackle scope 3 emissions

  • Scope 3 emissions are the toughest to reduce, because they involve not just your company but your supply chain
  • How do companies put in place a strategy for scope 3 emissions – what must be considered to ensure a company can measure and monitor scope 3 emissions?
  • What types of measures can be put in place to reduce those emissions?

Confirmed speakers:

Moderator: Olga Rudkovskaya

Manager-Sustainability and Supply Chain

DNV Supply Chain & Product Assurance

Irina Albenese

Head of Innovation Middle East & Africa

DHL

Nadia Ibrahim

Associate Director Sustainability, Farnak &

Board of Directors, UN Global Compact UAE

Anne Marie Thodsen

Managing Director

The Umbrella Institute

Tatiana Antonelli Abella

Founder & Managing Director,

Goumbook

16.00 | Launch of the Advancing Net Zero Volunteering Team

  • An initiative led by UAE experts with the objective of accelerating decarbonization of the built environment and cities in the UAE.

Presentation: Advancing Net Zero Volunteering Team - who are we and how to get involved

Faisal Ali Rashid

Senior Director, Demand Side Management,

Supreme Council of Energy, Dubai

Panel: Accelerating decarbonisation in cities

  • What is a net zero institute or community and why is the idea getting so much attention? Is net zero an industry dream or an achievable ambition?
  • An assessment of the current efforts from government and private sector to meet the net zero goals.
  • How can we evolve the talents of the UAE to tackle the challenge of a net-zero transition? What role will experts from both the private and public sector play in the decarbonisation agenda?

Confirmed speakers:

Moderator: Majd Fayyad

DSM Strategy & Policy Lead,

Supreme Council of Energy, Dubai

Andrea Di Gregorio

Director of Energy Efficiency and Renewables

Office, RAK Municipality

Faisal Ali Rashid

Senior Director, Demand Side Management,

Supreme Council of Energy, Dubai

Amira Ayoub

Head of MENA Programmes

World Green Building Council

16.40 | Close of Forum