Ecosperity 2019 - Programme

05 May 2025

Main Stage

07:30 AM

Registration & coffee

07:30 AM - 08:30 AM (60 mins)

08:30 AM

Welcome Remarks & Joint Opening for Ecosperity Week

08:30 AM - 08:45 AM (15 mins)

08:45 AM

Guest-of-Honour Address

08:45 AM - 09:05 AM (20 mins)

09:05 AM

09:05 AM - 09:25 AM (20 mins)

Main Stage

Our Shared Resources, Our Shared Responsibility to Live Within Our Means

The outdated systems underlying our cities, food, energy and consumption-production processes are driving our planet to the brink and threatening to undermine the very foundation of our economies and well-being. How can the scientific understanding of the planetary boundaries help us understand how humanity can continue to develop and thrive over generations to come and how can leaders from politics, business, science and other walks of life be mobilised to rethink these systems and make transformative changes toward sustainability?

Speakers

Dr Will Steffen

Emeritus Professor

Australian National University Senior Fellow, Stockholm Resilience Centre

Dr Will Steffen

Emeritus Professor

Australian National University Senior Fellow, Stockholm Resilience Centre

Will Steffen is an Earth System scientist. He is a Councillor on the publicly-funded Climate Council of Australia that delivers independent expert information about climate change, an Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University (ANU); Canberra, a Senior Fellow at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden; and a Fellow at the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Stockholm. He is the chair of the jury for the Volvo Environment Prize; a member of the International Advisory Board for the Centre for Collective Action Research, Gothenburg University, Sweden; and a member of the Anthropocene Working Group of the Sub-committee on Quaternary Stratigraphy.

From 1998 to mid-2004, Steffen was Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, based in Stockholm. His research interests span a broad range within climate and Earth System science, with an emphasis on incorporation of human processes in Earth System modelling and analysis; and on sustainability and climate change.

Event Details

Main Stage
6 Jun 2019
20 mins
09:05 AM - 09:25 AM
Sands Expo and Convention Center
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09:25 AM

09:25 AM - 09:45 AM (20 mins)

Main Stage

Transitioning to a Low-carbon and Circular Economy is Serious Business

When it comes to climate change, timing is everything. Current science now points incontrovertibly to the fact that we need to reach the global climate turning point by 2020 to begin the descent towards net zero emissions in the second half of the century. How can businesses be engaged on the ‘need for speed’ and embrace the business case and competitive advantage of being net zero champions?

Speakers

Christiana Figueres

Former Executive Secretary, UNFCCC Founding Partner

Global Optimism Ltd., & Convenor, Mission 2020

Christiana Figueres

Former Executive Secretary, UNFCCC Founding Partner

Global Optimism Ltd., & Convenor, Mission 2020

Christiana Figueres is a Costa Rican citizen and was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2010 - 2016.

During her tenure at the UNFCCC, Ms. Figueres brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, in which 195 sovereign nations agreed on a collaborative path forward to limit future global warming to well below 2°C, and strive for 1.5°C in order to protect the most vulnerable. For this achievement, Ms. Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy, for which she has received multiple awards.

Since then Ms. Figueres has continued to serve her one and only boss, the global atmosphere. She sits on multiple boards and is a founding partner of Global Optimism Ltd., a purpose driven enterprise focused on social and environmental change. She convenes Mission 2020 and co-chairs the Global Covenant of Mayors.

She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics. She lives in Costa Rica and has two fantastic daughters.

Event Details

Main Stage
6 Jun 2019
20 mins
09:25 AM - 09:45 AM
Sands Expo and Convention Center
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09:45 AM

09:45 AM - 09:55 AM (10 mins)

09:55 AM

09:55 AM - 10:20 AM (25 mins)

Main Stage

The Business Case for a Circular Economy

Our desire for new clothes and the efficiency of production systems have led to the rapid expansion of fast fashion. The average person today buys 60% more clothing items compared to in 2000 and many of these items are disposed as soon as they ‘fall out of fashion’. While influencing consumption patterns is a critical component in making the system more sustainable, businesses have a unique opportunity to re-design materials, production systems and business models towards more circularity. How can applied systems thinking and powerful partnerships along the value chain deliver measurable impact and new value?

Speakers

Edwin Keh

CEO

Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel

Edwin Keh

CEO

Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel

Edwin Keh is the CEO of The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel. He is also on Faculty at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where he teaches supply chain operations.

Edwin was the SVP COO of Wal-Mart Global Procurement until April 2010. Prior to Wal-Mart, Edwin managed a consulting group that has done work for companies on supply chain, manufacturing, and product design. The practice also did work for non-profit organisations and charities. Edwin co-founded the Consortium For Operational Excellence in Greater China (COER GC). The Consortium is sponsored by the Wharton School and Tsinghua University.

Edwin had a career as a senior executive with several US consumer goods and retail companies. He was the Managing Director of Payless Shoesource International, Donna Karan International, and Country Road Australia. He also worked for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Edwin serves on multiple industry and educational boards. He advises several other social enterprises.

Edwin is the 2011 recipient of the Production and Operations Management Society’s Martin K. Starr Excellence in Production and Operations Management Practice Award, and is on the Debrett’s Hong Kong 100 as one of the most influential people in Technology and Digital sector.
Harsha Vardhan

Global Environment Manager for Production

H&M Group

Harsha Vardhan

Global Environment Manager for Production

H&M Group

Harsha’s journey with fashion sustainability started more than two decades ago. He is one of the pioneers of bringing sustainable materials and circularity into high street fashion. Harsha’s expertise includes various environment related topics within the textile supply chain, sustainable material development and sourcing, cleaner production techniques and sustainable innovation.

Harsha is currently based in Hong Kong and heads the global environment team for H&M Group. As part of this responsibility, he works closely with different business functions, supply chains in various production countries, as well as external stakeholders within and outside the fashion industry.

Harsha has a Bachelor’s degree in Textile Technology from India and holds a Master of Science in Environment Management and Policy from Lund University, Sweden.
Moderator

Ariel Muller

Managing Director

APAC Forum for the Future

Ariel Muller

Managing Director

APAC Forum for the Future

Ariel Muller leads the growth of Forum for the Future’s work in the Asia Pacific region. Since its launch five years ago, she and the team have developed a thriving network of partners that choose to work with Forum because they understand the value of going beyond compliance to pioneering leadership in sustainability.

Ariel has over 13 years’ experience designing and delivering sustainability programmes across a broad range of sectors including retail brands, manufacturing, agriculture, aviation, shipping, the extractive industries, and technology.

Prior to working for Forum, Ariel was the Sustainable Business lead at Helsinki Group, a collaborative innovation firm that helped organizations build their capacity for change and transformation. While in New York, she was also adjunct faculty at Parson’s New School in a programme that integrated design thinking, systems thinking, urban policy and environmental science. Before this, Ariel was with Saatchi and Saatchi S, where she designed and delivered sustainability employee engagement programmes for Fortune 100 companies such as Wal-Mart, NBC Universal, Duke Energy and P&G.

Her undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and she has an MBA in Sustainable Business from Presidio Graduate School.

Event Details

Main Stage
6 Jun 2019
25 mins
09:55 AM - 10:20 AM
Sands Expo and Convention Center
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10:20 AM

Tea Break

10:20 AM - 10:50 AM (30 mins)

10:50 AM

10:50 AM - 11:10 AM (20 mins)

Main Stage

Lessons for Southeast Asia’s Clean Energy Transition

Energy demand in Southeast Asia is expected to grow by two-thirds between 2016 and 2040. Under current policy and technology scenarios, CO2 emissions are expected to increase in lockstep with this growth in energy demand. Being the region most at risk of the impacts of climate change, it is imperative that ASEAN intensifies efforts to lower the carbon intensity of its energy systems. How can ASEAN draw inspiration from its international neighbours as it charts its own path towards clean energy, and how can it accelerate the adoption of proven policy and technology options?

Speakers

Dr Ernest J. Moniz

President & CEO

Energy Futures Initiative

Dr Ernest J. Moniz

President & CEO

Energy Futures Initiative

Ernest J. Moniz was the thirteenth US Secretary of Energy from 2013 to January 2017, advancing clean energy technology innovation as central to climate change mitigation, nuclear security, and cutting-edge scientific research capabilities and negotiating the Iran nuclear agreement alongside the Secretary of State.

Dr Moniz joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty in 1973, founded the MIT Energy Initiative and is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems emeritus. He is CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and of the Energy Futures Initiative. He has served on boards and advisory groups of numerous companies, non-profits, research institutions and government agencies in the energy, science and security arenas.

Dr Moniz received a Bachelor of Science degree summa cum laude in physics from Boston College and a doctorate in theoretical physics from Stanford University. Among his awards are the Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator (Portugal), the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan), the Distinguished Public Service Award of the Department of Defense, election to the American Philosophical Society, the inaugural American Academy of Arts and Sciences Award for Excellence in Public Policy and Public Affairs and the inaugural Aspen Institute Award for Energy Policy.
Moderator

David Turk

Head of the Strategic Initiatives Office

International Energy Agency

David Turk

Head of the Strategic Initiatives Office

International Energy Agency

Dave Turk joined the IEA in September 2016 and is currently Head of the Strategic Initiatives Office. He formerly served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Climate and Technology at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he coordinated the Department’s international clean energy efforts. He also previously served as Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. Department of State, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Congressional Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, and in various capacities in the U.S. Congress.

Event Details

Main Stage
6 Jun 2019
20 mins
10:50 AM - 11:10 AM
Sands Expo and Convention Center,
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11:10 AM

11:10 AM - 11:50 AM (40 mins)

11:50 AM

11:50 AM - 12:20 PM (30 mins)

12:20 PM

Closing Reflections: From Ambition to Action

12:20 PM - 12:30 PM (10 mins)

12:30 PM

Lunch

12:30 PM - 01:30 PM (60 mins)

07:00 PM

Ecosperity Dinner (private event)

07:00 PM - 09:00 PM (120 mins)

Registration & coffee

Welcome Remarks & Joint Opening for Ecosperity Week

Guest-of-Honour Address

Our Shared Resources, Our Shared Responsibility to Live Within Our Means

Transitioning to a Low-carbon and Circular Economy is Serious Business

Making Circular Fashionable

The Business Case for a Circular Economy

Tea Break

Lessons for Southeast Asia’s Clean Energy Transition

Beyond Renewables: Technology Solutions Addressing the Decarbonisation Imperative

Creative Solutions to Bridge the Water Supply Gap

Closing Reflections: From Ambition to Action

Lunch

Ecosperity Dinner (private event)