Keynote Speakers
Prof. Dr. Simon Redfern
Dean of the College of Science and President's Chair in Earth Sciences,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Title: Climate Transformation: Understanding, Mitigating, and Adapting
Abstract:
The Climate Transformation Programme, at NTU Singapore, is one of the most recent scientific responses to the challenges of climate change. A seven-year multi-disciplinary and multi-million dollar project, it sets out to understand the impacts of and propose potential responses to the existential threats associated with climate change. Science has been at the forefront of highlighting these threats and quantifying predictions of future change, but must step beyond simple diagnosis of the problems to proposals for their solutions. Climate health will depend upon successful prescriptions of adaptations and mitigations. These include the use of nature based solutions, of negative emissions technologies, and a switch to new forms of energy. I will outline some of the activities we are undertaking as part of the Climate Transformation Programme, as well as additional actions that may help secure a more sustainable future for all.
Biography:
Simon Redfern is President’s Chair in Earth Sciences in the Asian School of the Environment, and Dean of the College of Science, NTU Singapore. He completed his PhD in 1989 at the University of Cambridge, Department of Earth Sciences, and upon graduating with his PhD he was appointed at the University of Manchester as Lecturer in Geochemical Spectroscopy joint between Geology and Chemistry. Subsequently. In 1994, he returned to Cambridge as a Lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences, and was then promoted to Reader and then Professor. In 2016 he became Head of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He left Cambridge in 2019 to move to NTU and take up the post of President’s Chair in Earth Sciences, alongside the role of Dean of the College of Science.
Professor Redfern's work explores how minerals control and reflect Earth processes and he has worked in collaboration with a wide variety of Earth and environmental scientists, from climate scientists to volcanologists to palaeontologist to seismologists and even exoplanetary “geo”scientists. In all cases he is interested in how insights into nanometre scale features provide understanding of global processes. His work has extended to using insights from nature to develop new materials in the context of materials design and engineering.
Prof. Emeritus Dato' Chm. Dr. Mazlin bin Mokhtar, FASC.,FMIC
Deputy Head (Research) & Director of Ecological Systems Program
United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network Asia Headquarters (UN SDSN Asia), Sunway University
Title: Living in a complex, boiling world: Leadership at district and local levels in reducing risks and impacts
Abstract:
Transformation to global boiling from global warming is the failure of climate action and the failure of climate action is the most top-ranked global risk in the coming decade according to the World Economic Forum. The unwillingness of political will along with inadequate capacity and capability at the local level are the major concerns to combat climate-induced as well as man-made disasters. Hence, the proactive leadership of individuals and institutions at the local level is vital for collaboration and cooperation with multi-stakeholders including youth for better preparedness to reduce risks and impacts towards sustainable development.
Keywords: Climate Change, Local Government, Disasters, Capacity Building, Sustainability.
Acknowledgement: This study is supported by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) Malaysia, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS)- FRGS/1/2022/SSI03/UKM/03/1.
Biography:
Mazlin Mokhtar, BSc. (Tasmania), PhD (Queensland), is Deputy Head for Research, and Director of Ecological Systems Program/Science Panel for Southeast Asia at United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN) Asia Headquarters, Sunway University. Prior, at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), he has held key positions as Founding Director, Centre for Public and International Relations (Pusat Perhubungan Awam dan Antarabangsa, PUSPA); Director of Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI); and Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research. He has served on various committees, including the Chair of Environment Committee of Academy of Sciences Malaysia; Environmental Quality Act's Appeal Board; Chairman of Malaysia's Environmental Quality Council 2015-2018; Chairman of Committee appointed by Malaysian Government in reviewing the Lynas Rare Earth operations, and Chairman of AACB of Malaysia's Water Sector Transformation 2040 Study. Mazlin is recipient of the Langkawi Environment Award 2018; Best 2010 FRGS project on Chemicals Management; and Professor Emeritus award of UKM 2022.
He also contributed to WWF; UNDP GEF SGP; National River Care Fund GEC; and United Nations University Climate and Ecosystems Change Adaptation Research and Training Program.
Mazlin was leader of several United Nations-sponsored research projects, which include the AP-FAST (Acceleration of Science and Technology; and MUCP (Malaysia UNESCO Cooperation Program) in Malaysia and Asia Pacific; also as leader of Environmental Risk Management group under Malaysia Vice Chancellors' Council & Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS)+Kyoto University 2000-2018 program. Mazlin was a founding member of Malaysian Water Partnership (MyWP), and former Country Manager of MyCapNet (Capacity Building for IWRM). He's now also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Sime Darby Chair on Sustainability, and Member of the Scientific Committee of Ministry of Higher Education's University-Industry Research Consortium on Karst Landscape Research, Malaysia. Mazlin is also appointed as an Advisory Member of the Malaysia Productivity Corporation's Tourism Productivity Nexus on Sustainable Practices.