Canada In Asia Conference 2024: Climate Solutions

Canada-in-Asia
Conference 2024

Climate Solutions

February 27-29, 2024 | Pan Pacific Singapore | #CIAC2024

General admission rate C$300 per conference, or C$500 for both. Reduced pricing was available for alumni of Canadian universities using discount code ALUMNI2024.

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Agri-food

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

CIAC2024: Climate Solutions

CIAC2024: Climate Solutions was held at the Pan Pacific Singapore on February 27-29, 2024, immediately following its counterpart, CIAC2024: Agri-food. CIAC2024: Climate Solutions convened Asia-based and Canada-based private sector, government, university, and other leaders to connect and learn from each other’s priorities and experiences in climate policy, climate technologies, climate research, and climate finance. Given the significant impacts of climate change globally – but especially across Asia – we were excited to convene this unique opportunity to forge co-operative and collaborative approaches that harness the skills, expertise, and innovations of those on both sides of the Pacific.

Carbon Offsets

APF Canada and Universities Canada recognize the domestic and international benefits of carbon offsets as a tool to help mitigate the impacts of climate change. We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint wherever possible, including through the purchase of carbon offsets for airline travel. To learn more about acquiring carbon offsets when booking air travel, please see this example from Air Canada’s Choose program.

Ponora Ang

Fasken (Canada)

Idora Baharudin

Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Malaysia)

Laurel Broten

Invest in Canada (Canada)

Sarah Burch

University of Waterloo (Canada)

Benjamin Cashore

Institute for Environment and Sustainability, National University of Singapore (Singapore)

Yi-Chen Chiang

Manulife Investment Management (Singapore)

Sonya Dewi

CIFOR–ICRAF (Indonesia)

David Doerksen

Cameco (Canada)

Kim Douglas

Canadian Commercial Corporation (Canada)

Martha Hall Findlay

University of Calgary (Canada)

Grace Fu

Republic of Singapore (Singapore)

Lisa Genasci

ADM Capital (Singapore)

Speakers

CIAC2024: Climate Solutions speakers and panellists were leading minds and decision-makers in Asia and Canada, including dynamic business leaders, investors, government ministers, senior researchers and more...

Agenda

Delegates attending the CIAC2024: Climate Solutions conference will be automatically registered for the Gala Reception (5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.) and the Gala Dinner (6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.) on February 27, 2024.

9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.

Opening Plenary: The Geopolitics of Climate Change in Asia

Pacific Ballroom 2 & 3

Vincent Joli-Coeur

Vice-Chairman, Financial Markets, National Bank of Canada

Vina Nadjibulla

Vice-President Research & Strategy, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

Karthik Nachiappan

Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore

Pamela Qiu

Partner, Control Risks (Singapore)

10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Pacific Ballroom 1

Concurrent Sessions

a. Making Tough National-level Policy Choices (led by IES @ NUS)

How are Asian economies crafting policies to reduce emissions while maintaining economic growth? Where is LNG in the energy transition conversation? How scalable are renewable energy sources in contributing to Asia’s energy transitions in different contexts? Which parts of Asia are championing carbon-removal technology deployment? Effective long-term policy design is needed to create policy pathways that avoid lock-in of bridge technologies – but how are these set in motion and which actors are capable of designing them?

Benjamin Cashore

Director, Institute for Environmental Sustainability (IES), National University of Singapore (NUS), Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Low Xin Wei

Assistant Chief Executive, Markets & Systems Division, Energy Market Authority

Carla Gomez

Head of Sustainability and Environment, UNDP

Aw Kah Peng

Sharon Seah

Senior Fellow, ISEAS, National University of Singapore

Bipul Singh

Senior Energy Specialist, World Bank (Singapore)

Ocean 4 & 5

b. Buildings and Emissions Reductions

With the built environment accounting for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions, deploying cutting-edge technologies and policies is necessary for creating more sustainable, efficient, and resilient buildings while pursuing emissions reduction targets. Where are we with mainstreaming low-carbon building materials and technologies in different parts of Asia and Canada?

Yvonne Soh

Singapore Green Building Council

Steven Tay

WSP Singapore

George Harvie

Chair of the Metro Vancouver Board, and Mayor of the City of Delta, British Columbia

Chad Rickaby

Managing Partner, Greentech Asia & CEO, ClimateDoor

12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Pacific Ballroom 2 & 3

Lunch Session

Laurel Broten, CEO, Invest in Canada, in conversation with Jeff Nankivell, President & CEO, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

Laurel Broten

CEO, Invest in Canada (Canada)

Jeff Nankivell

President & CEO, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (Canada)

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

Pacific Ballroom 1

a. Energy Transitions: Addressing Major Implementation Challenges (led by IES @ NUS)

Moving to cleaner energy sources can take time and can be costly. Lead times for major climate reduction projects require incorporating the legacy of high-carbon infrastructure while implementing long term contracts for low-carbon energy transitions to overcome these challenges. How are economies in Asia implementing energy transitions amid such constraints, and where are opportunities for Canadian companies to contribute to the transition process?

Sebastian Sewerin

Institute for Environmental Sustainability (IES), National University of Singapore (NUS, moderator)

Yusuke Yoshida

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan)

Sarah Burch

Executive Director, Waterloo Climate Institute; Professor, Geography and Environmental Management (Canada)

Kang Wu

Head of Global Demand and Asia Analytics, S&P Global Commodity Insights

Ocean 4 & 5

b. Climate Smart Transportation

Revolutionizing how we move people and goods is essential for addressing climate change, and reducing vehicle emissions throughout our transportation systems is a must. This session explores cutting-edge technologies and strategies driving the next generation of climate-friendly transportation solutions.

Jack Saddler

University of British Columbia (Canada)

Jayson Myers

NGen (Canada)

Maitreyee Mukherjee

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

3:00 p.m. Onward

Open Networking

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

CEO Sessions (invitation only)

a. Financing Climate Technology Collaboration Between Asia and Canada

b. Developing Canada-Asia Critical Minerals Supply Chains

c. Facilitating Climate Transitions Through Lower Intensity Fuels

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Pacific Ballroom 1

Canada-ASEAN Business Council – APF Canada Joint Session

Canadian Clean Energy for ASEAN’s Green Transition

The event will explore the specific ways in which Canada can contribute its strengths to help ASEAN countries meet their Net Zero emissions targets by 2050. There will be an exploration and comparison of Canada’s various strengths in clean energy and technology, and the role these have to play in decarbonising major industries in ASEAN - from innovations in CCUS and sustainable infrastructure, to the uptake of transition sources such as LNG and hydrogen/ammonia. Our public and private sector representatives will provide a forward-looking and in-depth look at the national policy priorities and

needs of ASEAN’s energy sector, and how this will create commercial opportunities for Canadians now and in the future.

Kim Douglas

Canadian Commercial Corporation (Canada)

Kunal Shah

Anaergia (Singapore)

Iain Lawson

Senior Advisor, Commodity Markets Consulting, Ernst & Young Singapore

Yap Kwong Weng,

Sembcorp (Singapore)

Bernadino M. Vega

Vice Chairman for International Relations, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN)

9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.

Morning Plenary: Institutional Investors as Agents of Transition

Pacific Ballroom 2 & 3

Moderated discussion with the private sector and leading financial institutions.

Smart money is at the forefront of energy transitions across the world. How can institutional investors in Asia and in Canada drive energy transitions, and how can they intensify progress in the coming decade?

Wayne Lee

CIBC Capital Markets (U.K.)

Franziska Zimmermann

Temasek (Singapore)

Idora Baharudin

KWAP (Malaysia)

Art Robinson

Longbow Capital (Canada)

Yi-Chen Chiang

Senior Sustainable Investing Analyst, Asia, Public Markets, Manulife Investment Management (Singapore)

10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Pacific Ballroom 1

Concurrent Session

a. Unlocking Financing for Country-level Climate Projects (with Toronto Centre)

Financial institutions can be reluctant to take on risk when investing in large-scale climate projects. This session examines how climate projects in developing Asia can be de-risked through blended finance approaches to attract private-sector investment.

Phang Hong Lim

Toronto Centre (Singapore)

John Maroney

Global Asia Insurance Partnership

Lisa Genasci

ADM Capital (Singapore)

Ritesh Thakkar

Asia Pacific Convergence (Singapore)

Sumaiya Selim

Researcher, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (Bangladesh)

Ocean 4 & 5

b. Critical Minerals, Batteries, and Emission Reductions

The global transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future hinges on a complex interplay of technologies and resources. Key among them are critical minerals and advanced battery technologies, which underpin the capacity for storing electricity produced from renewable sources. Can Canadian strengths in emerging critical mineral and battery value chains be a component of Asia’s energy transitions?

Ponora Ang

Fasken (Canada) (moderator)

Dan Silverman

Government of Québec (Canada)

Tammy Huston

Export Development Canada

Alex Hanly

Lithium Universe (Australia)

Dennis Tan Kok Meng

Surbana Jurong (Singapore)

12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Pacific Ballroom 2 & 3

Networking Lunch

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Ocean 4 & 5

Concurrent Session

a. Sustainable Forests and Forestry

This session examines ways in which forests and forestry are sources of resilience and sustainability as nature-based solutions that absorb carbon, provide ecosystem services, support sustainable food production, and offer economic returns.

Rob Kozak

University of British Columbia (Canada)

Sonya Dewi

Director of Asia, Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)

Anna Stablum

Climeco (Singapore)

Elim Sritaba

Director of Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement, Asia Pulp & Paper Group (Indonesia)

Pacific Ballroom 1

b. Updating the Old, Fostering the New? Nuclear and Green Hydrogen

How do nuclear – a long-established technology – and green hydrogen – an emerging technology – factor into the energy transition scenarios of economies in the Asia Pacific? Where can small modular reactors make a difference in providing dependable, low-carbon baseload electricity? Where is green hydrogen an option for low-emission energy? And can Canadian partners provide these in specific contexts in Asia?

Martha Hall Findlay

University of Calgary (Canada) (moderator)

David Doerksen

Cameco (Canada)

Sebastian Sewerin

IES @NUS (Singapore)

Wooi Leong Tan

Surbana Jurong (Singapore)

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Pacific Ballroom 2 & 3

Closing Plenary: Canada-in-Asia Conferences: Looking to 2025 and Beyond

This session brings together leaders from the Canada-Asia private, public and research sectors to examine how we – as convenors and attendees – can build upon the conversations and collaborations taking place at CIAC2024. Looking ahead to CIAC2025, we ask our panelists what themes, issues, and trends they see as most salient. We’ll then turn the question to the audience: what ideas would you bring to future iterations of the Canada-in-Asia Conferences, and similar gatherings, to co-create meaning for like-minded stakeholders?