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A Green Future for Southeast Asia?
16 August, 2019 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Favored by climatic and soil conditions, Southeast Asia is endowed with rich natural resources providing essential life support to the region and the world. They are a source of water, food and energy, and sustain a wide range of economic activities and livelihoods. Yet these precious assets have been depleted to fuel the region’s economic growth. Progress has come at heavy environmental (and social) costs as countries have pursued economic expansion at the expense of natural resources. The ‘environmental capital’ is now rapidly declining due to growing industrial and commercial demands and a burgeoning wealthier and consumerist population. This unsustainable trajectory, if allowed to continue, will undermine future food and human security and threaten regional development and stability.
To reflect on this bleak prospect and the urgency of taking concerted action to realize a green future for Southeast Asia, SEA Junction in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Thailand will hold a panel on 16 August 2019 at 6.30 PM at its venue. The speakers will identify key emerging environmental and conservation problems and look at what actions need to be taken and how. After discussing the regional situation, attention will be for the specific cases of Indonesia and Thailand to better understand similarities and differences in issues and policy approaches.
Panel Discussion
Moderator: Rosalia Sciortino, Associate Professor IPSR & Director SEA Junction
Panelists:
- Emerging regional environmental issues in Southeast Asia
Albert Salamanca, Senior Research Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute - Emerging Environment and Conservation Issues in Indonesia
Rizal Malik, CEO, WWF Indonesia - Emerging Environment and Conservation Issues in Thailand
Natalie Phaholyotin, CEO, WWF Thailand
Q & A
Speakers’ Short Bios
Albert Salamanca
Albert is a Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute’s Asia Centre where he leads the centre’s Climate Change, Disasters and Development Cluster. He also manages SEI’s global initiative on Transforming Development and Disaster Risk and contributes to the Climate Services Initiative. He currently works with different partners looking at agrarian transition; the linkages between human rights and climate change especially in the implementation of the Paris Agreement’s nationally determined contributions; and internal displacement. He has a PhD in Geography from Durham University (UK).
Rizal Malik
Rizal is the CEO of WWF-Indonesia with more than 30 years’ professional experience in sustainable development. He was the Senior Technical Advisor on SDGs at the UNDP Office in Indonesia and Senior Communication Advisor at the World Bank Office in Indonesia. Prior to that, he was the Secretary General of Transparency International Indonesia. He obtained his first degree in Communication from Padjadjaran University in Bandung, and MA degree in Development Studies from University of East Anglia, UK. He also took post-graduate courses at Cornell University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.
Natalie Phaholyothin
Natalie Phaholyothin is CEO of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Thailand. Prior to joining WWF, she was an Associate Director at The Rockefeller Foundation where she managed the Transforming Health Systems Initiative in Asia. She has over 20 years of experience in the development sector with an emphasis on Southeast Asia. She graduated from Brown University with a double major in Economics and International Relations, and also holds a master’s degree in international economics from the State University of New York (SUNY-Albany), and an MPhil from L’Institut d’etudes politiques de Paris (SciencesPo) in political economy.
Photo courtesy of photojournalist Jittrapon Kaicome ©2019JittraponKaicome: A firefighter hikes through a forest fire to prevent it from spreading in Chiang Mai, Thailand. An exhibition on the smoke crisis in Northern Thailand is planned for 5-17 November (to be announced soon on our website).
For information/reservation for our events please email southeastasiajunction@gmail.com or phone/wa: +66970024140
NB: Events are free, but donation most welcome!
Organizers
SEA Junction, OUR Venue on Southeast Asia SEA Junction aims to foster understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions –from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. Conveniently located at Room 408 of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre or BACC (across MBK, BTS National Stadium) SEA junction facilitates public access to knowledge resources and exchanges among students, practitioners and Southeast Asia lovers. For more information see www.seajunction.org and join the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1693055870976440/
World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature Thailand
World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund) operate in Thailand since 1995. Its mission is to promote strong participation and support from all people to conserve the country’s rich biological diversity and increase the impact of its conservation action for a Living Planet. For more information see http://www.wwf.or.th/en/about_thailand/
