Social Development and Poverty – Page 2 – Regional Knowledge Sharing Initiative

East Asia Forum 2024

This year’s East Asia Forum (EAF) will explore ways the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and ADB can foster partnerships in addressing regional challenges related to climate change with a special interest in promoting global and regional public goods in ADB’s developing member countries (DMCs).

The Forum has four sessions. The first explores strategic ways the PRC and ADB can further evolve their partnership in tackling regional challenges including climate change. The second and third focus on two critical parts of climate as public goods and explore best practices for promoting them. Specifically, Session 2 focuses on nature conservation and ecosystem protection, and how instruments like nature-debt swaps can be a viable financing instrument to help DMCs meet their commitments to conserve 30% of terrestrial and marine areas by 2030. Session 3 centers on addressing climate mitigation through accelerating the energy transition from fossil fuel powered energy to clean energy, drawing on international practices related to energy policy, investments, and transition financing. The fourth session discusses how artificial intelligence can support addressing regional challenges. Specifically, it looks at emerging best practices in strategy, policy, and regulation to enhance the potential benefits of AI while mitigating its potential costs.

Each session will comprise a keynote speaker setting the context and regional challenges and followed by an interactive panel discussion comprising of distinguished experts.

In addition to the four sessions, ADB will also launch its publication “Echoes of Success: Case Studies in the Replication of Asian Development Bank Projects in the People’s Republic of China“. The report presents five ADB-financed projects in the PRC that have been replicated within and outside the PRC.

Venue: Grand Ballroom 2, Kerry Hotel, 1 Guang Hua Road, Beijing.

Browse the program and biographies here.

Download the presentations here.

Agenda

19 September (Thursday, Beijing time)

Date/Time	Session
8.30-9.00	Registration
9.00-9.15	Opening Messages Scott Morris, Vice-President (East and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific), ADB Weihua Liu, Executive Director, ADB
9.15-10.45	1. The PRC and ADB Partnership for the Asia and Pacific Region Chair: Guan Xin, Anchor and Chief Editor, Business News Department, China Global Television Network (CGTN) Presentation: ADB-PRC Country Partnership Safdar Parvez, Country Director, ADB Resident Mission in the PRC The PRC-ADB Strengthening Cooperation to Tackle Regional Challenges Yiping Huang, Dean, National School of Development, Peking University Panel Discussion: Creating Partnerships for Addressing Regional Challenges Scott Morris, Vice-President (East and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific), ADB Weihua Liu, Executive Director, ADB Beate Trankmann, Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme in the PRC Ayumi Konishi, Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer, Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance Yao Wang, Director General, International Institute of Green Finance Q&A
10.45-11.00	Break
11.00-12.30	2. Nature Conservation as a Regional Public Good Chair: Duncan Lang, Senior Environment Specialist, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department (CCSD), ADB Presentation: Good International Practices on Strategies for Conserving Nature Mingjia Yuan, The Nature Conservancy Beijing Representative Office Considerations on Debt for Nature Swaps Nicole Arditti, Global Sovereign Advisory Panel Discussion: How Can We Leverage Financing Instruments to Meet the Global Conservation Goal of 30% of Land and Marine Resources Protected by 2030? Ye Wang, Deputy Section Chief, Foreign Economic Cooperation Office, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the PRC Han Chen, Senior Researcher, Green Belt and Road Center, International Institute of Green Finance, Central university of Finance and Economics, the PRC Mingjia Yuan, The Nature Conservancy, Beijing Representative Office Nicole Arditti, Global Sovereign Advisory Luo Wang, Director, Institute of International Development Cooperation, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, the PRC Q&A
12.30-14.00	Lunch
14.00-15.30	3. Energy Transition as a Global Public Good Chair: Toru Kubo, Senior Director, Climate Change, Resilience, and Environment, CCSD, ADB Presentation: International Practices for Accelerating the Energy Transition Andrew Jeffries, Advisor, Energy Transition Mechanism and Partnerships, Sector Group, ADB Panel Discussion: Creating Partnerships for Advancing the Energy Transition in ADB’s Developing Member Countries Yanmei Cui, Deputy General Manager, Client and Credit Management Department, Export-Import Bank of China Edo Mahendra, Special Advisor to Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Indonesia, and Chairperson of Indonesia Energy Transition Implementation Joint Office Junjie Kang, Deputy Director, Climate Change and Energy Transition Program, Institute of Energy, Peking University Helmut Fischer, Executive Director, ADB Yihan Hao, Principal, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) China Program Andrew Jeffries, Advisor, Energy Transition Mechanism and Partnerships, Sector Group, ADB Q&A
15.30-17.00	4. Artificial Intelligence: Emerging Global Best Practices in Strategy, Policy, and Regulation Chair: Ozzeir Khan, Director, Information and Technology Department (ITD), ADB Presentation: Setting the Context Stephanie Hung, Director General, ITD, ADB Panel Discussion: How AI Can Be Supportive in Tackling Regional Challenges Stephanie Hung, Director General, Information and Technology Department, ADB Chen Hui Ong, Assistant Chief Executive (Business-Technology Group), Infocomm and Media Development Authority of Singapore Talal Ikhwan, Head, KPMG Digital Village, Singapore Xudong Chen, Chairman and General Manager of IBM, Greater China Group Zheng Liang, Deputy Director, China Institute for Science and Technology Policy, Tsinghua University Q&A
17.00-17.05	Closing Remarks Muhammad Ehsan Khan, Director General, East Asia Department, ADB
17.05-17.20	Break
17.20-17.50	Publication Launch: “Echoes of Success: Case Studies in the Replication of Asian Development Bank Projects in the People’s Republic of China” Messages from: Scott Morris, Vice President (East and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific), ADB Xi Zhang, Executive Director and General Manager, Shaanxi Financial Holding Development Investment Management Co., Ltd.
All day	Results Reality Booth Showcasing ADB projects in the PRC in augmented and virtual reality
18.30-20.30	Dinner

20 September (Friday, Beijing time)

09.00-18.00	Field Visit to Project Site Tianjin Dongli Biomass Energy and Comprehensive Waste Treatment Subproject, Dongli District, Tianjin Municipality

Day 1

Day 2

ADB and UNDRR Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR 2030) City-to-City Learning Forum on Developing Urban Disaster Resilience

Cities and urban communities around Asia and the Pacific are facing an era of unprecedented uncertainty, with climate-induced disasters becoming more frequent, intense, and unpredictable. Over the past three decades, extreme weather events have accounted for 90% of all disasters, posing significant threats to urban areas through intensified storms, coastal flooding, deadly heatwaves, water shortages, and prolonged droughts. At the same time, local authorities face other systems-wide crises, in terms of water, food, and energy security. The Political Declaration of the midterm review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in May 2023 reiterates the extreme challenges to hand and conveys a deep concern that the pace of implementation is not sufficient or equal. The gaps at the local and urban level are particularly large.

In response to these challenges, municipalities across Asia Pacific are scaling up their ambitions and actions on disaster resilience to protect their citizens and local infrastructure assets and systems. The Political Declaration of the midterm review of the Sendai Framework calls for scaled up support and action at the local level, urging countries to:

Support and enable all local authorities to have disaster risk reduction strategies and local platforms for disaster risk reduction, or similar mechanisms, in place;
Ensure the provision of financial assistance, technical support, and capacity development to strengthen local multi-hazard risk governance and local government leadership on disaster risk reduction;
Promote local ownership through community-based disaster risk management approaches and whole-of-society engagement; and
Promote exchanges and peer learning between cities through increased participation in the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative.

Agenda

29 July (Monday)

Time	Program
08:00 – 09:00	Registration
09:00 – 09:10	Opening Remarks Norio Saito, Senior Director, Water and Urban Development Sector Office, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sanjaya Bhatia, Head of Office Incheon, United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) (Online speaker)
09:10 – 10:40	Theme 1: Showcasing Urban Solutions – SDGs in Action at the Municipality Level Moderator: Mr Andy McElroy, Global Coordinator MCR2030, UNDRR Speakers: Ms Deborah C. Dacanay, Head of Quezon City Persons with Disability Affairs Office, Philippines – Quezon City Community Inclusive Disaster Preparedness Interventions (SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities) Ms Susana Sousa Gonçalves, Director of Civil Protection Matosinhos, Portugal – Putting Communities at the Heart of Resilience Action (SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities) Ms Sung Ah An, Public Officer, Incheon Metropolitan City, Republic of Korea – How Incheon Effectively Manages Increasing Heatwave Risk (SDG 13 Climate Action) Q&A session
10:40 – 10:55	Coffee Break
10:55 – 12:25	Theme 2: Financing Urban Disaster Resilience Moderator: Mr Jinqiang Chen, Urban Development Specialist (Climate Change), Water and Urban Development Sector Office, ADB Speakers: Ms Liza Ramos, Research and Planning Division Head, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Makati City, Philippines – How is Makati Developing Innovative Financing Options for Resilience (Online speaker) Ms Jazlyn Lee, Engagement Lead for Southeast Asia & South Asia, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and the Gap Fund Partnership – Empowering Cities to Transform Climate Ideas into Action through the City Climate Finance Gap Fund Mr Thomas Kessler, Principal Finance Specialist (Disaster Insurance), ADB – Building Climate and Disaster Resilient Cities – Risk Management, Financing and Insurance Q&A session
12:25 – 12:30	Group Photo
12:30 – 14:00	Networking lunch
14:00 – 15:30	Theme 3: Learning from MCR2030 Resilience Hubs Moderator: Mr Alessandro Attolico, Executive Director of the Territorial Planning and Civil Protection Office at the Province of Potenza, Italy Speakers: Dr Kathy Oldham OBE, Chief Resilience Officer, Greater Manchester, the UK – How Greater Manchester Works with Nature as Part of Flood Risk Management (Online speaker) Mr Jieyong Luo, Resilient City Officer for the City of Zhuji, PRC – Building a Resilient River City – Zhuji’s Practice in Governing and Transforming Puyang River to Enhance Flood Resistance Mr Stefan Wagner, Head of the Department of International Affairs and Global Sustainability, City of Bonn, Germany – Connecting the Green Agenda from National to Local Level (Online speaker) Q&A session
15:30 – 16:00	Coffee break
16:00 – 18:00	Theme 4: Learning from Asian Development Bank Moderator: Ms Jingmin Huang, Director, Water and Urban Development Sector Office, ADB Speakers: Mr Khen Sopheak, Deputy Director of Inter-Sectoral Division of Kep Provincial Hall, Cambodia – City-to-City Partnership on Resilient City Development Ms Yingxia Xie, Former Vice President, Professor, China Academy of Urban Planning and Design – Urban Resilience Evaluation Method and Index System Ms Arpita Mozumder, Assistant Engineer, Planning Unit, Local Government Engineering Department, Bangladesh – Coastal Towns Climate Resilience Project in Bangladesh Mr Ming Hu, Senior Engineer, Director of Movement Control Office, Fuzhou Urban Water System Joint Drainage and Coordination Centre – One Center Manages the Entire City, Digitization Ensures Safety: Innovative Practices of the Fuzhou Water System’s Coordinated Management Mechanism Q&A session
18:00 – 20:30	Networking dinner

30 July (Tuesday)

Time	Program
09:00 – 10:30	Theme 5: Strengthening National-Local Coordination Moderator: Ms Susana Sousa Gonçalves, Director of Civil Protection Matosinhos, Portugal Speakers: Mr Alessandro Attolico, Executive Director of the Territorial Planning and Civil Protection Office at the Province of Potenza, Italy – Long Term Strategy for Effective Risk Governance Mr Aslan Kandygulov, Director of the Center, Urban Environmental Sustainability Center, Astana, Kazakhstan – Resilience Action Plan for a 21st Century City Mr Ali Ahmed, Deputy Mayor, Kulhudhuffushi City Council, Maldives – Strengthening Local Capacity with MCR2030: A City’s Sustainable Approach to Building Resilience Q&A session
10:30 – 10:45	Coffee break
10:45 – 12:15	Theme 6: Identifying solutions to major urban disaster resilience challenges Moderator: Ms Deborah C. Dacanay, Head Persons with Disability Affairs Office, Philippines Speakers: Mr Hee Jong Kim, Director Ulsan Research Institute, Republic of Korea – Forging Multisector City Partnerships for Resilience Mr Thayukorn Prabamroong, Director of Climate Change, Mitigation, Adaptation Research Unit, Mahasarakham University, Thailand – How the Thai Network for Disaster Resilience of 17 Universities Supports Local Governments to Reduce Disaster Risk Ms Sofia Karma, Dr Chemical Engineer, Academic Staff National Technical University of Athens, Greece, Director of the European Center for Forest Fires, EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement/Council of Europe – Recommendations for Managing Urban Heatwaves and for Inclusivity in Disaster Preparedness and Response Q&A session
12:15 – 13:30	Networking lunch
13:30 – 15:00	Orientation: Disaster Resilience Scorecard Assessments for Cities Introduction: Orientation on two new self-assessment tools to understand capacities and gaps in terms of climate resilience and early warning systems. Group work: Participants will split into two groups and try out one of the tools. Plenary feedback: Participants will share feedback on their discussions and potential deeper dive follow-ups with individual cities will be discussed.
15:00 – 15:15	Coffee break
15:15 – 17:15	Final Session: Moving Forward on Urban Resilience in Asia Moderators: Mr Andy McElroy, Global Coordinator MCR2030, UNDRR Mr Jinqiang Chen, Urban Development Specialist (Climate Change), Water and Urban Development Sector Office, ADB Mr Xijie Lu, Urban Development Specialist, Water and Urban Development Sector Office, ADB -This moderated session will be a focused group discussion to identify priority areas for collaboration & collective commitment to ensure follow-up action on urban disaster resilience. -How can MCR2030 Resilience Hubs, Asian Development Bank, and cities work better together to strengthen urban disaster resilience – what plans/commitments can be made? -What kind of support is required to deliver on these plans/commitments?
17:15 – 17:20	Closing Remarks: Ms Jingmin Huang, Director, Water and Urban Development Sector Office, ADB
18:00 – 20:30	Networking dinner

31 July (Wednesday)

Time	Program
09:00 – 12:30	Site visit to Guangxi Polytechnic of Construction – The Introduction of Guangxi Polytechnic of Construction, current status and the achievements of the Resilient Cities Development Research Center, Urban Renewal Research Center (Habitat Building Research Center) – Campus visit – Lunch at school cafeteria
12:30 – 14:00	Back to hotel
14:00 – 17:50	Site visit to Guangxi Institute of Safety and Technology – Visit the emergency service station in Xingdong Community, Nanning – Visit Guangxi Institute of Safety and Technology
17:50 – 20:30	Networking dinner

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