Accelerating the Net Zero Transition through Technology

Singapore • Mar 2022

Technologise

The global drive towards sustainability, Net Zero and decarbonisation unites stakeholders from business, government, academia and society to achieve new transformations of our economy, decoupling economic growth from the intensive use of resources. Social and regulatory pressures show real growth in progress, and supply chains are also becoming more complex – there is a clear need to establish collaborative mechanisms than can optimise our Net Zero efficiencies.

The most obvious measures to reduce and optimise usage of resources have already been taken. Technologies on the market today can provide nearly all of the emissions reductions needed by 2030. But from there on, almost half of global emission reductions will need to come from next-gen technologies yet to be achieved.

The time has come to look for less evident, more impactful solutions that can drive progress exponentially, across sectors and across geographies.

Recent advancements in fields like ML/AI, 5G connectivity and edge computing can all be harnessed to enhance performance, drive down energy usage and increase resource efficiency. Similarly, new materials, like zero-emission cement and steel, and novel energy sources, like hydrogen or solar fuels, in addition to upcoming storage and energy management solutions, like lithium-sulphur and aluminium-graphite batteries, can help pave the way to a Net Zero future when effectively taken from the lab towards scaled adoption.

Event Highlights

Thought Leadership in Sustainability

Thought Leadership in Sustainability

Learn from key business, sustainability and technology leaders across industries on their approach to Net Zero.

Best-in-Class Climatetech Solutions

Best-in-Class Climatetech Solutions

Gain awareness of market-leading solutions to support your decarbonisation journey and achieve Net Zero goals.

Unparalleled Networking Opportunities

Unparalleled Networking Opportunities

Connect with decision-making senior executives and industry stakeholders in search of Net Zero solutions and partnerships.

Why Attend?

Build a Low-Carbon Economy

Build a Low-Carbon Economy

Explore the strategic implications involved in building a low-carbon economy.

Advance Net Zero Strategies

Advance Net Zero Strategies

Receive practical, actionable advice to advance your Net Zero strategies.

Delve into New Approaches

Delve into New Approaches

Delve into new Net Zero approaches across verticals and at the policy level.

Next-Gen Technologies

Next-Gen Technologies

Understand the role of technology in decarbonisation and resource efficiency.

Our Speakers

Amara Buyse

Amara Buyse

RICS
Head of Public Affairs, APAC

Amara Buyse is Head of Public Affairs (APAC) at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), where she focuses on driving positive change in the built and natural environment by promoting the highest professional standards across land, construction, real estate and infrastructure. She builds strategic partnerships with governments and other stakeholders and manages RICS sustainability commitments and partnerships across the Asia Pacific.

Prior to joining RICS, Amara held senior roles across both the private and public sector, including at Google and the European Commission. She also worked at a strategic think tank for the Malaysian government and was part of the leadership team of a Southeast Asian government relations consultancy.

Amara is passionate about driving sustainability and diversity, especially in the construction and real estate industries. She holds Master’s Degrees from Ghent University and the Vlerick Business School, and recently completed a course at the London School of Economics.

Christian Gaxiola

Christian Gaxiola

Perfetti Van Malle
Global Procurement Director, Raw Materials

Christian lives in Singapore and is an entrepreneurial global leader with over 20 years of procurement, risk management and supply chain expertise developed in world class F&B MNCs such as Cargill, Mars, Coca Cola FEMSA, Richs Products, Kraft Heinz, and Perfetti Van Melle. Having worked and lived across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia, Christian has had the opportunity to develop several sustainable supply chains for raw materials and packaging, and was recently involved in developing a carbon neutral supply chain for sugar.

Christian was raised in Los Mochis, Mexico and earned his Bs. in Economics from Monterrey Tech and he also holds a Masters in Finance from ITAM.

Esther An

Esther An

City Developments Limited (CDL)
Chief Sustainability Officer

An active advocate for green building and sustainability for over two decades, Esther has been instrumental in establishing CDL’s leadership in sustainability. It is ranked the top real estate company on the 2021 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World and is the first CDP A-List company for both climate strategy and water security in SE Asia and Hong Kong. Key ESG initiatives Esther has spearheaded include publishing the first sustainability report in Singapore in 2008, issuing the first green bond by a Singaporean company in 2017, and building an integrated reporting framework since 2015.

A forerunner in embracing the UN SDGs, Esther was conferred 2018 SDG Pioneer for Green Infrastructure and A Low Carbon Economy by the UN Global Compact. She is also a signatory for the UNGC Caring for Climate network and a UN ESCAP Sustainable Business Network Executive Council member. She sits on the boards or advisory platforms of several organisations, including World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), Global Reporting Initiative, GRESB Asian Real Estate Benchmark Committee and UNEP FI Real Estate Work Group. She chairs the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association’s Sustainability and ESG Committe, co-chairs the Urban Land Institute Singapore’s Sustainability Product Council and is the Vice-Chairperson of the Singapore Institute of Directors’ ESG Committee, as well as the WorldGBC’s Corporate Advisory Board.

Harold Pradal

Harold Pradal

BSI
Group Chief Commercial Officer

Harold Pradal joined BSI’s Group Executive Committee in February 2019 to spearhead the Group Commercial function. Harold is responsible for shaping and delivering BSI’s vision, commercial strategy and key growth initiatives across all business units, sectors and geographies.

A biomedical engineer with a Master in Business, Harold started his career with GE and spent 8 years leading sales & marketing teams across Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific with GE Healthcare. Taking on his first country general management position with International SOS, the world leader in medical and security assistance services in 2009, Harold has been leading multicultural teams and driving growth initiatives across various geographies and businesses for over 15 years. Harold strongly believes in the power of a diverse team. He makes it his mission to lead a culture of collaboration, allowing his teams to build sustainable relationships with clients and partners across BSI’s broad ecosystem.

Joanne Khew

Joanne Khew

Standard Chartered
Director of Sustainable Finance

Dr Khew has over 9 years of experience in sustainability and sustainable finance across the private sector, government service and academia. She is currently the Director of Sustainable Finance at Standard Chartered where she is responsible for sustainable finance transactions as well as strategic partnerships targeting new sustainable products and initiatives.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered, Joanne held positions as ESG Specialist at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and was part of Temasek International’s Sustainability Group. Her experience spans ESG strategy, development of global ESG investment frameworks, ESG and climate risk integration in the investment cycle and up-scaling sustainable urban solutions. She has also contributed to the development of R&D commercialisation strategies in sustainable solutions while with the Government of Singapore, and has led internationally published research on urban planning and ecosystem services.

Dr Khew graduated with a PhD in Sustainability Science from the University of Tokyo, and a Bachelor of Science, Life Sciences from the National University of Singapore.

Lauren Liang

Lauren Liang

Swiss Re
Head of Customer & Partnership Relations, Asia

Lauren joined Swiss Re in November 2020 as Head of Customer & Partnership Solutions – Asia. In this role, she leads a team of innovators to work with Swiss Re clients, insurtechs, medtechs, and fintechs to develop consumer-centric and data-driven partnership solutions.

Lauren relocated to Singapore in 2007 to lead NBC Universal’s corporate venture capital fund in Asia. In 2010, Lauren joined the Nielsen Company as the Head of Commercial Finance & Corporate Development, covering Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. During her time at Nielsen, Lauren led Nielsen’s entry into Myanmar in 2014 by establishing a JV with the largest market research company in Myanmar at the time. In 2015, Lauren joined LumenLab, MetLife’s innovation centre, to focus on digital marketing, digital distribution, new embedded insurance value propositions for underserved segments.

Lauren is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese, and Bahasa Indonesia and holds a BBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Mason Wallick

Mason Wallick

Clime Capital
Managing Director

Mason has over 20 years of experience supporting renewable energy and power-related assets and portfolios of investments through the development life cycle. Over this period, he has supported over US$70 billion dollars of successful debt and equity transactions.

Mason is a recognised and committed leader in the energy industry, frequently sought out for his views and market insights.

Mason previously founded Infunde Development and led the company as Chief Executive Officer. During this period, Infunde Development was awarded an exclusive development services agreement by InfraCo Asia to provide development services across Southeast Asia (excluding Myanmar), resulting in a portfolio of over 1GW of renewable capacity under development. Prior to Infunde Development, Mason founded Infunde Capital. Infunde Capital has provided due diligence and advisory support for over US$14 billion of successful energy and infrastructure developments in Asia Pacific on behalf of utility investors, lenders, and financial investors.

Mason held positions of increasing responsibility and leadership at recognised consulting firms, a hedge fund, and an investment bank before founding Infunde Capital and Infunde Development. Mason holds a Masters of Science in Mineral Economics as well as a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering, both from the Colorado School of Mines.

Michael Long

Michael Long

Lendlease
Head of Sustainability

Michael is a qualified environmental scientist with over 25 years international experience in public and private sector organisations and is currently the Regional Head of Sustainability, Asia for Lendlease.

Michael works across Lendlease’s core Investment Management, Development and Construction Businesses to integrate ESG into investment decision making and business operations. More recently, his current focus is working with the Business on transition plans to achieve net zero carbon by 2025, absolute zero carbon by 2040 and creating $250M social value by 2025 across Asia.

Combined with Lendlease’s vision to create sustainable and resilient communities, Michael is harnessing these ambitious targets as a catalyst for increased engagement and collaboration across Lendlease’s partners, investors, clients, industry colleagues and the supply chain towards meaningful change.

Nakul Malhotra

Nakul Malhotra

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS)
Vice President of Open Innovation, Marine Products

As the Vice President of Open Innovation, Marine Products for Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS), Nakul is deeply engaged in the company’s corporate venturing endeavours and is an avid proponent of bridging industry domain expertise with new age technology capabilities.

He advocates an open innovation philosophy to solve big maritime challenges by leveraging a deep sense of ecosystem thinking and the ability to collaborate with permeable organisational boundaries through equity and non-equity structures.

With industry involvement spanning over 25 years, Nakul combines a wealth of international maritime commercial, operations and management experience, with qualifications in marine engineering, business management and direct seafaring experience.

He is also a strategic advisory board member for a number of maritime startups and a mentor in several incubators and accelerators globally in the maritime domain. Nakul is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology, Royal Institution of Naval Architects, Institute of Marine Engineers (India), Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport, Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute, and a keen commentator on maritime innovation and digitalisation.

PS Lee

PS Lee

National University of Singapore
Director

Dr Poh Seng (PS) Lee is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He currently serves as the Executive Director of Energy Studies Institute, Director of Singapore Energy Centre, Director of Centre for Energy Research & Technology (CERT), and Programme Director of Cooling Energy Science & Technology Singapore (CoolestSG) national consortium.

Dr Lee’s research interests include high performance cooling techniques (in particular single and two-phase microchannel cooling), energy efficient air conditioning and low-grade waste heat recovery. He is a Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Energy Institute (EI) and Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES). Dr Lee is passionate about translating R&D outcomes into innovations & enterprises and have founded CoolestDC to commercialise his group’s liquid cooling solution for sustainable tropical data centres.

Ralph J. Dixon

Ralph J. Dixon

YTL Corporation
Director of Environmental Investments & Chief Executive Officer

Ralph is the Director of Environmental Investments at YTL Corporation Berhad, of which core businesses are ownership and management of regulated utilities and other infrastructure assets, serving more than 12 million customers on three continents. Ralph has been with YTL for more than 14 years, managing the environmental investment and sustainability divisions for the Group. Ralph is also the CEO of their carbon consulting subsidiary (YTL-SV Carbon).

Ralph has also served as a Trustee of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation, Chairman of the Pediatric AIDS Fund, and is an alternate Trustee of Reef Check Malaysia, as well as the Chairman of Save Wild Tigers (M) LLP.
Previously, Ralph worked in investment banking for 15 years with Hoare Govett, Hong Leong and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Following that, he moved into manufacturing in 2001 as the Chief Executive Officer of the paper converting factories of Detpak in Indonesia and South Africa supplying to McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC and other major quick service restaurants, hotels and bakeries. He then worked with Hong Leong Asia in Singapore as the Chief Executive Officer for their recycled wood packaging subsidiary, GPac Technology before joining YTL Corporation Berhad in Malaysia in 2007.

Ralph graduated from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, with a B.Sc. (Hon.) in Management Sciences. He also has a Diploma in Mandarin from the National Taiwan Normal University. More information on Ralph’s work is available here.

Sanjay C. Kuttan

Sanjay C. Kuttan

GCMD
Chief Technology Officer

Dr Kuttan is currently the Chief Technology Officer of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) after completing almost 3 years as the Executive Director of the Singapore Maritime Institute. Since 1994, he has been active across both the private and public sector i.e., R&D (Programme Director at the Energy Research Institute at the Nanyang Technological University), line management (AP Technical Response Manager at ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, 10 years), business development (Business Development Manager at Mobil Oil Australia, 2 years), policy and programme management (Energy Market Authority, 2 years), management consulting (Petroleum Practice Expert/Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, 4 years) and business land innovation leadership (Managing Director, Clean Technology Centre and Country Manager, DNVGL – Energy, 5 years).

In 2011, during his time with the Energy Market Authority, he was part of two different teams that received the MTI Award (Borderless) for the Implementation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Singapore Phase 1: Design and Development, and MTI Award (Innovation) for the Development of TR25 EV Charging System Standard. In 2012 and 2017, Dr Kuttan also received the Ministry of Education’s Service to Education Award for his service to Stamford Primary School. During his career, he was also selected by ExxonMobil in 2001 and DNVGL in 2013 to join the leadership programmes conducted by INSEAD. In 2009, he was chosen to join the 9th Government Leadership Programme following his nomination by the Energy Market Authority.

Sunil K. Yadav

Sunil K. Yadav

Siemens
Head, Building Performance and Sustainability, ASEAN, Siemens Smart Infrastructure, Singapore

20 years of professional experience in energy and sustainability, Sunil is an INSEAD alumnus and have a degree specialised in electrical engineering. Sunil is updated on the various developments in energy management market. He has worked experience across India, China, Middle East and the Southeast Asian Market with Fortune 500 companies, and was a core member of an energy management startup in Singapore.

In his present role – the Head of Building Performance and Sustainability (ASEAN) at Siemens Smart Infrastructure, Singapore – he is responsible for helping customers to achieve their energy and sustainability targets, His mission is to optimise the performance of building facilities. He is a certified project manager with various green building certifications including the BCA Singapore Green Mark GMFM and GMFP.

Sunil is actively involved in Singapore Facility Management (SIFMA now) in various roles. Presently, he is serving as a member of the Innovation and strategy committee in 2018-20. He served as General Secretory in 2016-18.

Siemens, Smart Infrastructure is a leading single-source provider of medium voltage and low voltage electrical distribution from transformer to the last switch including MV&LV Bus ducts, switch gears, protection relays and instrumentation, building control, energy management, fire safety and security systems solutions. Siemens improves facilities by making them energy efficient, comfortable, safe, secure and less costly to operate.

Vinod A. Bijlani

Vinod A. Bijlani

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
AI & IoT Practice Leader

Vinod has passion for creating secure, sustainable smart city solutions using AI and IoT. He focuses on how AI can help with better energy management and achieving carbon-neutral status. He has contributed to the design and implementation of smart city projects and established intelligent public transportation and traffic ecosystems in India, Singapore, and the US. He also has over two decades of experience in creating solutions and is a distinguished inventor with 25 patents in AI and ML technologies.

For more details on Vinod’s professional background, refer here.

Wilma Gerber

Wilma Gerber

JLL
Chief Operating Officer, Project & Development Services, Asia Pacific

Wilma is the Chief Operating Officer for JLL’s Project & Development Services, APAC and she is also responsible for leading the APAC Taskforce on Sustainability which covers build, operate and portfolio services. Having spent most of her career in the tech industry, Wilma joined the real estate industry 5 years ago, drawn by the opportunity to transform the industry to be more tech savvy and sustainable. She now sits on the JLL APAC Operating Board as a member, as well as the PDS Global Board, paving the way for innovation and big thinking that promote a more sustainable tomorrow.

Prior to JLL, Wilma led the Project Management and Systems Integration Practice for Cisco’s Advanced Services Division in APAC.

Originally from South Africa, she spent over a decade working in Europe before relocating to Asia which has been home for 12 years. Wilma holds an Executive MBA from INSEAD and is an advocate of business as a force for good.

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