NbS Workshop Invitation

Issue 5

Nature-based Solutions Cooperation Platform

It is our pleasure to cordially invite you join the upcoming online workshop to be hosted on August 20 by the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development (ICCSD) at Tsinghua University. The focus of the workshop is to share international frontier case studies, exchange experiences and lesson learned with audiences on the topic of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in addressing to climate change.

Conference Background

NbS is a crucial measure in achieving the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. It is a subject undergoing intense discussion in the fields of biodiversity conservation and dealing with climate change. At the Climate Summit in New York, September 2019, the United Nations (UN) invited China and New Zealand to jointly lead the work theme of NbS. As a result, NbS has attached increasing attention globally.

It can be seen that NbS is still in its infancy stage within and outside of China. In order to explore this new concept and leverage NbS to push the global governance process, ICCSD, supported by The Nature Conservancy(TNC) and Global Climate Change and Green Development Fund Tsinghua University Education Foundation, established the NbS cooperative platform this April to foster collective wisdom from multi-stakeholders in China and globally. Mr XIE Zhenhua, Special Advisor on Climate to Ministry of Environment and Ecology of China and President of ICCSD, chairs a high-level expert committee to ensure the strategy and pathway of this NbS Platform can run on the right track to implement the Paris Agreement and reach the SDGs.

The NbS cooperative platform organizes monthly workshop to foster collective wisdom and the topics of past four workshops cover the definition, synergy, methodology, and international experiences sharing. Considering the Chinese participants from multi-stakeholders are eager to learn more from international peers, the workshop in August will continue to invite speakers from international organizations and pioneers of private sectors to share their insights and cases.

Agenda

Speakers 

Irene Suarez

The co-lead of nature-based solutions for the Climate Champions team for COP26 and lead for nature and food for Countdown seeking to mobilize more ambitious climate action

Irene was the lead for nature-based solutions for the United Nations Secretary General in the lead up to the Climate Action Summit and was the lead of AILAC unto the UNFCCC which she had advised for six years on adaptation and resilience. Prior to advising countries, Irene was a lead UNFCCC negotiator for her government, Costa Rica, whilst she was Senior climate advisor for The Nature Conservancy and previously focused on Sustainable agriculture at EARTH University.

Linxiu Zhang

UNEP senior staff and Director, UN Environment Programme-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP), a joint center between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and UN Environment Programme. 

The center has been recognized by UNEP as the first UNEP initiative in the South and for the South, mobilizing science for policy on ecosystem management, focusing on the nexus of climate change, ecosystem services and sustainable livelihoods (CEL). Dr. Zhang used to be the Director/deputy director of Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy of CAS. She is now affiliated with the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of CAS as a senior research fellow and also a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. She is also a member of Expert Advisory Committee of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of China.

Yekui Jiang

The Chief Sustainability Officer of Syngenta Group China

 Mr. Jiang is the Chief Sustainability Officer of Syngenta Group China. Before joining Syngenta, Mr. Jiang has 3 years rking experiences in Bayer Crop Science Greater China.  He has more than 10 years working experiences in Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and Jiangsu Provincial government. Mr. Jiang has the education background on communication and journalism.

Helen Finlay

The Senior Global Policy Manager at CDP and responsible for leading CDP’s forest policy work at the global level and is currently working on incentivizing private sector action on Nature-based Solutions

As a forests policy researcher, Helen has spent the majority of her career working across sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia on forest management best practices and strengthening ecosystem resilience to address climate change. She has worked extensively to build bridges and improve dialogue between the private and public sector on natural resource management.

Justin Adams

Co-Director, Nature Based Solutions, World Economic Forum and Executive Director, Tropical Forest Alliance 

Justin has spent 25 years championing innovation and sustainability in both the private and public sectors to address the climate challenge. For the last decade he has focused on accelerating Nature Based Solutions (NBS) to create rural jobs, reverse biodiversity loss and climate breakdown.  He joined The World Economic Forum at the end of 2018 to lead the TFA which is the leading public private partnership focused on reducing commodity-driven deforestation. He launched the Trillion Trees Platform 1t.org at Davos 2020 to build a global movement for ecosystem restoration and is also now exploring how to unlock carbon finance to accelerate NBS deployment.

Welcome Remarks

Zheng Li

Professor, Executive President of Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Tsinghua University

LI Zheng is Executive President of Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, and Director of Tsinghua-BP Clean Energy and Education Center at Tsinghua University. He is appointed as the first Secretary-General of the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate.

Li received PhD from the Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University in 1994. Before returning to Tsinghua University, he worked as an engineer for three years in the Harbin Turbine Works. He joined the faculty of the Department of Thermal Engineering at the end of 1994, and became a full professor in 2000, and the Changjiang Scholar Professor in 2008. He was the Dean of Thermal Engineering from 2011 to 2017. He founded the Tsinghua-BP Clean Energy Research and Education Center in 2003 and continues as its director.

Professor Li’s research interests include energy systems analysis and decarbonization, performance modeling, simulation and optimization of power plants and is leading several national- and international-wide technical and policy programs in energy and climate field. He was awarded China’s National Science and Technology Award in 2006 for his contribution to the development of simulator technologies for circulating fluidized bed power plants.

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Conference  Host 

Binbin Wang

NbS Cooperative Platform Coordinator ICCSD, Tsinghua University

Dr. Binbin Wang has devoted her career to leadership on achieving sustainable development goals, bringing decades of expertise and experience in the synergistic effect between climate change and poverty alleviation, biodiversity, and social justice, etc., cross different organizations, as media, NGO, UN, academia and think tank. Dr. Wang is currently Executive Secretary of Global Climate Change and Green Development Fund to mobilize the social investment and philanthropy resources to support the global green transformation trend and seating in the leadership team of Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University. She is now running the NbS Cooperative Platform, as one of ICCSD’s flagship initiatives.

 Registration

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About the ‘Nature-based Solutions Cooperation Platform’

In September 2019, the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York identified NBS as one of its major action areas. The United Nations invited China and New Zealand to co-lead the NbS coalition. ICCSD delegation at the summit learned that advancing NbS requires Interdisciplinary exchanges and cooperation. However, NBS is still in its’ infancy stage within and out of China. 

ICCSD coordinated the establishment of the 'Nature-based Solutions Cooperation Platform'. Mr. Zhenhua Xie, Special Advisor on Climate to Ministry of Environment and Ecology of China and President of ICCSD, chairs the high-level expert committee to ensure that the strategy and pathway of this platform can run on the right track to implement the Paris Agreement and reach the SDGs. 

Through monthly workshops, joint researches, and media training, ICCSD is exploring innovative theory and practice with its partners from the government, research institutions, private sectors, and the public interest organizations.

Special Acknowledgement:

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CLIMATE ACTION TOGETHER

FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE