Climate Finance Workshop 2015

Dr. Nguyen The Phuong is a Member of the Civil Affairs Committee of MPI and serves as Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment. In this role, he guides the following fields: science and technology; education and training; natural resources and environment; sustainable development; maternal and children health care; activities related to the youth, women and family planning; labour, culture, performance arts, sports, communication and other duties allocated by the Minister. Dr. Nguyen The Phuong directly supervises the following departments: Department for Science, Education, Natural Resources and Environment; Department for Labour, Culture and Social Affairs; Academy of Development and Policy; Da Nang Planning-Economic College.

Beau is a natural resource management specialist focused on promoting equitable, climate resilient and low emissions development in Asia and the Pacific. Over the past 12 years Beau has worked as a senior policy analyst for the Australian Government's Department of Resources and Energy and as a Climate Change specialist for the International Centre for Environmental Management in Hanoi and the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. He has experience delivering policy and field–level technical assistance programs on climate change adaptation and mitigation and renewable energy development in over 15 countries in South and Southeast Asia.

Dr. Mai is the technical team leader of the Vietnam Delegation to The Rio 20+ Earth Summit and in the formulation of the Vietnam National Green Growth Strategy. He is experienced in international cooperation for development strategies and strategic green activities. He received his PhD in Australia, which focused on the exploitation of external resources for Vietnam’s development. Currently he is dedicated to green finance as the team leader of Climate Finance Task Force established by MPI in 2012.

Angela is a Fellow in Climate Policy Initiative’s Venice office. At CPI, she has tracked flows of international public climate finance for several editions of the Global Landscape of Climate Finance reports. She managed the production of CPI’s Landscape of Public Climate Finance in Indonesia, and advised the Government of Indonesia on national climate fund design. Angela also focuses on analysing the mobilisation of climate finance, and the entry points and incentives for public and private finance, particularly related to land use. Prior to joining CPI, Angela worked for AEA Technology as a climate change and energy policy consultant, primarily on behalf of the European government. Angela holds an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford, an MA in Geography from the University of Glasgow and is currently completing her PhD with Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

At MPI, Trinh contributes to the formulation and implementation of the Vietnam Green Growth Strategy and Action Plan particularly and to the planning process where environment and climate change issues are taken into account for sustainable socio-economic development strategies/plans. She is also active in UNFCCC negotiations, focusing on climate finance issues and working with development partners across the globe for international knowledge transfer, experience sharing and policy updates at all levels. Her daily job is either doing research or integrating research results into planning and contributing to the environmental friendly investment policy making process. she is serving as the co-chair of the LEDS Global Partnership’s Finance Working Group and as assistant to Co-Chair of the Asia LEDS Partnership.

For the last 3 years Armine has worked at the FAO as an international consultant for climate change and natural resources management. At FAO Armine was one of the main developers of FAO learning tool: Nationally Appropriate Actions (NAMAs) in Agriculture, forestry and other land use sector. Her tasks also include capacity building activities and scientific advisory. Additionally, Armine is in charge of project which promotes conservation of swamp forests, restoration of drained and degraded organic soils and their further sustainable use. Before FAO, Armine worked as an expert of biodiversity and rural economy for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), scientific researcher at the University of Hamburg and as an expert for investment promotion in bio-pharm sector at the Armenian Development Agency. Armine holds a PhD degree in Earth Sciences from University of Hamburg. The PhD research was conducted at the Soil Science Institute of Hamburg and was within the climate change framework.

In present, he is Deputy Director of Institute for Agricultural Environment (IAE). He has started research on climate change since 2008. His publication, 16 articles and 2 books, mainly related to assessment of impacts of climate change on agriculture, adaptation economics, CBA, Marginal Abatement Cost (MAC), policy gaps and barriers analysis. He also involves to develop relevant policies for Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). He is key member for theme of GHG reduction in agriculture up to 2020 (Decision 3119/QD-BNN-KHCN issued on 16 Dec. 2011); Environmental Monitoring and Evaluation (Decision No 3224/QD-BNN-KHCN on 2 Dec. 2010), and team leader for updating action plan on CC response of agriculture in period 2016-2020 and vision to 2050 (according to Decision No 543/QD-BNN on 23 Mar. 2011) and 3 other policy briefs in related climate change in agriculture.

As the Field Investment Officer at USAID RDMA, Kevin advises Missions throughout the region on development finance issues. Prior to his assignment in Bangkok, Kevin was the Deputy Senior Development Officer at the Regional Command-North platform in Northern Afghanistan, which was responsible for monitoring over $500 million in development programming. He also served in Liberia as a Private Enterprise Officer, focused on private sector strengthening. Most recently he returned to Liberia for three months as part of the U.S. Government’s response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak. Prior to joining USAID, Kevin worked for several trading groups at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and in fixed-income derivatives at the Global Investment Banking division at Bank of America. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, a JD and LLM from Loyola University Chicago, and a BS from Clemson University.

Mr. Nguyen has more than 10 years of experience in business accelerator, private equity and impact investment in Southeast Asia with Inclusive Business Accelerator (Vietnam), Impact Venture Accelerator (Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines), and Indochina Capital (Mekong Renewable Resources Fund and Indochina Infrastructure Management). He was also part of the consultant team drafting a World Bank-funded legal framework for Public-Private Partnerships in Vietnam. Mr. Nguyen is a frequent speaker and panelist at a number of conferences in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore on a range of topics related to investing and financing. He received an MBA from Case Western Reserve University (USA).

With over 20 years of experience as a sustainability professional, Ben is responsible for managing sustainability issues for the Bank in the region. Key activities are technical and reputational assessments of environmental and social (labour, community) matters associated with transactions and financial products, the provision of sustainability business support services to bank clients, and management of relationships with key stakeholders. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Ben worked in environmental consultancy, latterly as Director of the environmental business stream for the East Asia operations of an international consultancy business where he managed or oversaw some 300 projects in support of a broad range of customers primarily involved with manufacturing, waste management, construction and real estate, and investment. Ben has a Bachelor degree in Ecology and a Master degree in Environmental Management. He is inter alia a Board member of ASrIA – the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia – and a member of the technical advisory group of the Zoological Society of London’s ‘Sustainable Palm Oil Transparency Toolkit’ (SPOTT) initiative.

Geoffrey is OPIC’s Asia Pacific representative based in Bangkok. He has worked in emerging markets financing and investments for over 19 years. During his twelve years at OPIC he has been involved in innovative deals in Algeria, Chile, India, Jordan, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey. Prior to OPIC he worked for the Chase Manhattan Bank (now JPMorgan Chase) in New York, Singapore and Hong Kong focusing on project and structured finance, and for Emerging Markets Partnership in Singapore focusing on private equity infrastructure investments. He has an MBA from Cornell University and a B.A. in Economics and International Affairs from the University of Virginia.

Doogie is expert in reviewing and developing the capacity that organisations have to respond to their climate change challenges. He has expertise in exploring the potential to align ‘Inclusive Business’ opportunities in agricultural value chains with opportunities to manage GHG emissions and to respond to inevitable changes in climate. Most of the agricultural value chains he has worked on are located across South East Asia and Southern Africa. His work has a strong focus on how private, public and civil society organisations can work together to co-create effective ‘enabling environments’ that delivery real and meaningful actions on the ground. This includes understanding how to stimulate and support the engagement of different types of organisations, of all sizes and sectors, on ‘Inclusive Business’ and ‘Climate Change’ issues.

Mr. Shein is a co-founder of PRIME Holdings Pte Ltd, an associate member of the private, closely held PRIME Group of Singapore who also conduct Asian-focused investment banking, asset management, and private equity operations – all licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. PRIME Holdings is an industrial developer, investor, and operator in the Energy & Infrastructure and Agri & Food Sectors, also co-investing alongside PRIME Group funds and vehicles. Mr. Shein directs PRIME Holdings’ investment initiatives and operations, with a special focus in Myanmar. He directly oversees the Agri & Food Division including PRIME Farms, PRIME Agri Technologies, and Smallholder Prosperity Enterprises (SPE) subsidiaries. SPE is a for-profit developer and operator of innovative projects that improve livelihoods at the ‘base of the pyramid’ by transforming subsistence and rural farmers into commercial producers. Mr. Shein brings to PRIME over 27 years of direct investment and international operating experience in start-ups, growth companies, MBO’s, privatizations, M&A, and control-stake private equity. He currently Chairs the Horticulture Working Group of The World Economic Forum’s “New Vision for Agriculture and Grow Asia” initiative in Myanmar. He is an Executive Board Member of the Zurich based Swiss-Asian Chamber of Commerce & Co-Chairperson of the Myanmar Committee. Mr. Shein holds a B.A. Economics and earned an M.B.A. from the University of California, Irvine.

James is Managing Director at Lotus Impact, and is directly responsible for sourcing of social impact investments across Southeast Asia. Lotus Impact is an impact investment fund that invests into high potential businesses to generate lasting social impact and transformative growth, it is also a member of the Asia LEDS Steering Committee.

Janie is a Natural Resources Officer working on climate change mitigation with the FAO based in Rome, Italy. She has 10 years professional experience with FAO and other international organizations working on sustainable agro-ecosystems management, vulnerability and food security analysis, and climate- smart agriculture. She has a Master in Regional Planning and a B.Sc. in Environment from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Hans has 7 years of experience working on the development and implementation of sourcing strategies for agro-commodities in Asia and Africa. In his work he focused on designing and mainstreaming planning tools for sustainable development planning and pathways towards green economies. In this work he developed guidance for the sustainable development of the oil palm, rubber and timber industries as well as training programmes on increasing productivity and reducing environmental impact. Hans is currently senior advisor SNV’s Climate Smart Agriculture team, coordinating SNV’s work on palm oil globally and the Deforestation Free Supply Chains for coffee, cocoa, palm oil and rubber.

Mei is a senior natural resources management specialist and team leader for landscape program at Climate Change Knowledge and Partnership, the World Bank. She has extensive experience in design and implementation of development projects relating to water resources, agriculture development and basin planning across East Asia, South and Central Asia, Africa, and Middle East regions. She led the team in the pedagogical design and production of a series of learning products, as well as delivery of courses relating to sustainable land and water management.

Yu is a climate change consultant at Climate Change Knowledge and Partnership, the World Bank. She focuses on capacity building and knowledge sharing programs related to climate change and sustainable development in Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU). She has extensive experiences in e-learning development and facilitation, capacity development, and South-South knowledge exchange.

Nadeem’s thematic interest is in sustainable human development, climate change, development cooperation, and measurement of development results. His current work involves localising SDGs and INDC development and implementation at country level. He provided analysis support for the development of Pakistan’s INDC. Nadeem has diverse work experience from a range of organizations in Pakistan and abroad. Recently he has been advisor to Government of Pakistan on Science Technology and Innovation Strategy 2014-2016 and member of National Committee on ICT Integration in Education. At international level, he consulted with UNDP Europe and CIS regional office in Slovakia for development of data and research guidelines for member countries to develop Human Development Reports (HDRs). He has also been at Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD & Japan International Cooperation Systems for research on new monitoring framework of aid effectiveness. Earlier, Nadeem worked with UNDP Pakistan where he was engaged in research administration, program analysis, and knowledge management. Nadeem holds Masters degree in International Public Policy from University of Tsukuba, Japan and M.Phil in Social Psychology from Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad.

Mr. Qazi has over 15 years of experience and expertise in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency improvement, resource conservation, power generation and Demand Side Management. His expertise lies in the areas of project scoping, management, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. He has wide-ranging experience of working with sugar sector, cement sector, textile sector, chemical industries, and governmental institutions in Pakistan and has managed several renewable energy and resource conservation projects such as EU funded Switch Asia High Pressure Cogeneration Project, ESMAP Pakistan - WB funded Biomass Mapping Project, ESMAP Pakistan - WB funded Solar Mapping Project, CDKN funded Renewable Energy NAMA Project, USAID funded Tubewell Efficiency Improvement and Industrial Motor Efficiency Improvement Projects, USTDA funded Biomass Power Plant and Waste Heat Recovery for Pioneer Cement Limited, etc. Qazi Sabir received his MSc Engineering (Chemical Engineering), from Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.

Areej is the focal on low carbon development at LEAD Pakistan and also the Bangladesh Country Programme Manager at CDKN, which supports decision-makers in designing and delivering climate compatible development. She has managed a range of projects in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan; issues range from developing Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, building readiness of private banks and financial institutions on climate finance, building a national mechanism on loss and damage, to developing climate change policy for provincial governments. She also managed IPCC AR5 report launch at Asia LEDS Forum 2014. Prior to LEAD Pakistan, she was working with Crichton Carbon Centre in Scotland, British Council and Dumfries and Galloway Council (UK). Her publications include: ‘Sustainable Business Models; A Transformative Business force for SME' and ‘Legislative Gaps analysis for MDG Goal 7’. She holds a MSc Carbon Management from University of Glasgow.

Elaine B. Pagkanlungan is Senior Manager of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), a government financing institution. She acts as Head of the Agribusiness Development Unit of the Financing Development Department. She is involved in projects pertaining to crops, livestock, poultry, fishery and tree plantation, production, processing and marketing. She was previously involved in the Climate Change thrust of the Bank, Environmental Management System and personnel recruitment of employees. She finished BS Psychology and Masteral course in Psychology from the University of Santo Tomas.

Engr. Sibayan is Supervising Science Research Specialist who’s field of expertise is water management. Currently, she leads a team of researchers who implement two projects that addresses Climate Change i.e. “Technology development for circulatory food production systems responsive to climate change: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Irrigated Rice Paddies in Southeast Asia (MIRSA) / Part 2: Field Demonstration and Consolidation of Procedures” funded by NIAES-MAFF, Japan and “Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potentials of Different Management Practices for Rice Fields in Central Luzon, Philippines” by CCAFS –IRRI. Engr. Sibayan is one of the co-authors who developed a NAMA entitled “Adaptation and Mitigation Initiatives in Agriculture (AMIA) in the Philippines” with the Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd and with funding from UNDP this year.

Vladislav Arnaoudov is a Senior Consultant with the Clean Energy Finance Division of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd., one of the leading international consultancies providing advisory in the field of climate change mitigation and low emission development. Over the years, Vladislav has succeeded to build wide ranging regional and industry expertise while working in more than 50 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa. He has provided advisory to governments, international organizations and corporate clients in various sectors ranging from renewable energy and rural electrification to transport and agriculture. Vladislav is also an author of several approved CDM methodologies and publications on climate change mitigation. In the past few years, his interests have been concentrated on climate finance and scaling up of mitigation efforts. As part of this, he has led the development of several Standardized Baselines, Low Emission Development Strategies, as well as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) studies. His most recent work involves the development of a holistic adaptation-oriented NAMA for the rice sector in the Philippines.

Emelia Holdaway has over 19 years of climate change and environmental sustainability experience, and leads Ricardo Energy & Environment’s International Climate Change Policy team. She has specialist knowledge across international energy and climate change policy development and analysis, climate finance, market-based mechanisms and greenhouse gas accounting. Emelia’s climate finance experience includes working with developing countries, European Commission and private sector. She has recently led climate finance capacity building and training in Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh and Tanzania- directly increasing the chance of the countries accessing climate funds in the short term, identifying climate finance capacity gaps and informing the countries' decision-making process for direct access with respect to funds such as the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund.

Prior to his current position, John served as Senior LEDS Advisor for USAID-funded work in six Eastern European and Eurasian countries and as Clean Energy Access Advisor for USAID’s South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy. Working with the corporate sector, he led the Sustainability and Climate Change practice of Environmental Resources Management in Indonesia; and was President of Citizens International and of PT Chemonics Indonesia. Mr. Wells was also the founder of The Bruce Company, a two-time Inc. 500 firm that advised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, World Bank and United Nations Development Programme on energy efficiency, global climate change and stratospheric ozone protection. He received his graduate degree from the University of Dundee and his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University.

Sandra is based in Bangkok, Thailand, where she supports the five-year USIAD Low Emissions Asian Development program, which supports 11 countries in South and Southeast Asia on low emission development. She also serves as part of the Secretariat of the Asia LEDS Partnership. As such, she leads planning, outreach, and overall coordination to detail and deliver activities to advance objectives the Asia LEDS Partnership, such as through hosting the annual Asia LEDS Forum, regional forums on priority topics such as financing LEDS, targeted training on skills such as scenario modeling, and authoring knowledge products. Her other experiences include supporting public-private partnerships in energy efficiency, and working within non-governmental organizations on communication and engagement on climate change issues.

Nurun Nahar is working in the area of Public Investment Management (PIM) of Bangladesh and is a member of the Economic Cadre of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) since 1998. Now in Programming Division she is contributing to the formulation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) - most important budgetary tool to carry out the Government’s development activities. She is in charge of the budget programming of projects in the Rural Development sector. She is also engaged in the committee in Ministry of Finance to institutionalize the financing from GCF in the country process. She is now actively engaged with development partners to establish a GIS based climate risk screening tool in Programming. Prior to working in Programming Division, Nahar worked as Planning Expert in UNDP to support the mainstreaming of poverty, climate and environment issues in national planning and budgeting. She was one of the main developers of the “Indicator Framework for Pro-poor Environment Friendly, Low Emission, Disaster and Climate Resilient Development” and took active part in the formulation of the “Climate Fiscal Framework (CFF)”. Nahar did her Ph.D from the School of Knowledge Science in JAIST, Ishikwa, Japan and M.Phil from Rajshahi University, Bangladesh.

Youssef is the Coordination of Mitigation at GCF. Previously, he was Chief Renewable Energy Specialist at the African Development Bank and worked in various sectors within development banking, advising fragile and island states to develop their energy sector to mitigate climate risks. He combined his engineering, development finance, and project management experience to originate, structure, and execute infrastructure projects and public-private partnerships. He is well-versed in trust fund and grant mobilization and in designing technical assistance programmes. Youssef holds Master’s Degrees in Engineering and Business Administration.

Wiwin is a researcher with an interest in climate change, Human Geography and Development Research. Her experience includes working with Centre for Climate Risk and Opportunity Management in South East Asian Pacific, Research Centre for Disasters, World Health Organization and Indonesian Climate Monitoring at National Institute of Aeronautics and Space. She provided support in the establishment of Indonesia REDD+ Infrastructure and Capacity in Kalimantan province.