The Sustainability Summit 2017 will bring together industry leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, regulators and leading researchers from across Asia for a forthright discussion about the opportunities and challenges inherent in the transition to sustainability.
2018 will be the year that negotiators from over 190 countries formalise the implementation of the deal struck in Paris in late 2015. More world leaders signed up than had ever done so before, and it came hot on the heels of a global agreement on a set of new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But since then, environmental progress in Asia has been slow. Hazy and toxic air, burning forests, poisoned water, unsafe food and congested roads have become commonplace in many of its biggest countries. The region’s private sector has a significant opportunity to promote sustainability within a sound policy framework and reap the commercial benefits.
This chance comes at a time of global uncertainty. American president Donald Trump has fulfilled his promise to withdraw from the Paris agreement and to gut investment into environmental programmes. China, the world’s number-one investor in renewable energy, still uses more coal than every other country in the world combined. Yet it has the opportunity to lead global environmental efforts. And India is on track to complete its huge solar commitment. But the effects of climate change on Asian manufacturing, supply-chain management and agriculture are getting steadily worse.
To turn things around, the business case needs to be made clear.
What role can firms and investors play in shaping new thinking and turning ambition into action? What business opportunities will emerge? And how are innovative entrepreneurs reshaping the Asian response to climate change?
Who will seize the opportunity?
