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Horasis convened the 2018 Horasis Asia Meeting in Binh Duong New City, Vietnam, over 25-26 November.. The Horasis Asia Meeting brought together over 500 of the foremost leaders from across Asia including the top leadership of Vietnam. The meeting was co-hosted by Binh Duong Province in the effort to welcome more investor to the city and to Vietnam.
Hang Dao, co-founder of CVD, was a speaker at the meeting in 2018 in the climate change to discuss about Climate Change impacts. Hang Dao’s speech focused on the unprecedented climate challenges that Mekong Delta of Vietnam is facing, and how we can see them as exciting development opportunities coming along: Resilient infrastructures from renewable energy to transportation – roads and airports – should be more developed in the region; education should be particularly invested; tourism should be more sophisticated; hitech investors should be encouraged to move into the area; and most importantly, Vietnam should let the Mekong Delta area be free to develop and not keep Mekong Delta as an agriculture region for purely food security purposes, namely by rice-first policy.
Panelist on Climate Change Actions
- Hang Dao, Co-Founder, Conversations on Vietnam Development, Vietnam
- Richmond Mayo-Smith, Chairman, Climate Finance Partners, Singapore
- Leonard Ng, Co-founder, Carbon Grid, Singapore
- Shin Wei Ng, Founder, Global Policy Asia, Malaysia
- Ken Pyi, Chief Executive Officer, Parami Energy, Myanmar
- Nhat Vuong, Founder, Water Inception, Switzerland
- Stephen Watts, Chief Executive Officer, Defugo Bioceuticals, Singapore
Chaired by
- Lee Wook, Chairman, W-Foundation, Korea
Briefing on Climate Change session
The session Action on Climate Change is Crucial, chaired by Lee Wook, Chairman, W-Foundation, Korea, stated that the world produces around 55 gigatons of carbon every year, which is increasing rapidly and about three times more than the assumed “normal” rate.
Richmond Mayo-Smith, Chairman, Climate Finance Partners, Singapore, weighed in by emphasising that climate change is real and happening now. Because of this, there will be a shift in doing business around the world, and the Sustain – able Revolution will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution. He stressed that we should be at the forefront in joining them.
Hang Dao, Co-Founder, Conversations on Vietnam Development, Vietnam, explained to delegates that climate change has significan tly affected the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. The Delta, has a strategic location in Viet – nam and is crucial for trade within the country and Southeast Asia as well. Because of the effects of climate change, the Mekong Delta is now more vulnerable to floods and drought, which in turn, affects people’s livelihoods because of reduced agricultural productivity.
With this, Nhat Vuong, Founder, Water Inception, Switzerland, stated that there has to be a national plan created that will tackle the effects of climate change because it affects everyone. This national plan mentioned is not only for Vietnam, but for every country in the world. Ken Pyi, Chief Executive Officer, Parami Energy, Myanmar, stated that although climate change is a challenge, it also has many opportunities for us to improve.
One challenge shared was to reduce one’s carbon footprint. In order to make this more enforceable, there was a suggestion that through the carbon markets – already established in the United States and in Europe – firms should pay for carbon usage. Levying such a charge will make us more aware of the amount of damage that Simon Lovegrove, Director, M Health Limited, United Kingdom Richmond Mayo-Smith, Chairman, Climate Finance Partners, Singapore and Hang Dao, Co-Founder, Conversations on Vietnam Development, Vietnam Tomoko Hoshino, Founder and President, Choco-Revo International, Japan Nhat Vuong, Founder, Water Inception, Switzerland 28 we are doing to the environment, and how this can be reduced. “Because of climate change, now, more than ever, people are more interested in sustainability and want to do their part and help save the environment,” concluded Leonard Ng, Co-founder, Carbon Grid, Singapore.
Download the meeting report
CVD 