Cleantech Happy Hour V

Venue: Thomson Reuters (Auditorium), One Raffles Quay, #28-01 North Tower, Singapore 048583

The Cleantech Happy Hour in August will be in partnership with Thomson Reuters and the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association. There will be the regular get-together following a panel discussion on “Singapore as a Clean Tech Hub for Asia”

In light of the Singapore Government’s announcement of $700m funding into the Clean Tech space, and the initiatives to set up incubators, you are invited to the following panel discussion:

• How is Singapore placed versus other clean tech hubs in Asia and the rest of the world?
• Will Asia and Singapore be technology followers or innovation leaders?
• Which policies have the Singapore Government put in place to help innovation in Singapore?

Panelists:

Mr. CK Goh, Director, Cleantech at Singapore Economic Development Board

Mr. Edgare Kerkwijk, Managing Director, Asia Green Capital

Moderated by Reuters Editorial

Climate Change in Singapore

Speaker: Dr Elspeth Thomson, Senior Fellow, Energy Studies Institute (ESI)

Venue: ISEAS Seminar Room II

According to the fourth assessment report (AR4) of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the effects of climate change have already been observed. Climate change is considered to be one of the most serious threats to sustainable development, with adverse impacts expected on the environment, human health, food security, economic activity, natural resources and physical infrastructure. Scientific findings indicate that precautionary and prompt action is necessary.

Singapore is almost totally reliant on cross-border trade for raw material and food stuffs. W e are also directly affected by the environmental and ecological challenges facing our neighbours. Our small land area and close proximity to neighbouring ASEAN countries makes our economy even more vulnerable to the extremes of climate change and serve to remind us that our environment is tied to the environmental changes of our Southeast Asian neighbours.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) w ith the support of the Government of the United Kingdom recently released a Regional Review of the Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia. Dr Thomson will present highlights from the Singapore contribution to this report.

For more details on the seminar, visit the ISEAS website.

Source: ISEAS

The EU as a Soft Security Actor: Climate Change Policy and Beyond

Speaker: Mr Adrian Taylor, Consultant, 4Sing

Venue: CIT Auditorium, Computer Centre Level 2, Centre for Instructional Technology, National University of Singapore, 2 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore 117584

This public talk is organised by The European Union Centre in Singapore:

The EU is often criticised for its reactive and uncoordinated efforts at a foreign and security policy. Whilst this may be true in the traditional fields of diplomacy and hard security, such a view understates how the EU has increasingly become the leading instrument for EU Member States to conduct their policy in new emerging soft security issues, which embrace challenges ranging from natural resource depletion through climate change to migration. In this respect, the public talk will illustrate how the EU has become a global leader at initiating sovereignty sharing approaches to such problems, and has pushed the global agenda gradually forward. In the run up to Copenhagen, it is therefore interesting to see how the EU has developed this role, and scenarios that could result in over the next few months and years.

The session will begin with an introduction by Mr John Pearson, Head of Climate Change Network in SEA, British Government, drawing attention to the “Implications of climate change on Southeast Asia”, and will provide time for questions and discussion.

Register online at https://esurvey.nus.edu.sg/efm/se.ashx?s=1CC7023E296DB309 before 14 July 2009.

Source: The European Union Centre