Special Themes

Investing in the Tropics

YBhg. Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah AO Founder and Chairman, Sunway Group

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Key points:

Investment is not only the act of pouring money, effort, time and other resources into a profitable venture, sometimes it can be not doing something, yet gaining a return. In the words of the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu “ act without action ” . In this context, preservation of our natural resources can also be an investment.

In the past, we did not recognise the value of peatlands to our ecosystem and built over them in the name of progress. Now we know that these areas serve as carbon sinks and play a vital role in combating climate change. Just by leaving these areas untouched is a positive contribution and form of investment for the future.

Surely, the Tropics are owed some form of investment from the rich countries for doing our part in helping ensure the very survival of humanity through the untouched carbon sinks in the region.

In fact, the carbon stock within Southeast Asia would be valued at USD 6.8 trillion according to the recommended carbon tax rate by the IPCC.

A fund similar to the UN Green Climate fund can go a long way towards much needed investment in public goods across the region.

What if we developed brownfields instead of green fields? Sunway City, Kuala Lumpur is an example of landscape rehabilitation where abandoned and disused mining pools were transformed into Malaysia ’ s first integrated green township.

The Sunway group is founded on the concept of sustainable development and has contributed to the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It has established the Sunway Center for Planetary Health and will establish the UNSDSN Asia headquarters at Sunway.

Sunway firmly believes that building a sustainable future is not the responsibility of governments alone, it requires the commitment of all elements of society: the private sector, academia, civil society and of course every single individual.

Climate Change in the Tropics

PANELLISTSPANELLISTS

Prof. Dr Mark Howden

The Australian National University , Australia

Prof. Dr Joy Jacqueline Pereira

SEADPRI-Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

Dr Renzo Guinto

Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, Malaysia

MODERATORMODERATOR Alizan Mahadi

Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia

Sustainable Tropical Agriculture in a Climate of Change Click here to view speaker ' s presentation

Global Warming of 1.5°C and the Tropics Click here to view speaker ' s presentation

Decolonisation and Climate Change Click here to view speaker ' s presentation

Climate Change and Tropical Biodiversity Click here to view speaker ' s presentation

Prof. Dr Richard Corlett

Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Prof. Dr Rita R. Colwell

Oceans, Climate, and Human Health: Cholera, COVID-19, and the Next Pandemic

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Climate Change in the Tropics

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Limiting global warming to 1.5°C temperature increase requires changes on an unprecedented scale such as deep emission cuts in all sectors, a range of technologies, behavioural changes and increased investment in low carbon options.

Heat stress has impacts on all aspects of agriculture. Based on the projected high emission scenario towards the end of the century, the tropics will experience heat stress days almost every day.

Tropical vegetation has a major impact on global carbon storage and cycling, and this is vulnerable to climate change.

In the tropics, the greatest impacts of climate change have been on mountains, where glaciers have shrunk on the highest peaks and both plants and animals have moved upslope, and on coral reefs, where mass bleaching episodes have coincided with sea-surface temperature extremes.

Using data obtained from satellites, a disease prediction model for cholera linking chlorophyll and sea surface temperatures was developed. Sunlight and warming cause algal blooms which have an impact on the vectors of the bacteria that cause cholera.

The colonisation of climate negotiations mostly affects those from poor countries. We should dig deeper to address the root problems that result in asymmetries of power manifested in climate negotiations.

Youth Resilience in the Tropics

PANELLISTSPANELLISTS

Dr Clarissa Rios Rojas

Centre for the Study of Existential Risk University of Cambridge

Kee Beom Kim

International Labor Organisation Switzerland

Dr Terri-Ann Gilbert-Roberts

Commonwealth Secretariat United Kingdom

MODERATORMODERATOR

Dr Vellapandian Ponnusamy

Institute for Youth Research Malaysia, Malaysia

The Importance of Youth Involvement in Science in the Tropics

Youth Employment Trends in the Tropics Click here to view speaker ' s presentation

Youth in the Tropics: Evidence from the Global Youth Development Index Click here to view speaker ' s presentation

Zawad Alam

Team Lead, Project WE Movers Envoy

Youth Grassroots Movement to Address Climate Change

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Key points:

Tropical countries are making slow but positive progress in youth development, however they are still generally lagging behind the global averages in terms of peace and security, health and well-being, equality and inclusion, and employment and opportunity.

The Youth Development Index (YDI) indicators and domains provide evidence that can support policy-making by monitoring the progress of SDGs ’ completion, identifying issues, and looking for corresponding solutions.

There should be partnerships between a wide range of stakeholders including national statistical offices and youth departments to deepen the research and promote the development of national YDIs.

The share of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET) is much higher for young women than young men, tropical regions show gender discrepancies as high as 20%.

Young people benefit less than adults from response measures like job retention policies undertaken by countries around the world and youth labour markets are recovering more slowly.

Curriculum on climate issues should be included in primary level education because there are many vulnerable people living in the rural areas who have no knowledge about climate issues at all.

Open Science for Tropical Biodiversity

Prof Em. Mazlan Othman FASc

Academy of Sciences Malaysia

PANELLISTSPANELLISTS CO-MODERATORSCO-MODERATORS

Dr Simon Hodson

ISC-CODATA

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Dr Alice Hughes

Chinese Academy of Sciences

The Need for Comprehensive Biodiversity Data Sharing in the Tropics Click here to view speaker ' s presentation

Dr Anang Setiawan Achmadi

National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia

Tim Hirsch

Global Biodiversity Information Facility

Open Science for Biodiversity Data in Indonesia Click here to view speaker ' s presentation

GBIF: Towards Open Data for Tropical Biodiversity Click here to view speaker ' s presentation

Open Science for Tropical Biodiversity

Key points: Click here to watch the full video

Open science aims to maximise the benefit of science for society through data sharing that can increase efficiency and save significant cost.

The data need to be open by default – as open as possible and as closed as necessary.

The Tropics is the most diverse region in the world with plenty of threatened species. Using data and open science may overcome the psychological and behavioural barriers to conservation.

Current biodiversity data is inconsistent and biased. We need to collate better and more representative data to understand where species are to better inform policy and management.

To promote open science, we need to engage with individual countries/institutions/communities and show how shared data is used and cited. We need to provide incentives, grants and recognition to scientists and institutions who share data and require data from publicly funded research to be shared. We also need to reduce political boundaries to data sharing.

There needs to be a risk-benefit analysis on data sharing. Sensitive/rare species data should be shared when necessary for research and conservation efforts, and at a resolution that does not facilitate illegal practices such as poaching.

It may be difficult to centralise/integrate biodiversity data from different countries, however, a standardised format may enable the data from different regions to be shared on different platforms.