Climate Asia annual conference to focus on building a sustainable legacy

The conference will explore the intersection of climate change with gender, green careers, mental health, public health, and philanthropy. The conference will feature distinguished speakers with rich experience in energy, policy research, entrepreneurship, capital mobilisation, and more.

"Climate change is an urgent and complex issue that requires a collective effort to be addressed. Our annual conference provides a platform for experts, professionals, and stakeholders to come together and share their insights and experiences in tackling climate change. This year's conference will focus on some of the most pressing issues at the intersection of climate change, including gender-sensitive approaches, green careers, mental health, public health, and climate philanthropy. We hope to inspire and catalyze action towards a more sustainable and resilient future for all,” Satyam Vyas, founder of Climate Asia.

The first panel of the conference, Paving the way for green careers: Building a sustainable future, will focus on the opportunities and challenges in the climate sector, the future of work, and the research landscape. The speakers for this panel include Parveen Dhamija (Skill Council for Green Jobs), Sabina Dewan (JustJobs Network), Debajit Palit (NSB-NTPC School of Business), Nidhisha Philip (Acumen), and Rahul Balakrishnan (Arthan) as the moderator.

The second panel, Enhancing resilience and mitigation through gender-sensitive approaches, will highlight the disproportionate impact of climate-related natural disasters on women and underscore the need for strategies that integrate a gender-sensitive perspective into climate resilience and mitigation efforts. The panelists include Dr Indu Murthy (Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy), Mansiben Shah (Self-Employed Women’s Association, SEWA), Sona Mitra (IWWAGE), and Aarti Khosla (Climate Trends), with Aiswarya Ananthapadmanabhan (Women at Work, Arthan) as the moderator.

The third panel of the conference, The intersection of public health, mental health, and climate: challenges and opportunities for vulnerable communities, will emphasise the specific strategies related to greater resilience of public health systems, the importance of addressing mental health in a changing climate, and the challenges and opportunities for vulnerable communities. The speakers include Raj Mariwala (Mariwala Health Initiative), Arun Sharma (University College of Medical Sciences), Abha Dandekar (Elephant in the Room Consulting, Raintree Family Office, and Raintree Foundation), and Shahaab Javeri (SELCO Foundation), with Koushik Yanamandram (Climate Asia) as the moderator.

The fourth panel, Navigating climate philanthropy: scaling impact and driving change, will delve deeper into the climate philanthropy landscape, the necessity to bring climate actors together, and simplifying the discourse around climate mitigation and adaptation, among other topics. The speakers for this panel are Aparna Khandelwal (India Climate Collaborative), Siddharth Chaturvedi (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), and Moutushi Sengupta (AVPN), with Satyam Vyas (Climate Asia) as the moderator.

These panels on green careers, gender-sensitive approaches, public health, mental health, and climate philanthropy will emphasise the initiatives, success stories, upskilling opportunities, gender lens into climate change projects, and policies in these crucial areas. 

Climate Asia (www.climateasia.org) is on a mission to foster human capital and inspire future leaders in climate action, focusing on building the institutional capacity of NGOs. Recognising the urgent need to create a sustainable future for work amidst the global climate crisis, Climate Asia aims to bridge human capital gaps in the climate space while prioritizing inclusivity and equity.