ESG & Climate Resilience Summit Theme: Geospatial Technology for Climate: Accelerating the Transition to a Sustainable Green Economy

15-16 May 2024

Agenda

0930 - 1045 Session 1: Space for Earth

Session Highlight

Given the urgency of preserving our Planet, simultaneously running businesses, what are we doing to create knowledge and information to take action on the same? And where must we take action? One of the best answers lie in Satellite data. Building 'Earth' data and knowledge through Earth Observation has served various purposes and is indispensable. How far is EO developed and developing to take up the challenge of developing resilient economies?
  • The importance of satellite derived data and insights for monitoring Earth.
  • Satellite data and analytics for climate change quantification.
  • Capturing pertinent data from space and their applications and trends.
  • Recording risks for environmentally sustainable growth.
  • Exploring the transformative journey of Earth Observation (EO) data from its traditional applications to the forefront of Climate Resilience.
  • Emphasize the need for a shift towards leveraging EO for building resilient economies.

Keynote Address

Grzegorz Wrochna

President
Polish Space Agency - POLSA
Poland

Pooja Mahapatra

Principal Advisor - Climate & Nature
Fugro
The Netherlands

John P. Wilson

USC Professor and Founding Director
Spatial Sciences Institute, University of Southern California
USA

Gabriela Seiz

Senior Advisor
Seiz SG Advisory (on behalf of World Geospatial Industry Council WGIC)
Switzerland

Yeji Choi

SI Analytics
Head of Earth Intelligence Division
South Korea

Benson Kenduiywo

Geospatial Scientist and East Africa Lead Climate Security
Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
Kenya

1045 - 1130 Session 2: The Differentiators of Sustainability and ESG

Session Highlight

Sustainability is a multifaceted concept encompassing various dimensions, with environmental sustainability forming just one facet and includes the SDGs. Within organizational contexts, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings serve as specific, quantifiable metrics capable of forecasting future growth and profitability. ESG criteria represent a subset of broader sustainability metrics intricately linked to financial performance. How can one differentiate between sustainability-oriented processes from ESG processes?
  • Introduction to sustainability and ESG and their differentiating factors.
  • Sustainability standards, SDGs and ESG Standards.
  • Overlapping Sustainability and ESG ideas.
  • Delineated Sustainability and ESG processes.
  • Theirs structures and manifestations for corporate functioning and re-orientation.
  • The requirement of ESG adoption with available strategies and moving ahead & beyond.
  • A light on overlap of Geospatial data for Sustainability and ESG.

Moderator

Anandi Mathur

Product Development Executive
Geospatial World
India

Tim Trainor

Former President
US Census Bureau
USA

Raj Kumar Khatri

Former Additional Chief Secretary
Government of Karnataka, GoI
India

Ondrej Mirovsky

Senior Sustainability Expert
PowerHUB, Technology centre Prague
Czech Republic

Francesca Piatto

Project Officer
EARSC
Belgium

1130 - 1230 Visit to Exhibition & Tea/Coffee Break
Visit to Exhibition & Tea/Coffee Break | Sponsored by : Marble Imaging
1230 - 1330 Lunch
1330 - 1500 Session 3: The ESG Pillars

Session Highlight

This session will be about businesses cooperating with the current environment, people and resource availability. Delve into business continuity risks from climate change limitations, processes to create mitigation steps through decarbonization, geospatial technologies, climate risk modelling, data collection, monitoring, and environmental scoring for sustainable business practices and resilience. Measuring relationships with stakeholders and how that is managed, matters a great deal towards maintaining the created value and culture and envisioned business goals. This entails estimating direct impact of non-financial materiality such as social and governance considerations. Where does spatial intelligence come in?
  • Decarbonisation and attaining net-zero emissions for mitigating climate risks and a.
  • Discover opportunities with Geospatial technologies for the E pillar.
  • Climate Risks are Business Risks, assessing them with climate risk modelling.
  • Data Collection technology and tools to approaching environmental impact assessment.
  • Monitoring and disclosing resource utilisation, waste and negative impact generation on environment.
  • Utilising existing data and newer satellite data for improved reporting.
  • Environmental scoring by addressing physical, liability and transitional risks due to climate change.
  • Intensifying efforts for improved business leadership on ESG and its specific skills.
  • Addressing business risks from governance impacts from compliance of international and local laws.
  • Business strategy assessments for securing physical assets and operations of a company to mitigate social and governance risks.
  • Possibility of geospatial data usage in tracking social impacts on supply chain transparency, community engagement, and health and safety.

Sheila Steinberg

Director Geospatial Institute
UMass Global
USA

Alberto Meroni

Business Development Manager - Imagery and Remote Sensing
Esri
Italy

Jimena Blanco

Chief Analyst
Verisk Maplecroft
Spain

Markel Aramberri

Business Development Manager
Satlantis
Spain

Katarzyna Derkowska

Senior Ore and Economy Geology Specialist
Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute (PGI-NRI)
Poland

Anna Januszewska

Junior Ore and Economy Geology Specialist
Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute (PGI-NRI)
Poland

1500 - 1600 Tea/Coffee Break & Visit to Exhibition
1600 - 1730 Session 4: ESG adoption via Geospatial and Allied Technology

Session Highlight

Leveraging geospatial and allied technology presents a promising avenue for augmenting Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) adoption. With mapping, satellite imagery, and data analytics, businesses can gain unprecedented insights into environmental impact assessments, supply chain transparency, and social risk management. This integration enhances corporate accountability, ultimately driving the alignment of business objectives with ESG principles for resilient business future.
  • Risk assessments from AI predictive analytics powered models.
  • Trend and forecasts on ESG data for the future via AI.
  • The potential of AI and digital transformation in any sector, especially for socio-ecological transition.
  • Geospatial intelligence and AI forming a package for ESG Reporting implementation.
  • Blockchain's automated ESG reporting advantage and credibility of traceability.
  • Eliminating data irregularities and inaccuracies through intelligent data supplied by Earth Observation.

Hugo de Groof

Retired official European Commission DG ENV
European Commission
Belgium

Jonathan Horn

Founder and CEO
Treefera
UK

Thomas Blaschke

Head of Department of Geoinformatics
University of Salzburg
Austria

Naveen Kondamudi

Consulting Partner leading the PLM Consulting Practice
TCS
India

Matthew Law

GIS Consultant
Mott MacDonald
UK

0930 - 1030 Session 5: Attaining Climate Resilience

Session Highlight

Utilize finance mechanisms, public-private partnerships, and ESG integration to tackle climate risks, drive innovation, and foster sustainability, leveraging collaborative efforts and tailored financing models for transformative impact.
  • Climate Finance and funding by mobilizing capital fuel.
  • Public-private Partnerships that enable resilience and encourage sustainability.
  • PPPs- a toolkit for serving resources, actors, and networks and benefitting the public from climate risks.
  • Highlight climate risk priorities of governments, assess collaborative efforts and illustrate partnership success between governments, organizations and private entities.
  • Incorporating ESG considerations into investment decisions for long-term value.
  • Analyzing the transformative impact of government-driven initiatives involving ESG on financial landscapes.
  • Discuss the role of these partnerships in shaping policies, driving innovation, and fostering a culture of sustainability.
  • Intergovernmental Agencies and collaborative efforts towards climate change mitigation.
  • Financing models tailored to support sustainable projects.
  • Leveraging financial instruments to actively support the transition to a low-carbon economy and addressing the challenges.
  • Collaborative risk-sharing approaches between public and private entities.
  • Finance for ESG.

Moderator

Alessandro Annoni

President
International Society for Digital Earth
Italy

Keynote Address

Marc Serres

CEO
Luxembourg Space Agency
Luxembourg

Ashraf Abushady

Senior Advisor - Digital Transformation and AI
UNIDO
Belgium

Adnan Abdulrahman Alalyani

Director for Environmental Technologies
NCEC
Saudi Arabia

Saurabh Rai

CEO
Arahas Technologies
India

Simon Colton

Business Development Director - Sustainable Solutions
SGS
The Netherlands

1030 - 1130 Session 6: Monitoring Forests

Session Highlight

Our major lifelines include forest covers. Their preservation, monitoring and maintenance becomes extremely important. Government departments, non-profit organizations are taking the lead for the same. In light of the recent regulations surrounding ethical sourcing from forests and usage of forest resources, what tools can companies use to evaluate compliance of such rules? This session will discuss how satellite imageries and Geospatial technology enable these processes that aim to safeguard forest integrity.

Rodolfo Orozco-Galvez

Deputy General Director, Natural Resources and Environment
INEGI
Mexico

Laise Harris

Senior Researcher Informatics and Programme Lead Land Mapping
Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research
New Zealand

Refiz Duro

Scientist
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
Austria

Co-presenter

Jorn Dallinga

Program Manager
WWF
The Netherlands

Co-presenter

Anneke van Abbema

Manager IT & Information Management
WWF
The Netherlands

Brian Pendergast

Customer Success Manager
UP42
Germany

1130 - 1200 Networking Break
1200 - 1300 Session 7: Climate Resilience in Different Sectors

Session Highlight

Earth Observation data can inform climate resilient practices and contribute to the long-term health of various sectors. Prioritizing foundational securities in water, and biodiversity systems, glacial and spring systems and many more. Transformation for resilience for the following sectors will be discussed in this session.
  • Oceans and coasts
  • Water systems
  • Resilient Urban cities
  • Transport and Infrastructure

Keynote Address

William Gilles

Cofounder and President
IMODEV
France

Dato Gs Azhar Ismail

CEO
MAP2U SDN BHD
Malaysia

Parya Pasha Zadeh

Director and Co-Founder
Marmoris
The Netherlands

Mila Koeva

Associate Professor
University of Twente
The Netherlands

Peter B. Boucher

Climate Data Scientist, Science & Infrastructure Operations (SIO)
Leidos
USA

1300 - 1400 Lunch

Overview

Amidst undeniable evidence of anthropogenic climate change and international treaties spotlighting the urgency, slow transition to a green economy exacerbates temperature rise, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. This inertia amplifies climate risks, deepens poverty for 120 million people in the last three years and hinders progress toward UN SDGs by 2030. The path to a net-zero world offers a transformative opportunity for sustainable economic growth, contingent on substantial long-term investments, innovative economic models, and technology-driven solutions. Geospatial technology, a cornerstone, facilitates precise climate analysis, adaptative strategies, and inclusive economic development yet to be harnessed for maximum impact.

Missed the Abstract Submission Deadline? No Worries! It's not too late to be a part of this transformative event. Reach out to us at papers@geospatialworldforum.org.

TARGET SEGMENTS

Key actors from institutions, governments, cities and communities
Private sector
Civil society
Policymakers
Researchers
Economist
Investors
Climate influencers
Development Authorities
Technology and platform providers
End Users