2024 Seoul Debates

Empowering Climate Action with Digital Technologies: How to initiate lasting and inclusive change to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

October 7, 2024

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The climate crisis will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable countries and populations. To drive effective climate action, digital technologies play a crucial role, with both opportunities and limits. They can enable critical mitigation efforts, such as improving the reliability of low-carbon energy and smart electric grids, while also supporting resilience strategies, by helping prevent and manage natural risks and disasters through tools like satellite data or early-warning systems.

Recognizing the crucial role of digital technologies in driving both climate mitigation efforts and resilience strategies, the 2024 Seoul Debates will focus on "Empowering Climate Action with Digital Technologies: How to initiate lasting and inclusive change to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals", based on advanced technologies from the Republic of Korea, that can benefit developing nations. The Seoul Debates contribute to promoting UNDP’s thought leadership and shaping USPC’s policy strategy and further refining its SDG Partnership portfolio. These debates focus on sharing the Republic of Korea’s proven policy solutions with developing countries. The event will serve as an incubator for USPC’s new SDG Partnerships on green recovery and transition portfolio.

The 2024 Seoul Debates will be co-organized in Seoul on 16 October 2024 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Seoul Policy Centre and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. By drawing on Korea's experiences and lessons learned, the event will facilitate dynamic knowledge exchanges and support the adaptation of this expertise in partner countries.

Event Details

16 October 2024, 09:00AM - 18:30PM (Seoul time, GMT+9)

Simultaneous interpretation (ENG ↔ KOR) will be provided. 한↔영 동시통역이 제공됩니다.

Session	Speaker
Opening ceremony	Anne Juepner \| Director of UNDP Seoul Policy Centre Insun Kang \| 2nd Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea Achim Steiner \| UNDP Administrator
Session 1: Leveraging innovation for sustainable and low-carbon energy	Moderator: Riad Meddeb \| Director, UNDP Sustainable Energy Hub Seunghyo Choi \| Deputy Director, Division of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Trade, Investment and Energy, Republic of Korea Gothami Gannoruwa \| Director General, Planning, Ministry of Power and Energy, Sri Lanka Hee Kim \| Chief of Carbon Neutral Strategy / Executive Vice President, POSCO Holdings Semee Yoon \| Assistant Professor, Seoul National University
Session 2: Integrating climate impact and risks into financial policy	Moderator: Radhika Lal \| SDG Finance Policy Advisor & Team Lead, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub Gyusu Kim \| Deputy General Manager, Korea Environment Corporation (K-Eco) Munkhbaht Duusuren \| Advisor, Integrated Investment Policy and Coordination Department, Ministry of Economy and Development, Mongolia Zhao Xiaolu \| Climate Director, Environmental Defense Fund, China Inwoo Jung \| Senior Manager, Ackerton Partners, SK Inc C&C Louise Kim \| Director of Sustainable Finance, ING Bank N.V.
Session 3: Unleashing digital public infrastructure (DPI) to improve sustainable forestry and carbon sinks	Moderator: Joonwoo Park \| Head of Office, UNDP Isiro, DR Congo Jintaek Kang \| Senior Research Official, National Institute of Forest Science, Republic of Korea Wookyun Lee \| Professor, Korea University Tessia Boateng \| MRV Officer, Climate Change Division, Ghana Forestry Commission Hyung-soo Kim \| CEO, Tree Planet Reina Otsuka \| Lead for Digital and Nature, Nature Hub and Climate Hub, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS), UNDP
Session 4: Achieving circular economy and fighting plastic pollution through innovation	Moderator: Anderson Alves \| Regional Technical Advisor, UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Hub Minah Kim \| Director, International Environmental Cooperation Center, Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) Inhee Chung \| Vice President, Corporate Sustainability Center, Samsung Electronics Sewon Park \| Research Fellow, Issue Research Team, Division of Strategic Research, Seoul Institute Daru Setyorini \| Executive Director, Ecoton, Indonesia
Fireside chat: Intergenerational dialogue - Reflections from the past and future on climate action	Moderator: Oren Schlein \| Head of UNICEF Seoul Liaison Office Yoonhee Ha \| Professor, Korea University Sieun Lee \| National Programme Officer, Humanitarian Response and Climate Change, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Namsoo Kim \| Senior Research Fellow, Korea Research Institute for Environment and Development Amna Saher \| PhD Student, Department of Environmental Science & Ecological Engineering, Korea University

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English