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Topic: "Actions towards Net-zero Construction and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)"
Synopsis of the academic forum is available below.
Panel Chair: Eur Ing Dr Phebe Mann
Eur Ing Dr Phebe Mann, the Chair of ICE London and Bradford College Honorary Fellow, is the first woman engineer of ethnic origin appointed by the Lord Chancellor to the Upper Tribunal Transport Jurisdiction, General Regulatory Chamber Transport, Information Rights and Estate Agents Jurisdictions, and Agricultural Land Tribunal for Wales, United Kingdom. In recognition of her professional achievements in engineering, Phebe was awarded WISE Woman of Outstanding Achievement in 2011, Telegraph/WES-Top50 Woman in Engineering 2018, Women in Housing Professional of the Year finalist 2019. Her research areas include serious educational games, sustainable design and innovation, BIM, transportation, planning law and Disputes Resolution. As University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership Alumna, Phebe supports their work in the lead up to COP27 in tackling climate crisis and nature emergency.
Panellist 1: Datuk Seri Dr Michael Yam
Datuk Seri Dr Michael Yam is the President of the UK-headquartered Chartered Institute of Building, a 188 year professional institution with 47,000 members globally. In the past, Michael was the Managing Director of two different award winning property companies public-listed on Bursa Malaysia with investments in the UK, Australia and South Africa. Shortly after his early retirement, he sat on the boards of 4 different public listed companies and an international bank as an independent non-executive director. He is currently the Chairman of InvestKL Corporation and several investment and private equity firms. He is also a guest lecturer and an Adjunct Professor at two local Universities in Malaysia. He is the Chancellor of the University of Wollongong Malaysia, a Past President and Patron of REHDA and was conferred the honorary doctorate of the Heriot-University.
Panellist 2: Dr. Alex Opoku
Dr Alex Opoku is currently an Associate Professor in Quantity Surveying & Construction Project Management with many years of experience working in the Higher Education sector in the UK and abroad. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Chartered Quantity Surveyor (MRICS) and Chartered Construction Manager (MCIOB), having worked in the UK construction industry. He is an established academic with international credentials and holds a PhD in Construction & Project Management from the University of Salford-Manchester. He pursued postdoctoral research at the department of Engineering, University of Cambridge. His research interest is in the area of Sustainable Built Environment focusing on the link between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Built Environment.
Panellist 3: Ir. Gandhi Suppiah
Ir Gandhi Suppiah, the Chair of ICE Malaysia, is also the South East Asia Regional Director and Principal for TSA Management. Gandhi is an experienced professional civil engineer with global proficiency in the design, construction and asset management of the built environment, a sustainability and ESG Leader, and Decarbonisation Champion. Gandhi is also an expert in Smart Infrastructure Technology and Bridge Design Leader.
Synopsis of the Academic Forum
“COP26 ‘talked the talk’
COP27 aims to ‘walk the walk’
Transform vision into manifest and quantifiable actions”
Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Presidential Theme,
Datuk Seri Dr Michael Yam
As an Advisory Board member of the ICECon2022 themed “Upscaling Civil Engineering for Sustainable Future”, Dr Mann has no excuse to turn a blind eye to the 27th UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP27).
COP27 needs to turn the 26th UN Conference of the Parties (COP26) objectives into actions. COP27 aims to achieve four evolved goals: Mitigation, Adaption, Finance and Collaboration.
Mitigation: Reducing emissions.
Through the Carbon Project, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) identifies areas to improve and update PAS 2080, the first standard on carbon management in infrastructure. CIOB is publishing a Sustainability Guide to aid professionals whether Clients, Project Managers, Contractors, Asset Managers or Researchers to navigate through the green agenda, to be adopted and adapted by various nations around the globe.
All professionals involved in the Strategic, Conceptualisation, Design, Financing, Procurement, Construction, Operations, Management and Decommission phases of projects must embed and thread appropriate sustainability standards into the entire life cycle of the assets.
Witnessing recent fires, floods and natural disasters around the world, it is in everyone’s interest to commit and ultimately achieve the sustainability standards set, not an “if” but rather a “when”.
Adaptation: Scaling-up adaptation.
Infrastructure design needs to prepare for extremes of heat, wind, flood or drought.
Claire Rose, ICE London Vice Chair, led a response to the consultation on Transport for London (TfL) Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion, supporting sustainable highways as part of a wider transport system. ULEZ expansion encourages faster adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles leading to lower emissions.
Finance: Investing in sustainable infrastructures.
Clean infrastructure investment solves long term decarbonisation issues to achieve net-zero by 2050 (Steve Lee, ICE London Past Chair):
Choice of green materials, innovation, value chain decarbonisation
Policies and regulations to focus investment on meeting carbon targets
The 12th Malaysian Plan is Malaysia’s target to become a carbon-neutral country by 2050
public investment US$ 91.6 billion to advancing sustainability
increase renewable energy capacity to 40% by 2035
develop green mobility solutions and sustainable and resilient cities
lay the foundation for a circular economy.
Collaboration: Putting humans at the centre of working together for resilient and sustainable economies.
At COP26, the UK offered collaborative support for Malaysia £110m ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility, for sustainable infrastructure e.g. renewable energy, clean transportation and urban infrastructure.
Our Response to COP27 “walk the walk”,
Contribute practical ways to adapt buildings and resilience, strengthen nature-based solutions, support low-carbon city planning, promote sustainable transport, enlarge renewable energy generation and mobilise green finance …
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