Event Details

In a gathering of political, business, and civil society leaders during the recent United Nations Climate Action Summit, 65 of the countries present vowed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Finland, in particular, has pledged its commitment to become carbon neutral by 2035 and carbon-negative in the years following then. According to the Paris Agreement, one of the means to achieve such an ambitious climate goal is through reforestation.


As trees grow, they remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air during the process of photosynthesis. This makes reforestation one of the most effective ways to use nature-based solutions to reduce man-made industrial emissions and limit global warming. In addition to mitigating the effects of climate change, reforestation also plays a role in boosting a nation's economy by providing jobs in forest-based industries. This has been a widely-recognized practice in Finland, where an average of 150 million new trees are planted each year.


The Philippines is among the most biodiverse countries in Southeast Asia. However, the prevalence of deforestation over the years has devastated the country's ecosystem, leading to major soil erosion, lower crop yields, and higher food insecurity. In response to this, several organizations have led replanting initiatives across several provinces.


For reforestation to be truly sustainable, it requires a planned approach where both the public and private sectors collaborate to create innovative policies that foster a healthy environment. In line with this, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), in partnership with the Embassy of Finland in Manila, will be hosting a webinar entitled "Reforestation and Sustainability: Realigning Strategies for Climate Change Mitigation" on 27 June 2022 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM (GMT +8), via Zoom. Experts from various organizations will be sharing their insights and experience on reforestation and the opportunities for the rehabilitation of forest land in the Philippines.




For registration and partnership inquiries, please contact Jiyan Sanico at jiyan.sanico@eccp.com.

Speakers

  • Antti Asikainen (executive vice president at Natural Resources Institute Finland)

    Antti Asikainen

    executive vice president at Natural Resources Institute Finland

    Antti Asikainen is the executive vice president for research in Luke. He has been working as the professor in forest technology (since 2001). His research areas are biomass availability and policy studies, wood harvesting technology and impacts of wood utilization on forests.

    Asikainen was the member of the Finnish Climate Change Panel (2016-2018) and he has contributed to several bioenergy and bioeconomy related policy briefs to National and EU’s decision makers.

    Asikainen coordinated Boreal Green Bioeconomy programme in Luke in 2016-2019. Previously he has been coordinating large forest bioenergy programmes (Bioenergy from forests 2007-2011, ForestEnergy2020 joint research programme (2012-2015). He was nominated in the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry in 2013.

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  • Matt Hill (President and Founder of One Tree Planted)

    Matt Hill

    President and Founder of One Tree Planted

    Matt Hill is the founder and Chief Environmental Evangelist at the reforestation nonprofit, One Tree Planted. After over 15 years as an educator, business leader, and eco-adventurer, he wanted a simple way to help individuals and businesses make real progress towards a more sustainable planet. He started One Tree Planted when he realized that planting trees is one of the simplest things we can do for the environment, while also having a big impact on biodiversity, climate change, and health. That's where the idea for "one dollar, one tree planted" originated, and the rest is history.

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  • Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat (Plant Geneticist at The European Forest Institute in Barcelona)

    Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat

    Plant Geneticist at The European Forest Institute in Barcelona

    Pr Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat is a plant geneticist who has been involved in the field of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration for more than a decade. She has been managing at Saint Joseph University of Beirut a large team of investigators focusing on endemic species conservation and establishing protected areas that harbor endangered species. She co-founded the NGO Jouzour Loubnan, which is responsible for rehabilitating degraded Mediterranean forest ecosystems.
    With a PhD degree from La Sorbonne University-Paris and an accreditation to supervise research (HDR) from Paris Sacaly University, Magda is a professor at Saint Joseph University of Beirut, she was the chair of the Department of Life and Earth Science, and directed the Laboratory of Biodiversity and Functional Genomics at the Faculty of Science (USJ) and has a wide network of international collaborators. She was awarded the UNESCO-L’Oréal for “Women in Science” in 2008, the “Outstanding Woman scientist” by the US program of embassies and consulates in the Middle East region in 2012, and received the Knight’s title in the Order of the Academic Palms from the French Republic in 2021.
    Magda joined lately the Mediterranean Facility of the European Forest Institute in Barcelona as Principal scientist. She is working on defining conservation policies and forest ecosystem restoration strategies in the Mediterranean region to optimize their survival in the context of climate change.

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  • Ruben Mnatsakanian (Head of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at Central European University)

    Ruben Mnatsakanian

    Head of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at Central European University

    Mnatsakanian Ruben, graduate of the Department of Geography of the Moscow State University (1981), Candidate of Geographical Sciences since 1985 (degree- equivalent to PhD). Since 1994 - Professor, in 2000-2015 - Head of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary (since 2020 CEU is based in Vienna, Austria). From 1996 to 2016 - Member of the UN Expert group "Global Environmental Outlook (GEO)", director of CEU/UNEP Collaborating Center, co-author of sections in various GEO reports. Sphere of scientific interests: general ecology, adaptation to climate change, ecological history of the countries of Eastern Europe and the former USSR, education for sustainable development.

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  • H.E. Juha Pyykkö (Ambassador at Embassy of Finland in Manila)

    H.E. Juha Pyykkö

    Ambassador at Embassy of Finland in Manila

    Education

    Diplomatic course at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, 1996
    Master in Science (Politics), Åbo Akademi, Finland, 1996
    Master in Science (Economics), Turku School of Economics and Business Administration, Finland, 1992
    Finnish Matriculation Examination (baccalaureate), 1988

    Work Experience

    Ambassador of Finland to the Philippines, November 2020 -
    Senior Adviser, Department for Americas and Asia, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, September-October 2020
    Ambassador of Finland to Greece and Albania, 2017 – end-August 2020

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Tickets

ECCP Members
Standard Price Complimentary
₱500
ECCP Non-Members
Standard Price ₱1,000