Joost van Acht, Managing Director, Caspervandertak Consulting SE ASIA (Singapore)
Joost van Acht is an experienced international carbon consultant with over 5 years experience in the carbon markets and close to 8 years working experience in Asia. He has been involved in the development of 100+ Carbon Projects covering a wide range of sectors and countries including China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore and India. Besides his activities in the CDM market he has been engaged in carbon advisory assignments for the Asian Development Bank and the Dutch and Danish governments as well as strategic advisory assessments for private sector technology companies. He has worked previously on carbon footprint assignments in India, Indonesia and Singapore. Joost is in his role as Managing Director SE Asia responsible for CVDT’s Carbon advisory activities in South East Asia.

Esther An, Head (Corporate Social Responsibility) & Deputy General Manager, Corporate Affairs , City Developments Limited

Ms Esther An joined City Developments Limited (CDL) in 1995 to set up the company's Corporate Communication portfolio.   She’s instrumental in building up CDL as a pioneer in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The company’s relentless efforts in embracing CSR for business excellence have won many accolades such as Asian CSR Awards, BCA Built Environment Leadership Award, President’s Award for the Environment.  CDL is honored to be the only Singapore developer listed on the London FTSE4Good Index since 2002.  In 2009, CDL was ranked top in Singapore and 22nd amongst 200 top listed companies in Asia in the Asian Sustainability Rating conducted by CSR Asia. 

Sitting on board the Management Committee of Singapore Compact on CSR, Esther has been active in promoting CSR to businesses, students and the community at large. 

Patrick Chan Kwang Peng, Director, Industry Development Singapore Business Federation
Patrick Chan holds the position of Director of Industry Development at Singapore Business Federation (SBF) where he spearheads the development of the SBF Sustainable Development Business Group (SDBG) and the SBF-TP Clean Energy Testbedding Community (CETC). He is also responsible for SBF collaboration with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and A*Star in the area of business, manpower and technology capacity building, and serves on the advisory board of the NUS-SPRING Singapore-SBF Business Advisors Program.

Prior to that, Patrick was Assistant General Manager at Corporate Brokers International, an investment and private equity company and co-chairman of Start-Up@Singapore, a national level program that nurtures start-ups and technology ventures through business plan competition, business incubation and funding. Patrick had held various management and leadership positions at NUS Enterprise, KPMG Consulting’s Banking & Finance and Web/Wireless Enterprise Solutions Consultancy and Singapore Airlines (SIA) where he started as an SIA scholar.

Overseas, Patrick had consulted for Citibank and Jebsen and Jessen in Hong Kong and had also been headhunted by Siemens Corporate Technology to serve as a venture technologist based in Shanghai responsible for business incubation and technology commercialization across Asia Pacific.

Patrick currently serves as a founding exco member of Bioenergy Society of Singapore and is the Vice President of National University of Singapore MBA Alumni and also as an advisor to Cleantech Partners Pte Ltd. He had previously served on the executive committees of Singapore Enterprise Chapter of Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), Wireless Chapter in Singapore Computer Society (SCS), and Singapore chapter of Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA).

Patrick is a Competent Toastmaster by Toastmasters International and is also a former ASEAN scholar and holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Degree (Second Upper) and an MBA from the National University of Singapore, during which he spent one exchange semester at University of Wisconsin Madison.

Yee Chow, MSc, MEng (Hons), Carbon Consultant, Building System and Diagnostics Pte Ltd
Yee Chow holds a Masters in Environmental Technology from Centre for Environmental Policy (CEP), Imperial College London and a Masters in Architectural Engineering. He has more than 5 years research and consultancy experience in carbon management, renewable energy, climate change policy and sustainable buildings sector. He is currently co-ordinating the development of a carbon calculator as part of a research project funded by the Building Construction Authority of Singapore.

Prior to joining BSD as its Carbon Consultant, Yee Chow served as an Energy & Sustainability Consultant Scott Wilson Group plc in UK where he was involved in numerous renewable energy and carbon analysis studies. He was appointed Project Co-ordinator responsible for developing a methodology for Changi Airport’s carbon footprinting study.

He also participates actively in researches involving life cycle carbon, renewable energy, policy and sustainability issues. He has published and presented at a number of international conferences, notably, International Journal of Low Carbon Technologies 2009 (Chow, Y 2009, Utilising District Energy System as a Cost Effective Measure in Reducing Carbon), and World Sustainable Building Conference (Chow, Y 2008, How ‘Zero’ is a ‘Zero Carbon’ Home?- A Life Cycle  Assessment of a ‘Zero Carbon’ Home).

Darrell Farley, Principal Consultant, EnviroSolutions & Consulting
Darrell Farley is a Principal Consultant with EnviroSolutions & Consulting (ESC), a Singapore-based multi-disciplinary environmental consultancy with offices in Indonesia and Malaysia and affiliate offices in Hong Kong, Australia, Europe, USA and China.  Darrell has been employed within the
environmental sector for more than 15 years and has been with ESC since 2004 and manages 'Carbon Calculation, Reporting & Advisory Services' to ESC clients operating across South East Asia.  ESC provides a personal and professional service to their clients ensuring that they are properly advised about the positive benefits that can be derived from the accurate calculation and disclosure of carbon footprints for specific products or the entire range of company activities.

Friederike Jebens, Partnership Manager , Carbon Disclosure Project
As partnership manager for the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) global operations, Friederike works with organisations around the world to help expand CDP’s reach and promote voluntary carbon reporting internationally. Prior to joining CDP, she worked for the South African consultancy Incite Sustainability and engaged with corporate and governmental institutions on diverse projects around sustainable development, including a project on SCP indicators on behalf of UNEP, and strategy work with leading local businesses. Friederike also worked in environmental management for two major South African retailers and has had experience working with several German manufacturing companies. Her academic background is in business (“Betriebswirtschaftslehre Diplom”, MBA) with studies in both Germany and South Africa.

Rebecca Lewis, Responsible Investment Analyst, Responsible Research
Rebecca Lewis is a Responsible Investment Analyst at Responsible Research, an independent provider of sectoral and thematic Asian Environment, Social and Governance research, targeted at global institutional investors. She is the author of the upcoming report ‘Green Buildings in Asia’, which has identified the market forces and external factors driving the move to green buildings in Asia and the companies poised to take advantage of the opportunities presented by increased environmental awareness in the Real Estate sector.

Rebecca has built on 9 years of experience in both the public and private sector by completing an MBA at INSEAD. She has undertaken independent research projects for the United Nations Global Compact on the engagement of the private sector on climate change and has experience implementing sustainable development projects throughout South East Asia. Rebecca has a Masters Degree from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.

Marie Morice, Director of CSR Asia Singapore office
Marie is responsible for developing relationships with key clients, business development and leading on consultancy projects especially in the areas of benchmarking, environmental and climate change services. Marie joined CSR Asia from ACTE, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, where she was heading its Global CSR Program, to encourage the take up of more responsible and sustainable practices in the business travel industry. She brings an experience of five years working in the corporate sector and five years in the environmental NGO / Governmental sector.

Marie started her career in the IT industry, working for a range of start ups and larger software companies, overseeing the overall business development, lead generation and sales processes as Marketing and Communication Manager. In 2004, after a year travelling in Asia, Marie joined WWF-UK to coordinate high profile lobbying and advocacy campaigns on public health issues, climate change regulation and corporate carbon disclosure, in partnership with the Carbon Disclosure Project. She then joined Campaigns for Better Transport to develop and head a Business Network Program for the UK Department for Transport, as part of ACT on CO2, the cross-governmental climate change campaign, to engage large companies on sustainable travel issues.

Marie has a BA in European Economics and an MSc in Environmental Management, Imperial College, London.

John Pearson, Head, SE Asia Climate Change Network, British High Commission Singapore
John Pearson is Head of the British Government’s network on climate change in South East Asia. Based at the British High Commission in Singapore, he has held the position since September 2008.

John joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1990. He has held a variety of positions in London, including working in the FCO’s Non-Proliferation Department, United Nations Department and Environment Policy Department.

His first posting was to Madrid, from 1992-94. From 1996-2000 he worked at the British Embassy in Brasilia, where he covered human rights and environmental issues. From 2005-2008 he was Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay. Before arriving in Singapore he worked on climate change issues at the British Embassy in Jakarta.

His first degree was a BSc in Geography from the University of Nottingham, where he specialised in coastal environments and air pollutants. He also has an MA in International Peace and Security from King’s College, London, where he wrote his dissertation on ‘Climate Change and the Implications for International Peace and Security’.         

Mr Thomas Thomas, Executive director, Singapore Compact for CSR

Thomas Thomas is Executive Director of the Singapore Compact for CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), which serves as the national CSR society in Singapore. It is also a country network and focal point of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact.

Singapore Compact for CSR was launched in January 2005 as an outcome of the National Tripartite Initiative (NTI) on CSR, of which Thomas was the Co-chairperson. The NTI on CSR was established in May 2004 as a national CSR steering committee to bring forward and embrace CSR as a national movement in Singapore.

Thomas is involved in the development of the ISO26000 international guidance standard on social responsibility as an expert.  He is also a member of the Chairman’s Advisory Group and Convenor of Singapore Working Group for ISO26000.

Thomas served in the trade union movement as the General Secretary of the Singapore-Shell Employees’ Union, Central Committee Member of the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and on the executive committee of the International Federation of the Chemical, Energy, Mines and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM).  He was involved in ILO negotiations for the oil and chemical industry. He had served as the Vice-President of the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE), and as Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF) Council Member.  He was also a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP).

Thomas holds a Master of Arts degree in Industrial Relations from Warwick University (UK) and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, UK.