DATE / TIME:

2023•08•24    18:30 - 19:30

Location:

Tokyo

Photo: Youssef Nassef

On 24 August 2023, UNU will host a conversation with Youssef Nassef, Director of the Adaptation Programme at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Dr Nassef will join UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala to discuss the interlinkages between climate action and the SDGs, and how to increase ambition and enhance implementation of the two agendas at the global level.

Climate change is the single biggest threat to sustainable development in all countries and disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable nations. Keeping the global average temperature rise to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels — the central objective of the Paris Agreement — is crucial to the successful achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). How does the Paris Agreement contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development? What are the expected outcomes of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP28)? What are the hopes for the SDG Summit in September on renewing commitment to the Global Goals?

Participation

This event has reached capacity and registration is now closed. 

The event will be held in the GEOC space at the UNU Headquarters in Tokyo. Please note that entry into the venue will not be allowed after 18:45 and attendees may be asked to present identification at check-in.

Please note that participants in UNU events may appear in photography, screen captures, videos, and/or audio. For further information please refer to Events.

Language

This event will be held in English.

About the speaker

Youssef Nassef has led the adaptation workstreams under the UNFCCC since their inception. He possesses over 30 years of experience in diplomacy and international environmental policy and is a seconded diplomat from the Egyptian Foreign Service.

While assuming progressively higher levels of leadership at the UNFCCC, he led UNFCCC support for a number of ongoing initiatives on adaptation. These include the inception and support for NAPAs and NAPs; the Nairobi Work Programme — an international knowledge hub for impacts, vulnerability and adaptation; and the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage. He recently created the Resilience Frontiers initiative which applies foresight for attaining post-2030 resilience.

Dr Nassef holds a PhD in International Technology Policy and Management and an MALD in International Environmental Policy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, as well as an MA in Middle East Studies and a BSc in Computer Science and Physics from the American University in Cairo.

UNU Conversation Series

The UNU Conversation Series provides a unique public platform for influential experts, world leaders, and respected scholars and authors to share personal insights on contemporary global affairs, politics, and media. Held in Tokyo at UNU headquarters, the Conversations are hosted and moderated by UNU Rector and UN Under-Secretary-General Tshilidzi Marwala. The events are free and open to the public, and offer a distinctly cordial atmosphere allowing the audience to engage with featured guests, ask questions and share their ideas, both during the Conversations and at casual receptions that follow each event.