Renewal: A New Era for International Development Professionals
2016 Annual Conference, May 9 - 10, 2016
Hellenic Meeting & Reception Centre, 1315 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Ontario
| Session: | Integrating Environment Across the SDGs |
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Speakers: |
Diane Beckett, Interim Executive Director, Sierra Club of Canada Foundation Dale Marshall, National Program Manager, Environmental Defence Sohel Khan, Senior Advisor, Canadian Feed The Children and Co-Chair, Canadian Coalition on Climate Change and Development (C4D) Livia Bizikova, Director, Knowledge for Integrated Decisions, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) |
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Objective: |
Integrating environment and climate across the development agenda is essential to inclusive, equitable global sustainability. Yet, shocks and stresses from climate change, loss of biodiversity, land system changes and unsustainable production and consumption patterns are placing unprecedented pressure on ecosystems and livelihoods. This session will explore Canada's direct obligations to keep the global temperature below 1.5 degrees, the on-the-ground adaptation that is occurring among small-holder farmers in the Global South and how protecting the planet from environmental degradation can reduce political, economic and social stresses. |
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Biographies: |
Diane Beckett, Interim Executive Director, Sierra Club of Canada Foundation
 Diane Beckett, Interim Executive Director, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, has more than three decades of experience addressing the human and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Her work has focused on low-carbon energy futures, urban environments, agro-ecology, livelihoods, climate and environmental justice, natural resources management, nature deficit disorder, gender equality, and Indigenous traditional knowledge.
She has a broad range of experience in research, policy, planning, management, and advocacy for civil society organizations, governments, associations, universities, and the United Nations. She has designed and implemented policies and programs, provided strategic advice, supported capacity-building and organizational change, and developed and implemented initiatives to influence policy and increase public and professional awareness for more than three dozen organizations in many parts of Canada, and in almost a dozen countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Diane has a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from Carleton University.
Sohel Khan MBA M. Sc., Senior Advisor, Canadian Feed The Children and Co-Chair, Canadian Coalition on Climate Change and Development (C4D)
Sohel is working with Canadian Feed The Children as a Senior Advisor and leading its Food Security, Environmental Sustainability & Resilience portfolio. He brings with him around 20 years of program development and implementation experience in the areas of Food Security, Livelihood Improvement, Building community resilience, climate change adaption (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) and emergency response. Prior to joining CFTC, Sohel worked for the CHF, UNDP, UN-HABITAT, CARE and CECI in Asia, Africa and Eastern Caribbean Region, mostly in the areas of resilient food security, market-led agriculture development, Climate Change Adaptation and DRR. In the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, he provided technical assistance to develop early recovery and shelter recovery strategies and guidelines for the disaster recovery program of UN-HABITAT, and led UN joint damage and needs assessment in earthquake affected areas. Mr. Khan was also involved in post-tsunami recovery activities in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. His earlier experiences include: UNDP Program Analyst for International Recovery Platform in Japan, Project Team Leader for a CIDA funded Climate Change Adaptation program in Vietnam, Program Manager for the World Bank disaster mitigation project for Central Vietnam and Mekong region, and short and long term assignments in various capacities in Ghana, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Sudan, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, India and Cambodia. Sohel was awarded the World Bank scholarship and Rotary Foundation (USA) international award for his academic research on environment and development in the UK and the USA. Presentation: Climate Change, Food Security and Resilience: On-the-ground experience Dale Marshall, National Program Manager, Environmental Defence Canada
 Dale Marshall is National Program Manager for Environmental Defence Canada. He has over 15 years of experience working in environmental protection, the vast majority on climate change and energy issues. Most of Dale’s work has been in policy advocacy and campaigning. However, Dale also developed VSO International’s climate change strategy, with a focus on adaptation, and spent two years in Cambodia building the capacity of local NGOs to integrate climate change impacts and adaptation into their programs. Dale has a Master’s in Resource and Environmental Management from Simon Fraser University, a B.Sc. in Environmental Science and Biology from the University of Western Ontario and a Mechanical Engineering degree from McGill University. Dale grew up in Sept-Iles, Quebec and now lives in Ottawa with his partner and two kids.
Livia Bizikova Phd., Program Director, International Institute for Sustainable Development
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Sohel is Co-chairing Canadian Coalition on Climate Change and Development (C4D). C4D is a coalition of Canadian international development and environmental organizations working together to share knowledge and take concerted action to address climate change. Currently C4D has 25 members that include Canadian NGOs and research Institutions.
Livia Bizikova is a Director at IISD’s Knowledge for Integrated Decisions with experience in the fields of sustainable development, integrated assessment, environmental impact assessment, scenarios, governance and mainstreaming, and indicator development and measurement of SD trends. Livia’s work also focuses on linking experts’ knowledge and stakeholders’ experiences by using foresight and scenario tool to develop future pathways for SD, climate change adaptation, agriculture, and resilience. She worked in a large number of countries in Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda), in Asia (Vietnam, Tajikistan), in Central America and the Caribbean (Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Suriname, number of Caribbean countries), and in North America and in Europe. Livia published peer-reviewed publications in Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Regional Environmental Change, Climate Policy and others.