USAID GREEN INVEST ASIA FORUM

USAID GREEN INVEST ASIA FORUM:
SUSTAINABLE LAND USE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Date: May 18-19, 2023
Venue: Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

USAID Green Invest Asia organized this in-person forum at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, which convened near 200 industry leaders, buyers, processors, investors, development finance institutions (DFIs), donors, and others with business interest in sustainable agriculture and forestry sectors in Southeast Asia. The event marked the close out of USAID Green Invest Asia after six years transforming the sustainable agriculture and forestry sectors in Southeast Asia, in collaboration with business, investor, and financial institution partners. Participants shared information, experiences, and best practices on sustainable land use business models through five panel discussions and networking side events for investors and environmentally and socially responsible land use businesses. Presentation available here.

MAY

18 – 19
2023

BANGKOK
THAILAND

AGENDA

12:00 – 13:00

Registration

13:00 – 13:15

Welcome speech

Christy Owen

Chief of Party,
USAID Green Invest Asia

Steve Olive, Ph.D.,

Mission Director,
USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia

13:15 – 13:30

Introduction

Christy Owen

Chief of Party,
USAID Green Invest Asia

13:30 – 14:30

Panel discussion 1
Investing in Agriculture and Forestry Climate Solutions: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities

Investment in sustainable agriculture and forestry remains a key priority for the Southeast Asia region to accelerate sustainable production and help meet net-zero emissions commitments by companies and others. While more capital is being made increasingly available, deployment still remains slow despite the increasing urgency climate change poses to existing business models and our way of life. Drawing from their unique perspectives, investor panelists will explore how the investment landscape for sustainable agriculture and forestry in Southeast Asia has evolved over the past 5 years.
What is emerging as key trends for investors?
How are investors addressing climate change challenges and opportunities in the region?
What are the clear opportunities for investment going forward and what are the barriers to making those real?

Carrie Heng

Associate Director, Investments,
New Forests

Nicolas Hayon

Investment Director,
Mirova

Cédric Chaudron

Head of Capital Markets, SEA & India and Sustainable Capital Markets Asia,
Rabobank

Susan Olsen, CFA

Senior Investment Specialist, Private Sector Financial Institutions, Mekong Region,
Asian Development Bank, Thailand Resident Mission (TRM)

Moderator

John McGinley

Strategic Advisor,
USAID Green Invest Asia/MSP

14:30 – 15:00

Coffee Break, Networking, and Exhibitions

15:00 – 16:00

Panel discussion 2
Power of Partnerships: Collaboration for Sector and Landscape Level Impact

Partnerships have emerged as key in successfully addressing the climate crisis in Southeast Asia. Whether those are public-private partnerships that provide blended finance or pre-competitive partnerships among companies, the growing consensus is that solutions are more sustainable and impactful if they are designed collaboratively and share risk. Panelists will share their partnership experiences-what works, how to identify the right partners, and what results have been achieved that accelerate positive environmental and social outcomes.

Jessica Wettstein

Sustainability Manager, Sourcing – APAC,
Barry Callebaut

Michal Zrust

Founder and Chief Executive Officer,
Lestari Capital

Steve Olive, Ph.D.,

Mission Director,
USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia

Wouter De Smet

Green Coffee Farmer Connect, Zone AOA
Nestlé

Moderator

Christy Owen,

Chief of Party,
USAID Green Invest Asia

16:00 – 17:00

Panel discussion 3
Meeting Climate Commitments: Carbon Baselines, Traceability and Verification

Aligning with the belief that you cannot manage what you do not measure, the role of metrics and real time data is increasingly important for investors as well as companies seeking to meet sustainability commitments. However, quantifying and setting baselines for carbon emissions-particularly Scope 3 is time consuming and presents several challenges for companies with complex supply chains. Similarly, advances in GIS and remote sensing make monitoring forest loss and land use change more accurate and easier, but the technology has not been fully integrated into business or investor practices. Panelists will discuss the metrics which matter most for their business, how they are establishing baselines, and what tools and technologies are helping them make progress and attract investment toward net-zero emissions and zero-deforestation.

Do Ngoc Sy

Sustainability Manager, APAC,
JDE Peet’s

Christian Bustamante

Senior Manager, Sustainability,
Halcyon Agri Corporation Limited

Dr. Nguyen Hanh Quyen

Geospatial Service Manager for Vietnam, ADPC, and Land Cover & Ecosystem Theme Lead,
SERVIR-Southeast Asia / Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)

Lyra Pinto

Principal Consultant – Agricultural Value Chains,
South Pole

Moderator

Barry Flaming

Senior Agriculture, Forestry & Other Land Use (AFOLU) Advisor,
USAID Green Invest Asia

17:00 – 20:00

Network and Cocktail Reception Co-hosted by Global Coffee Platform (GCP)

FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2023

8:30 – 9:00

Registration

9:00 – 10:00

Panel discussion 4
Carbon Markets: What is the Future of Carbon Credits?

The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) has surged forward within the last 5 years. Fueled by net-zero commitments and the interest of corporations to offset carbon emissions in the short term as well as by growing interest of investors and companies alike to tap into a nature-based revenue stream that contributes to mitigating climate impacts, the demand for carbon credits has grown significantly in recent years. This growth has further highlighted some of the challenges with carbon market projects related to transparency concerns, verification hurdles, and investment-ready supply. Panelists will discuss how the carbon markets in Southeast Asia are developing, how carbon credits can form part of the solution for mitigating climate impacts, and what steps need to be taken to ensure the challenges facing the carbon market are effectively addressed.

Dr. Riza Suarga

President & CEO,
Agraus Resources

Jonathan Joson

Country Manager, Philippines,
Kennemer Eco Solutions, Inc.

Bryan McCann

Commercial Director, Origination,
Climate Impact X

Jérémie de Charentenay

Head of Asia,
Livelihoods Ventures

Martalena Nurseno, CFA

Head of Origination and Structuring Environmental Products Asia Pacific (ex-China),
Freepoint Commodities Singapore Pte Ltd

Moderator

Nick Boerema

Senior Sustainable Finance Advisor,
USAID Green Invest Asia

10:00 – 10:30

Coffee Break, Networking, and Exhibitions

10:00 – 11:30

Panel discussion 5
Investing in Inclusivity: Benefits for smallholders, Women, and Vulnerable Populations

While economic outcomes and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are important priorities for the private sector, for sustainable climate outcomes that ensure a just transition and living incomes, ensuring that benefits are shared with smallholder farmers, women and vulnerable populations is crucial for positive long-term impacts and success. What are current approaches and strategies to distribute economic benefits to those most at risk to climate change and on whom global supply chains rely to produce commodities we use in daily life? Panelists will discuss how their business models are inclusive to the needs of communities, and what more needs to be done to address challenges faced by smallholders, women and other vulnerable groups.

Mark Koppejan

Programme Manager Asia,
Rabo Foundation

Todd Johnson

Sr. Natural Resources Officer Asia Bureau, Office of Technical Services,
USAID

Maiprae Loyen

Managing Director,
AgriAc

Regan Pairojmahakij

Senior Program Officer,
The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC)

Lol Toeng

Program Manager,
Conserve Indigenous Peoples Languages Organization (CIPL)

Moderator

Phuong Tran

Communication & Outreach Manager,
USAID Green Invest Asia

11:30 – 11:40

Closing remarks

Sashi Jayatileke

Senior Climate Finance Advisor,
USAID

11:40 – 13:30

Lunch and networking

EXHIBITOR LIST

Todd Johnson

Sr. Natural Resources Officer Asia Bureau, Office of Technical Services, USAID

Todd R. Johnson is the Senior Natural Resources Officer for Forestry, Biodiversity, and Climate Change in the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Asia’s Environmental Security and Resilience division. He supports USAID offices throughout Asia and the Pacific on design and implementation of natural climate solutions, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation and mitigation programs, and coordinates U.S. strategy and policy implementation with other bureaus and agencies. Mr. Johnson serves as the climate integration lead for the Asia Bureau at USAID. He has more than 35 years of experience in international development, including serving as director on six projects in Asia, Africa, and Washington, DC. before joining USAID in 2013. His fieldwork includes long-term projects in the Philippines (3x), Southern Africa (Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe), Malawi, and Afghanistan as well as short-term assignments in more than two dozen other countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Mr. Johnson’s educational background and field practice sit at the nexus of ecology, economy, and society. His current work focuses on natural resources governance and mobilizing private sector investment in climate-positive land use practices.

Commune land use planning in Cambodia. The products will be promoted and displayed at the event, including land use maps, and local hotspots.

For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/KGlobalConsultant/

4C (The Common Code for the Coffee Community) is an independent, stakeholder-driven, internationally recognized sustainability standard for the entire coffee sector, aiming at anchoring sustainability in coffee supply chains. Independent third-party audits ensure compliance with sustainability criteria for coffee production and processing from the economic, social, and environmental dimensions to establish credible and traceable sustainable coffee supply chains. 4C is a credible and robust system, applying innovative audit and risk assessment procedures, and is strengthened by a comprehensive integrity program.4C offers additional solutions in the form of add-ons for 4C System Users that wish to go beyond the 4C Code of Conduct and further address specific challenges in their coffee supply chains. Currently, 4C offers the 4C Food Security, 4C Carbon Footprint and 4C Gender Equality Add-On.

For more information, please visit https://www.4c-services.org/

Sashi Jayatileke

Senior Climate Finance Advisor, USAID

Sashi is a Senior Climate Finance Advisor with the USAID’s Center for Energy, Environment, and Infrastructure in Washington, DC. She leads coordination and provides technical leadership on climate finance to USAID and its partners seeking to mobilize finance for climate goals. Sashi brings two decades of experience in the design, development, and implementation of projects focused on private sector development, impact investing, women's economic empowerment, and financial inclusion. Ms. Jayatileke has previously worked on structuring financial transactions using guarantees, human centered product design for new markets, and product development for financial institutions in Africa and Asia. She holds a MSc from the London School of Economics, and a BA from Vanderbilt University.

Lol Toeng

Program Manager, Conserve Indigenous Peoples Languages Organization (CIPL)

Toeng is a member of the Tampuan Indigenous People. He earned his bachelor's degree in agriculture in 2018. He has been working as a Program Manager for Conserve Indigenous People Language Organization (CIPL) since 2020. He has worked with several non-governmental organizations, including the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), Save Vulnerable Cambodians (SVC), Plan and Development and Partnership in Action (DPA), all of which are concerned with agricultural production, livelihood improvement, forestry protection, land issues, and indigenous rights.

He also has experience with operations, monitoring and evaluation, project activity, and communication with partners, donors, and local governments. He has contributed to improving the livelihoods of indigenous peoples, women, children, and people with disabilities to give them equal access to sustainable resource use and management.

Toeng is determined to continue working with his indigenous communities, particularly women, vulnerable people and people with disabilities, youths, and children, to empower them in the conservation of their indigenous cultures and the protection of their natural resources.

Susan Olsen, CFA

Senior Investment Specialist, Private Sector Financial Institutions, Mekong Region, Asian Development Bank, Thailand Resident Mission (TRM)

Susan Olsen lead’s ADB’s Private Sector Financial Institutions (PSFI) Unit for Mekong, based in Bangkok, Thailand and is former ADB PSFI Unit Head for South Asia based out of New Delhi India. In those roles Susan leads the origination and structuring of ADB’s innovative Climate and Inclusive Finance capital markets/debt, equity, and blended finance structures with private sector financial institutions. Prior to joining ADB, Susan was Lead Specialist for the InterAmerican Development Bank’s flagship initiative to scale high impact inclusive private sector business models in housing, health, basic services, agribusiness, and financial services. She has held prior roles as Investment Specialist with AIG-GE Capital Latin American Infrastructure Fund and Regional Manager, Latin America with the Export Development Corporation (EDC). Susan holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, as well as master’s degrees from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (Canada) and the College of Europe (Belgium). She is certified by the Canadian Securities Institute.

Martalena Nurseno, CFA

Head of Origination and Structuring Environmental Products Asia Pacific (ex-China), Freepoint Commodities Singapore Pte Ltd

Lena leads origination and structuring efforts for Environmental Products in Asia Pacific region outside China, focusing on Nature-Based Solution Projects and other decarbonization projects in the region, specifically with carbon trading angle. She has 25 years of experience, of which, 18 years were spent in banking, i.e. JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, and ABN Amro, primarily involved in structured transactions embedded in financing, derivatives, M&A, Equity and Debt Capital Markets in Asia Pacific region. She joined Mercuria Energy Trading in 2014, to lead principal investments and structured origination initiatives in South-East Asia. In 2017 she joined Hartree Partners where she led strategic origination in Asia, focusing on Nature-Based Solutions and other decarbonization projects such as energy storage, and renewable power projects in Asia Pacific.

Lena has Civil Engineering degree from Institute Technology Bandung, Master’s in Finance from University of Indonesia (Cum Laude), she is an alumni of Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and a CFA charter holder since 2002.

Jérémie de Charentenay

Head of Asia, Livelihoods Ventures

Jérémie holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering, specializing in Environmental Economics, from leading French University AgroParis Tech.
He has worked for CDC Climat and Deloitte, as CSR consultant. He has been working for Livelihoods venture since 2015, piloting large-scale projects in Livelihoods investors’ supply chains (coconut, palm, vanilla, etc.). He is now leading Livelihoods venture Asia hub for both sourcing & carbon funds.

Phuong Tran

Communication and Outreach Manager, USAID Green Invest Asia

Phuong is a senior writer, editor and communications manager who has covered international development from West Africa and Southeast Asia for the past decade, first for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as reporter with the news agency, IRIN, and then as communications director in east Asia for the international NGO, World Vision. Before that, she worked in NGO fundraising, marketing and external relations in New York.

At IRIN, Phuong published hundreds of articles during her six years researching topics ranging from climate mitigation to Rohingya refugees. She spearheaded a global reporting project on neglected conflicts, while helping lead IRIN’s spinoff from the UN in 2014.

At World Vision, Phuong launched a global advocacy campaign to end violence against children in East Asia through branding, event planning and reportage. She headed a network of 50 communicators in seven countries on data-driven storytelling, branding, ambassador recruitment, marketing communications and public engagement, including social media.

She is an alumna of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she attended as a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. Phuong completed her undergraduate studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service where she was named a Rhodes Scholar finalist.

Regan Pairojmahakij

Senior Program Officer, The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC)

Regan is Senior Program Officer at RECOFTC for Landscapes Collaboration in a Changing Climate. Her work focuses on developing a portfolio of landscape programs in RECOFTC’s seven focal countries which employ a forest landscape approach to achieve social and ecological outcomes at scale. Climate mitigation and resilience are the threads pulling together this landscape level work. These focus on opportunities for market based solutions such as through carbon projects, bankable Nature based Solutions, a community forest based approach to climate change adaptation and the piloting of key indicators and landscape level monitoring approaches. Previously Regan has worked with WWF Greater Mekong program championing conservation in the Dawna Tenasserim transboundary landscape, with RECOFTC in various different roles including as lead of a civil society network on REDD+ and with FAO as long-term consultant on regional forest policy. Current interests include: landscape and habitat connectivity, forest landscape restoration, biodiversity conservation, market based approaches yielding ecological benefits and strengthening climate resilience.

Maiprae Loyen

Managing Director, AgriAc

Maiprae is passionate about Sustainability and Agriculture. Her area of expertise is natural rubber. She has mastered the regulations of a well-recognized sustainability program and implemented it with pragmatic actions.
Maiprae has over a decade of experience in the Natural Rubber industry. Her experiences are based on practical achievements and in-depth knowledge of Natural rubber From Farm to factory. She is also an expert in transforming guidelines and international organizations' expectations of the upstream supply chain into practical programs that benefit all parties.

ListenField is a climate smart agriculture technology company. We provide integrated technology from soil analysis, crop health monitoring and harvest prediction. Our technology improves productivity and enhances farm management. We will also enable the measurement and monitoring of GHG emission in farming so that the agri-food industry can adjust to climate change requirements. 

ListenField technology is now being used widely for major crops such as rice, sugarcane, cassava, sweetcorn and potato in Thailand and Vietnam. We are also pursuing projects for barley and hop in Japan. 

Satellite imagery technology and near infrared sensors among other  variables are used by ListenField to generate dynamic AI models that produces easy to use FarmAI platform. This platform integrates and analyzes important farming variables (soil, climate, crop growth and farm management), providing farmers a holistic actionable insight from soil preparation to harvesting and beyond. Using the platform, farmers has information about soil nutrition conditions at the land preparation phase, enabling them to adjust fertilizer management in a cost-effective manner. The platform provides crop growth monitoring of each field, enabling effective management of irrigation resources and fertilizer application. Factories/millers use our yield prediction and right time harvesting to improve efficiency of crop processing and cut costs.

For more information, please visit www.listenfield.com

Mark Koppejan

Programme Manager Asia, Rabo Foundation

Mark Koppejan is responsible for Rabo Foundation’s activities in Southeast Asia. He worked in various (commercial) banking roles within the Rabobank Group and before moving to Rabobank’s smallholder focused impact fund in 2018. Rabo Foundation invests in the self-sufficiency of farmer organisations by providing access to finance and sharing cooperative, banking and agricultural knowledge. Mark has executed investments across agricultural value chains with global food & agricultural players, local financial institutions and farmer organisations. Currently Mark is working on setting-up a dedicated financing entity for Rabobank’s Project Acorn, which supports smallholder farmers in the transition to agroforestry with additional income from carbon removal units that are verified with the help of remote sensing to allow for scale.

Nick Boerema

Commercial Director, Origination, Climate Impact X

Combining engineering and investment acumen, Nick has worked on projects in Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Myanmar at the cross-section of infrastructure and finance. As an investment manager based in Phnom Penh for Mekong Strategic Partners specializing in the Mekong region, Nick handles USAID Green Invest Asia’s outreach and partnership with regional banks.

Nick is driven to solve social and environmental challenges through the intersection of business and technology. His experience spans social enterprise when he served as CEO of TapEffect, which focused on piped water networks in Phnom Penh, to Engineers without Borders in Cambodia where Nick advocated for safe sanitation. He has a doctorate in solar thermal engineering from the University of New South Wales.

Bryan McCann

Commercial Director, Origination, Climate Impact X

Bryan is a Commercial Director at Climate Impact X (CIX). Based in Singapore, CIX is a is a global exchange for quality voluntary carbon credits. Its mission vision is to drive environmental impact at scale. Bryan works closely with suppliers bring new types of carbon credits to market. Bryan has over a decade of experience across carbon markets, management consulting, and international development. Most recently Bryan was at Emergent, where he played a key role in launching the LEAF Coalition - Lowering Emissions by Scaling Forest finance. In 2021, LEAF became the largest-ever public private initiative to support tropical forest protection, raising over a billion dollars through the purchase of high-integrity REDD+ carbon credits.

Bryan began his career at the top 5 management consultancy Oliver Wyman in Toronto, helping large companies and governments throughout North America solve their toughest problems. He also has experience in international development through roles with One Acre Fund in Nairobi and the World Food Programme in Rome. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and a Master of International and Development Economics from Yale University, where his published research focused on climate change and humanitarian aid.  Bryan is originally from Vancouver, Canada and is excited to be exploring Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Jonathan Joson

Country Manager, Philippines, Kennemer Eco Solutions, Inc.

Jonathan Joson is the country manager of Kennemer Eco Solutions, a Southeast Asian climate solutions company. He has a masteral degree and is a practitioner of landscape approach to development with 35 years of experience in community organizing, rural livelihood, environment management, and climate financing.

KenEco is a member of the Kennemer Group, a Filipino agribusiness engaged with 15,000 farmers in more than 30 provinces with 15 million cacao trees planted. It operates across a wide range of landscapes to restore, conserve, and co-manage natural ecosystems specializing in carbon offsetting project management from origination and implementation, to monitoring.

It was recently awarded the first nature-based solutions carbon credits issued in the Philippines. This was verified and approved in January 2023 under Verra’s VCS program and CCB standards to triple gold level. This is in recognition of Kennemer’s cacao-based agro-forestry program and the planting of cacao trees to sequester carbon, all implemented in direct partnership with local farmers.

Other than its agro-forestry plantings, KenEco has a REDD+ and wetlands restoration and conservation project under development also in Southern Philippines involving partnership with indigenous peoples and local communities. www.kennemer.eco

Dr. Riza Suarga

President & CEO, Agraus Resources

DR. Suarga earned his Bachelors degree from Ohio University in Economics double majored in Mechanical Engineering, received special Rector’s Scholarships for his Master in Management from Trisakti University, and then his PhD in Resource Management and Anthropology from University of Indonesia. He has written numerous articles and books about forestry and how to combat illegal logging, while he is also listed as a special lecturer of Trisakti University. He is the initiator of “Saving Our Tomorrow”, an initiative to make Indonesia the prominent savior of the Earth through pipeline of carbon projects. His experience managing large scales forestry and carbon projects among others are sustainable forest management of PT. Selaras Inti Semesta (Medco Papua) in Merauke Papua; to restoration and conservation of Sumatra Merang Peatland Project (PT. Global Alam Lestari) in Musi Banyuasin, South Sumatera. He was the first Chairman of Carbon Team formed by Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires, then lead Standardization and Certification Permanent Committee of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as Sustainable Consumption and Production. His later task was appointed as the Vice Chairman of Eastern Indonesia Economic Council, while together with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry he formed Ecolabel Desk. Beside being the Chairman of Indonesia Carbon Trade Association (IDCTA), he now also belongs to Ministry’s Board of Experts of Technical Committee for Environmental Friendly Technology Verification and Special Committee for Public Facility Services Standard. He believes that managing natural resources most challenging responsibilities are social issue resolutions where apparently what he has spent most of his concentration on.

Barry Flaming

Senior Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) Advisor, USAID Green Invest Asia

At USAID Green Invest Asia, Barry leads engagement and technical service delivery to our private sector clients, including facilitating the coffee carbon footprinting collaboration. In diverse roles spanning the private, public, and non-profit sectors, he has spent nearly two decades designing and implementing natural resource management, forestry, agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and climate change programs across Southeast Asia. Previous assignments include supporting sustainable agriculture and community forestry projects in montane villages in northern Thailand, to managing regional programs addressing responsible timber trade and combatting illegal wildlife trafficking in Asia. He got his start in international development work as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in southern Thailand in the mid-1990s. Among other roles, he has led U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) regional Sustainable Landscapes and biodiversity conservation programming in Southeast Asia from 2008-2013.

Barry earned a master’s degree in Forest Resources Ecosystem Analysis from the University of Washington’s College of Forest Resources, where he helped set up a long- term forest productivity study involving collaboration with academia, the US Forest Service, and the North American forestry industry.

Lyra Pinto

Principal Consultant – Agricultural Value Chains, South Pole

Lyra has over 11 years of experience with sustainability management at corporates and non-profits in the areas of food service, hospitality, watershed improvement and land management. Having worked with teams across APAC and the EU, she has a strong understanding of supply chain realities and corporate processes in multiple geographies. She has worked extensively on designing sustainability strategies for global companies and leading teams in the delivery of complex, multicountry sustainability projects.

Dr. Nguyen Hanh Quyen

Geospatial Service Manager for Vietnam, ADPC, and Land Cover & Ecosystem Theme Lead, SERVIR-Southeast Asia / Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)

Dr. Nguyen Hanh Quyen's background is geography, focused on the application of remote sensing and GIS technology in natural resource management and sustainable development. She completed her Ph.D. in environmental management under a joint program between Hanoi University of Natural Science and Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
Currently working at Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) as the Geospatial service manager in VietNam for the SERVIR-Southeast- Asia (SERVIR-SEA) program. SERVIR-SEA is the program, which partner between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), promoting space technology and open data to help address development challenges related to a changing climate, natural resource management and support decision making system in 5 countries in the Southeast Asia region.
Dr. Nguyen has 25 years of experience working for Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and she also worked as a GIS and remote sensing expert for many international forestry projects funded by WB, ADB, USAID in Viet Nam and the Mekong region.

Christian Bustamante

Senior Manager, Sustainability, Halcyon Agri Corporation Limited

Christian Bustamante joined Halcyon Agri in 2019 to helm the Group’s Sustainability Department. He spearheads the company’s strategy covering sustainability disclosure requirements and embedding of ESG practices into global operations. Prior to Halcyon, Christian held various corporate sustainability roles across multinational firms representing power, consumer goods and electronics. He once served as consultant from a pioneer advisory firm that offered sustainability training and report services to firms of which Halcyon was one of his key clients. Christian holds a Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science) from Ateneo de Manila University and a Master of Science (Environmental Management) from the National University of Singapore. Christian is trained on human rights due diligence and has published postgraduate research on ESG ratings. He is based in Singapore with his wife and children.

AGRO AGAPE is a women-led agriculture business providing low-income farmers with a gateway to the Cambodia agricultural market. We offer farm-to-table and back-to-farm services for agriculture producers by creating a support system to farmers on post harvest management by training and developing the products to fit market requirements.

Problem
The coffee harvesting cycle is once time a year in rainy season that’s not enough heat from sun to dry coffee jerry and farmer lack of technical knowledge in post harvest management that cause of low quality and product loss very high volume. The Cambodia Coffee Market 90% of the local consumption is imported from abroad while local farmers have a lot challenge to produce a good quality coffee to match market requirement.

Solution
Agro Agape wants to bridge that gap and increase local Coffee production in Cambodia by working with local farmers and giving them the tools to be able to grow more coffee. We create support system for farmer by post-harvesting technical support, Introduce Bees pollination for farmers to increase yield crop and create additional income through recycle coffee waste into coffee biochar fertilizer and charcoal briquette.

For more information, please visit http://agro-agapecambodia.com/


PT Inovasi Digital Untuk Transformasi is a privately-held tech solution company that was established as the business arm of the Earthqualizer Foundation. Its mission objective is to contribute to the development of fair and sustainable trade through technological innovations. The main pillars of our approach are Traceability, Innovation, Transparency, Accountability, Responsibility and Creativity. Our journey began as a branch office established in Indonesia by a prominent NGO based in Europe. From the onset, we have always strived to distinguish ourselves from other civil-society organizations by encouraging sector-wide sustainable transformation through timely, accurate and actionable information and solution-based approach. Our footprint and network eventually grew to encompass most major industry players in the palm oil sector, from smallholders, growers, millers, traders-refiners, mid-stream processors, consumer goods manufacturers, downstream users and government authorities, Some of our approaches, such as near-real time monitoring of supplier non-compliance and smallholder projects in Aceh Singkil and Ketapang eventually became known as the leading examples to be emulated in the palm oil sustainability discourse. In light of the new EU regulations such as EUDR and EUCSDDD, industry players in the affected sectors, including palm, will need to undertake additional work to meet the due diligence and responsible sourcing requirements. We have been working closely with our partners, including major palm oil traders and refiners, plus downstream players, to improve the visibility of their supply chain, particular on the production areas (plots of land according to the EUDR's requirement). Please refer to the following websites for more information of our organization and services: https://transform-platform.org/showcases/
For more information, please visit https://inovasiagriplot.com/


SmartAgro Sustainable Innovations implements innovative technologies for a transition to climate- smart/ regenerative agriculture. The company’s one-stop shop business model focuses on the following revenue streams:
1. Consultancies for cropping systems design and master planning.
2. Providing seeds for a huge variety of cover crops.
3. Providing organic solutions for crop and livestock production.
4. Providing access to appropriate scale no-till machinery.
5. Providing financial incentives for adopters from carbon credits and other ecosystem services credits.
For more information, please visit www.smart-agro.net


SE Thailand is an organized entity based on the unofficial network of social enterprises formed since 2016. The Association acts as the connector among members and between members and other organizations with the aim to enable Thai social enterprises to grow their businesses while tackling social and environmental problems. We also share knowledge around social entrepreneurship with the wider public.
For more information, please visit https://www.sethailand.org/en/


We are carbon offset project developers working together with local partners in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. We are a joint venture between Volkswagen Kraftwerk GmbH and ClimatePartner GmbH, founded in 2022.

We have offices in Munich (Germany) with employees of 8 different nationalities. Our project developers are located in Mexico, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Indonesia, China, and Brazil We develop and finance certified carbon offset projects which offset CO2 emissions and contribute to sustainable development, offering tailor-made carbon offset projects around the world – according to the needs of our customers.

For more information, please visit https://volkswagen-climatepartner.com/en


We are a B2B startup with a vision: upcycling food loss, preventing animal cruelty, and stopping global warming.

That's why we made a new kind of leather out of what would usually be thrown away, using fruit peels from juice factories. PEEL Lab leather is plant-based, sustainable and ethically produced from the same material found in nature. More than just an alternative to leather, it actually contributes to the environment by reducing waste, emissions and other pollutants that impact our planet.

We are a B2B platform empowering corporates to join the movement of sustainability. By providing full-range design and production services, we are on a mission vision to enable every corporate to create personalized products using pineapple leather and other plant-based leather.

We will display our products at the exhibition booth. Currently we have Tote bags, Apron, School bag, Sofa. We will show the samples of plant-based leather and show some illustration about the Change that plant-based leather can bring and the Carbon footprint we are reducing compared to animal leather.

For more information, please visit www.peel-lab.com

Fairagora Asia provides expert advisory services and methodologies built on scientific research and international standards to streamline responsible business practices while respecting stakeholders’ experiences in the agriculture and seafood industries.

Fairagora Asia has been accredited by ACFS, Thailand accreditation since 2015 for agricultural crops in Thailand. At Fairagora Asia, we inspire, empower and engage clients into an extensive sustainability and compliance journey at the heart of the triple bottom line: People, Planet, and Profit. We have demonstrated fieldwork experience in the Thai agriculture and aquaculture sectors, stakeholder engagement, sustainability for agriculture research, and in the fields of labor, migration, and human rights.

For more information, please visit https://www.fairagora.com/


SERVIR-Southeast Asia (SERVIR-SEA) is a joint development initiative of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ADPC, through SERVIR-SEA uses publicly available satellite technologies to support regional institutions, governments, and citizens to address climate-related challenges such as disaster preparedness and response, water resources and land management. Together with stakeholders, ADPC co-develops regional geospatial tools and services ranging from drought monitoring and crop yield management, flood forecasting, air quality monitoring, and sustainable landscape management to ensure that communities in Southeast Asia are better prepared to deal with the impacts of climate change. SERVIR-SEA is part of a network of SERVIR hubs currently operating across the developing world.

For more information, please visit https://www.adpc.net/igo/


Global Coffee Platform (GCP) is a unique multi-stakeholder membership association of coffee producers, traders, roasters and retailers, civil society, associations, governments and donors, united under a common vision to work collectively towards a thriving, sustainable coffee sector for generations to come. The Global Coffee Platform (GCP) is a unique multi-stakeholder membership association of coffee producers, traders, roasters and retailers, civil society, associations, governments and donors, united under a common vision to work collectively towards a thriving, sustainable coffee sector for generations to come.

GCP Members believe that sustainability is a shared responsibility to enhance farmers’ economic prosperity, improve well-being, and conservation of nature. GCP brings together coffee producers, roasters, retailers, traders, governments, associations, donors, and NGOs to multiply efforts, collectively act on local issues, and scale successful sustainability initiatives across the sector.
With a farmer-oriented approach, GCP strives to address the most critical sustainability challenges and contribute to greater collective impact on the livelihoods and natural environments of coffee farming communities.

For more information, please visit https://www.globalcoffeeplatform.org/


The collaboration between Mivana Co., Ltd and the group of community enterprises has a co-benefits by producing a quality organic coffee product while conserve the watershed forest and its ecosystem. Mivana Co., Ltd has support the communities by providing a special type of payments scheme which has incentivize the organic coffee farmers to take care of the coffee-forest plantation. This is similar to the concept of the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) where Mivana Co., Ltd is the sole ecosystem services beneficiary or “Buyer” who pay the reward to the group of community enterprise which has their role as ecosystem services provider or “Seller” by protecting the watershed forest that suitable shady condition for growing coffee. Therefore the PES mechanism will be applied to ensure the long term partnership between Mivana Co., Ltd and the group of community enterprise for the organic coffee production in the watershed area that build upon their strong collaborative approach to protect and restore types of ecosystem services including the engagement of the other stakeholders groups who are ecosystem services beneficiaries or authorities that have role and responsibilities in watershed forest management.

A period of 5 years (2022-2026) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to kick-start the PES implementation for the organic coffee farming system in Chiang Rai watershed forest aim to be signed between 6 parties:
1. The Community enterprise group for organic coffee production of Ban Pha Deang Luang, Wawee sub-district, Mae Suai district, Chiang Rai province.
2. The Community enterprise group for organic coffee production of Ban Mai Pattana, Wawee sub-district, Mae Suai district, Chiang Rai province.
3. Mivana Co., Ltd.
4. Wawee Sub-district Organization.
5. Forest Resource Management Office No.2 (Chiang Rai), Royal Forestry Department.
6. Biodiversity-based Economy Development Office “BEDO” (Public Organization).

For more information, please visit https://www.mivana.co.th/en/forest/


In 2019, the EU launched the 5-year Landscapes For Our Future programme, which now supports 22 ILM projects, spanning 19 countries and 3 sub-regions across the Global South. Offering solutions to context-specific land use challenges, Landscapes For Our Future will advance goals relating to:

 Landscapes For Our Future will advance goals relating to:

1- food and nutrition security, job creation, and resilient and sustainable agriculture;
2- climate change mitigation and adaptation; and
3- biodiversity and land/forest ecosystems conservation, restoration and sustainable use.

Supported projects encompass a wide range of thematic areas, ranging from biodiversity and landscape conservation to climate-smart agriculture and sustainable value chain development.

For more information, please visit https://landscapesfuture.org https://www.cifor-icraf.org/

Do Ngoc Sy

Sustainability Manager, APAC, JDE Peet’s

As Sustainability Manager, Coffee, Asia Pacific Mr. Do Ngoc Sy is part of the JACOBS DOUWE EGBERTS TEAM. He leads all the sustainable initiative in Asian Pacific coffee origins and in charge of operationalizing the “Responsible Sourcing Programs”. He works with all suppliers and all other stakeholders who are promoting for sustainable coffee production.

He has a background in agronomy. He holds a master’s degree in rural development from Chiang Mai University, Thailand and has over 20 years work experience in rural development and project coordination. Before join the Mondelez International and now JDE Peet’s, he is from the 4C Association - Manager Vietnam where he has worked for five years with an impressive track record in capacity building of verified coffee supply.


Thailand Forest Certification Council (TFCC) was founded by forestry stakeholders in collaboration with farmers, academics, the private sector, government and state enterprises back in 2013 at Kasetsart University, aiming to develop Thailand Forest Certification Scheme. It became part of the Federation of Thai Industries in 2015. In November 2016, F.T.I. became a member of PEFC as the National Governing Body for Thailand. Now, TFCC is a schemem owner of the TIS14061 Thailand sustainable forest management standard and TIS2861 Thailand CoC standard for forest-based products, both endorsed by PEFC International. TFCC is also a authorised body for issuing PEFC CoC licences for entities in Thailand.

For more information, please visit https://tfcc.fti.or.th/


As a profit-for-purpose organisation recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Social Enterprise, South Pole supports Southeast Asian companies and project partners on their climate journey and strives to create positive impacts on climate, ecosystems, and communities.

South Pole's presence in Southeast Asia spans all areas of expertise – from carbon and biodiversity project development, to climate and circular economy advisory, to carbon and renewable energy certificates.

For more information, please visit https://www.southpole.com/sp-sea


Preferred by Nature is a non-profit organization working to support better land management and business practices that benefit people, nature and the climate around the globe.

For more information, please visit https://www.preferredbynature.org/


Preferred by Nature is a non-profit organization working to support better land management and business practices that benefit people, nature and the climate around the globe.

For more information, please visit https://www.preferredbynature.org/


The International Coconut Community (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization of coconut producing countries organized in 1969 under the aegis of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP). ICC currently has 20 coconut producing member countries accounting for over 90 percent of world coconut production and exports of coconut products. The ICC member countries include eight Asian countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor Leste, nine Pacific countries: Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, one Caribbean country: Jamaica, one African country: Kenya and one country in South America: Guyana.

For more information, please visit https://coconutcommunity.org/


We work with investors, companies, and land managers who share our goal to contribute to the fight against climate change and restore nature at scale. We offer companies the opportunity to contribute to net zero goals and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments through the purchase of carbon, biodiversity, water services, and other credits. We create investment opportunities for public and private finance to help seed fund and scale up initiatives whilst delivering financial, environmental, and social impact. We design and apply data tools to track, analyse, and demonstrate the impact that our partners have helped to create.

We also have additional tools and resources that support investment in agriculture and forestry in Southeast Asia beyond P4F.
Regeneration – this is a follow on to Partnerships for Forests, focused on scaling the partnerships and driving ecosystem improvements.
UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions)
Business Partnerships Platform

For more information, please visit https://thepalladiumgroup.com/


A coffee-forest and carbon traceability webtool: Using remote sensing technology, the webtool helps coffee companies monitor and report on geospatial and carbon data. Our current metrics include pre-screening for deforestation, deforestation alerts, shade tree coverage, qualifying carbon footprint, water risk and climate suitability for coffee.
1. Thibaud Vantalon/ Deep learning specialist/ [email protected]
2. Phuong Luong/ GIS analyst/ [email protected]/
3. Phuong Nguyen/ Research Associate-Project Management /[email protected]/

For more information, please visit https://alliancebioversityciat.org/


A coffee-forest and carbon traceability webtool: Using remote sensing technology, the webtool helps coffee companies monitor and report on geospatial and carbon data. Our current metrics include pre-screening for deforestation, deforestation alerts, shade tree coverage, qualifying carbon footprint, water risk and climate suitability for coffee.
1. Thibaud Vantalon/ Deep learning specialist/ [email protected]
2. Phuong Luong/ GIS analyst/ [email protected]/
3. Phuong Nguyen/ Research Associate-Project Management /[email protected]/

For more information, please visit https://alliancebioversityciat.org/

RECOFTC is an intergovernmental organization that promotes community forestry and sustainable forest management in the Asia-Pacific region. RECOFTC works to strengthen the capacity of communities, governments, and civil society to improve forest governance, secure tenure and rights, and enhance livelihoods through sustainable forest management practices. Their work includes capacity building, policy advocacy, research, and knowledge sharing to advance sustainable forest management in the region. 

For more information, please visit https://www.recoftc.org/

Wouter De Smet

Green Coffee Farmer Connect, Zone AOA, Nestlé

In his current role with Nestlé, Wouter de Smet leads coordination for the Nescafé Plan project, a global coffee sustainability program, covering Asia, Oceania and Africa. Prior to this position, he worked for Nestlé China for nine years as a Coffee Agricultural Service Manager in Pu’er, Yunnan Province. In 2012 Nescafé Yunnan Plan won the “2012 World Business and Development Award” at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio and was named the “Best Practice to Promote Societal Development in China” at the first annual conference of the UN Global Compact Network in Beijing. Further the project was awarded with “The Gold Standard Award for Stakeholder Engagement” in Hong Kong.

Christy Owen

Chief of Party | USAID Green Invest Asia

Christy serves as the Chief of Party for USAID Green Invest Asia, and Thailand Country Director for the global NGO, Pact, Inc. She oversees a team mobilizing private investment into low-emission agriculture and forestry practices across Southeast Asia.
She has spent nearly 20 years designing and implementing environmental management, biodiversity conservation, and climate change projects in the Philippines, Venezuela, EI Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, and the lower Mekong region.

Steve Olive

Senior Foreign Service Officer and is the incoming Mission Director for the Regional Development Mission for Asia

From 2018 to 2020, he served as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Latin America and Caribbean Bureau. In 2017-18, he was the Acting Director of the Foreign Service Center in the Office of Human Capital and Talent Management. At USAID/Kenya and East Africa based in Nairobi, he served as the Deputy Mission Director for Somalia from 2014 to 2017 and concurrently served as the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.S. Mission to Somalia from 2016 to 2017.

Prior to joining USAID/Kenya and East Africa, Dr. Olive served as a Deputy Mission Director for USAID/Haiti from 2011 to 2014 leading post-earthquake reconstruction and development efforts. He also was posted in Peru and Nicaragua from 2002-2011 managing environment, trade, agriculture, food security and emergency-response programs.

Before joining USAID in 2000, Dr. Olive worked in Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, and American Samoa as an environment and natural resource management and policy specialist. He earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii where he was an East-West Center scholar, a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee, and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from Miami (Ohio) University. He is married to Cristina Olive, also a USAID Foreign Service Officer, and they have a son.

Carrie Heng

Associate Director of Investments at New Forests

New Forests is a sustainable real assets investment manager offering leading-edge strategies in forestry, land management, and conservation. New Forests’ vision is that forestry will be a key sector that helps drive a sustainable future. Carrie is responsible for fund investments and her work involves deal structuring, financial due diligence and operational support for New Forests’ assets in Southeast Asia. Prior to joining New Forests, Carrie was part of the infrastructure advisory practice at KPMG. She holds a Master’s degree in Finance from Monash University, Australia.

Nicolas Hayon

Investment Director and Head of Mirova in Singapore

Nicolas Hayon is Investment Director and Head of Mirova in Singapore. Mirova is a conviction-based management company that offers its clients investment solutions combining the search for financial performance with environmental and social impact, across listed and private asset classes. In Singapore Mirova is set up as a Business division within Natixis Investment Managers Singapore.

Nicolas joined Mirova in 2011 and played an active role in the growth of the Private Assets division, from EUR 300m AUM to more than EUR 4.5bn today. In 2017, Nicolas was promoted to Investment Director and has been a member of the fund’s Investment Committee since.

Nicolas relocated to Singapore in early 2021 to develop Mirova’s presence in Asia Pacific. He now leads the Asia Pacific markets for Mirova’s Energy Transition and Natural Capital investment activities.

Nicolas started his career with Natixis in the management of the European Carbon Fund, monitoring the portfolio of projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism of Kyoto Protocol.

Nicolas holds a Master’s degree in Finance from Université Paris I La Sorbonne, as well as Master’s degree in Project and Structured Finance from Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées and University Paris 10 Nanterre.

Cédric Chaudron

Head of Capital Markets, SEA & India and Sustainable Capital Markets Asia, Rabobank

Cédric Chaudron is a French national based in Singapore with 20 years of Corporate and Investment banking expertise. He works for Rabobank (a Dutch Cooperative Bank specialised in the Food and agriculture sectors globally), where he heads Capital Markets activities in South East Asia & India as well as Sustainable Capital Markets initiatives in Asia.

Since 2019, Cédric has been a member of Asia Pacific Loan Market Association green and sustainable loan committee, which has been setting and revising the Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles and Green Loan Principles. Cédric is a mentor of AgTech startups, a certified organisational coach, a mental fitness coach and occasional speaker in industry conferences.

Cédric holds a Masters Degree in Management from Neoma Business School in France.

John McGinley

Strategic Advisor, USAID Green Invest Asia/MSP

John is a founder and Managing Partner at MSP, an advisory & investment management firm, specializing in financial institutions, climate financing and technology. MSP is an implementing partner in USAID Green Invest Asia, the US Government's flag ship climate finance program for Asia, in which John serves as its senior strategic advisor. John has a passion for combining banking and corporate finance with positive development outcomes, particularly climate focused outcomes. He understands the transformative effect responsible financial institutions and corporations can have on a developing economy.

Jessica Wettstein

Sustainability Manager, Sourcing – APAC, Barry Callebaut

Jessica Wettstein is the Sustainability Sourcing Manager for APAC at Barry Callebaut, responsible for non-cocoa ingredients. In particular she leads the development and implementation of global sustainable sourcing strategies for palm oil and coconut oil. This involves working with suppliers on traceability, monitoring and evaluation, and engagement towards the execution of sustainability sourcing policies and standards, implementing origin-based projects with partners and actively participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives such as industry platforms and working groups.

Prior to joining Barry-Callebaut, Jessica was a Senior Consultant at sustainability consulting firm Corporate Citizenship, overseeing sustainability strategy and reporting projects with agribusiness clients in Southeast Asia. Jessica started her career at London-based Business in the Community (BITC), a business-led not-for-profit organisation dedicated to responsible business. At BITC, she managed the oganisation’s supply chain programme, benchmarking tools and bespoke advisory services. Jessica has been based in Singapore for the last seven years and holds an MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics.

Michal Zrust

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Lestari Capital

Michal brings over 20 years of expertise working in the conservation, biodiversity and corporate sustainability space across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, stretching from the field to corporate boardrooms. He leads Lestari Capital and specifically its strategy for the sustainable commodities sector, spearheading the conceptualisation, development and implementation of our innovative conservation finance mechanisms. Michal is an invited expert and representative on numerous technical and governance bodies for certification systems, including the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and the Forestry Stewardship Council. Michal lives in Indonesia where he has worked extensively for the last twelve years.