Date And Time – 31st May 2023 , 5:15 PM – 6:30 PM
Growing disasters around the world, the majority of which are currently driven by climate change, but also bearing in mind the destructive power of deadly geophysical hazards, threaten the lives of millions and are taking an increasing toll on economic development. India established the first G20 working group on Disaster Risk Reduction, to encourage collective work by the G20 and undertake multi-disciplinary research and exchange best practices on disaster risk reduction. Hence this session aims to discuss Early Warning Systems, Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, stronger national financial frameworks, disaster response systems and increased application of ecosystems-based approaches to DRR.
Moderator
Himanshi Dhawan, Senior Editor, Times of India
Himanshi Dhawan is a senior editor with The Times of India with over twenty four years of experience in covering the social sector and reporting on marginalised communities. Her writing spans issues related to human rights violations, LGBT rights and looking at the impact of climate change, technology and economy from a gendered lens. She received the UNFPA-Population First Laadli Media awards in 2010–2011 for gender sensitive reportage and is a recipient of the Edward Murrow Fellowship (2007) by the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Â
SPEAKERS
Amit Prothi, Director General, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)
Amit Prothi is the Director General, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). Mr. Prothi brings a wealth of international experience and expertise on climate and disaster resilience issues. He is an international expert with nearly 25 years of progressive leadership in the fields of urban planning and resilient infrastructure, with experience across more than 15 countries in North America, Asia and Europe. He has managed multidisciplinary teams on thematic topics that relate to climate change mitigation and adaptation including environmental planning, urban policy, land use and transportation planning, natural resource management, flood management, disaster resilient infrastructure, housing, and community development. Recently, at the Atlantic Council's Arsht Rock Resilience Centre and previously at the Resilient Cities Network (and its predecessor 100ResilientCities), he engaged directly with cities, national governments, private sector partners, funders and technical experts to mainstream understanding of resilience and sustainability in development Priorities. Mr. Prothi has a Bachelors in Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi, and a Masters in Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has also pursued doctoral studies (focusing on urban water resource management) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ms Shuva Raha, Head – New Initiatives, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)
Shuva leads CEEW’s strategic initiatives on energy-development-climate intersections and geopolitics amidst economic transformations, including energy security and transition; industrial decarbonisation; sustainable production and consumption; circular economy, and climate resilience. She engages with governments, industry and institutions to impact sustainable development at scale, expand CEEW’s influence as a voice for emerging economies, and take the ‘India Story’ global. Shuva manages CEEW’s advisory to India’sG20 Presidency and its UN Energy Compacts initiative via partnerships with several Union Ministries; is a Global Solutions Initiative (GSI)Fellow, and an UNFCCC CoP Observer since2016. Her co-authored reports include 2020’s Jobs, Growth and Sustainability: A New Social Contract for India’s Recovery, archived at the US Library of Congress, and severalG20/Think20 policy briefs. Shuva has ~23 years of experience in public policy, project management, corporate operations, and branding. Previously, as Head – New Initiatives, Energy & Infrastructure at the Confederation of Indian Industry, she led key assignments such as CII’s work with the International Solar Alliance. Before transitioning to a career in public policy, Shuva was COO of CMYK Multimedia, the infotech subsidiary of Pioneer Newsgroup, New Delhi. Shuva manages her family’s philanthropic initiative to finance the education of under privileged students through the Subir Raha Memorial Scholarship. She is a Postgraduate in Advertising & Communications Management from NMIMS, Mumbai, where she ranked First and was awarded the Advertising Agencies Association of India Raman Memorial Trophy. She has a BSc Honours with Distinction in Life Sciences and Biochemistry from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.