Mr James P Leape
Director General
WWF International 

Date: 15 October 2009 (Thursday)
Time: 4.00 pm to 5.30 pm (Registration begins at 3.45 pm)
Venue: Conference Room, Level 1, Oei Tiong Ham Building,Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy 
Dress Code: Office Attire

Alain Climate change will have profound economic and social effects, with increases in the costs of basic economic inputs particularly water, agricultural produce and insurance (from the increased incidence and severity of extreme weather events). Poverty will in turn be exacerbated in many developing countries. Beyond the significant human tragedy, these events will also significantly affect development, profitability, government costs, revenue streams and investment flows. Other economic impacts will relate to the partial or greater collapse of ecosystems, the loss of biodiversity, growing water and food shortages and increased healthcare costs. A bad deal emerging from the crucial UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 will do nothing to hold back these impacts on the economy. A good deal in Copenhagen on the other hand presents the world with an opportunity keep economic growth and development while cutting GHG emissions, encourage efficiency and promote renewable energy. Producing more with less represents significant potential savings for business and governments and provides a unique opportunity for profitable investment, unleashing global low-carbon markets and creating millions of green jobs. WWF’s experience in over 100 countries has convinced them that immediate and strong action to reduce global emissions on a trajectory which keeps the world well under 2°C must be reflected in a global treaty by the 2009 UNFCCC negotiations in Copenhagen. A +2°C world is one in which there is more human misery, rapidly increased species loss and foregone opportunities to develop in a sustainable way. Mr James Leape, Director General of WWF International will outline what are the opportunities for businesses in facilitating a good deal in Copenhagen and preventing the arrival of a +2°C world. Mr Leape would also like to hear from the participants their responses at the firm-level towards climate change.

James P LEAPE is the Director General of WWF International, a position to which he was appointed in December 2005. He has worked in conservation for more than three decades. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Leape began his career as an environmental lawyer - bringing environmental protection cases in the United States, advising the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, and co-authoring the leading American text on environmental law. Leape first joined WWF in the US in 1989, and for ten years led their conservation programmes around the world, serving as Executive Vice President. In that role, he helped shape the global strategy of the WWF Network and represented WWF in many international fora. From 2001 to 2005, he directed the conservation and science initiatives of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, one of the largest philanthropies in the US. As Director General, Leape is the chief executive of WWF International and leader of the global WWF Network, which is active in more than 100 countries. James Leape is in Singapore as a Distinguished Visitor of the Singapore International Foundation (www.sif.org.sg).

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