Interim Business Dean Xiao Chen speaks at G20 Blue Carbon Group meeting – URI News

Kingston, RI – September. February 27, 2022 – Shaw Chen, Interim Dean of the University of Rhode Island School of Business, recently delivered a keynote speech at the G20 Development Working Group – Side Event “Blue Carbon: Enabling Conservation and Finance” in Bali, Indonesia. “

The G20 – an intergovernmental forum of 19 countries and the European Union – was established in 1999 to address the biggest issues affecting the global economy, including financial stability, climate change mitigation and sustainable development. The G20’s Development Working Group, established almost a decade later, allows member states to come together and drive action on a wide range of issues facing developing countries, especially low-income countries.

Chen Xiao

Indonesia, which currently chairs the G20 and will host the annual summit of member leaders in November, is advocating for the sustainable management of global blue carbon ecosystems.

Invited by Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning, Chen recounted the U.S. experience in implementing policies to promote blue carbon—carbon captured and stored in the world’s marine and coastal ecosystems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Blue carbon ecosystems can be an effective means of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” Chen said. “Mangroves, tidal swamps, seagrass and other kelp forests are able to store carbon dioxide in plants and the sediments below for thousands of years.

“One of the priorities for achieving climate resilience is an integrated climate change mitigation plan and disaster management strategy,” he added. “Mangroves and seagrasses are key coastal ecosystems that store natural carbon. However, the importance of blue carbon ecosystems The role has not received much attention.”

August. He said the 8th Forum was critical to fostering cooperation and commitment on a broad range of issues related to blue carbon financing and the need for governments to finance the implementation of mitigation measures.

“It’s not the biggest event I’ve ever spoken at, but it’s certainly one of the most important,” Chen said. “I was the only keynote speaker from the U.S. on the G20 panel and the only one to share U.S. implementation Scholars on the Opportunities and Challenges of Blue Carbon Policy”

He said his speech at the conference was all the more remarkable because it came just hours after the U.S. Senate passed a $430 billion bill that includes funding to fight climate change.

In his speech, Chen advocated for the United States to develop a national policy and strategy for blue carbon sequestration, identify ecosystem restoration priorities, and assess barriers to its restoration. While states and territories play a vital role in tackling climate change, national and international answers are needed on such a fixed issue, he said.

“Governments and intergovernmental organizations are among the most important funders of climate change action, but growth in public investment is slowing,” he said. “I drive a strategic approach to increasing private sector climate investment.”

The popularity of sustainable investment strategies has helped spur climate investment in the private sector, he said. Banks have also played a more prominent role as intermediaries of sustainable and green debt instruments and started a wider trend towards setting climate targets.

“Carbon finance improves the financial viability of cutting-edge projects, generates additional revenue streams, and allows for the efficient transfer of technology, knowledge and expertise,” he said. “It provides a means of harnessing new public and private investment projects to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, including in transition economies and developing countries.”

Chen, Professor of Management Science and Chairman of Business Leadership at Alfred J. Verrecchia-Hasbro Inc., has extensive expertise in operations management, decision modeling, finance, and strategy. He is a frequent speaker at academic and professional conferences and meetings, including international events such as the Foreign Direct Investment Summit hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China in 2004.

“Business professors need to be experts in many business disciplines,” he said, “including finance, innovation, policy, strategy, marketing, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, human resources, supply chain and operations.”

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