Public lecture: Israel: A Country On The Front Line Of Climate Innovation

In order to create opportunities for lecturers and students to discuss and share issues related to climate change innovation, on September 14th, 2023, the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) co-organized the public lecture “Israel: A Country On The Front line of Climate Innovation” with the Embassy of Israel in Vietnam. The event welcomed nearly 200 students, lecturers from UEH in lively conversations on Climate change innovation.

Climate change is a global challenge, and innovation in combating the effects of Climate change is receiving a lot of attention from countries around the world. This Public lecture is an activity on the occasion of the Israeli Special Envoy visiting and working in Ho Chi Minh City with the desire to share perspectives from Israel on the innovations of Israel - the country known as a "Startup Nation" - in solving the challenges of climate change, towards sustainable development.

With that meaning, the Public lecture was honored to receive from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Ambassador Gideon Behar - Israel's Special Envoy on Climate Change and Sustainability; Mr. Nguyen Ho Kinh Luan - Commercial Advisor, Economic and Trade Office - Israeli Embassy in Vietnam.

From UEH, the lecture was honored to receive Assoc. Prof. Pham Khanh Nam - Vice Rector, UEH College of Economics, Law and Government (CELG) cum Director of The Economy and Environment Partnership for Southeast Asia Vietnam; Dr. Pham Duong Phuong Thao - Deputy Head of UEH Department of Research Management - International Cooperation.

In his welcome remarks, Assoc. Prof. Pham Khanh Nam - Vice Rector, UEH College of Economics, Law and Government, shared “UEH is very honored to have the opportunity to co-organize today's lecture with Ambassador Gideon Behar - Israel's Special Envoy on Climate Change and Sustainability. The lecture will be a meaningful opportunity for Vietnam in general and UEH students in particular to better understand the effects and impacts of climate change and to innovate in responding to climate change. Climate change has been happening to many countries around the world, and especially in Israel. Furthermore, in the future, students will be policy makers, managers,... in many different fields from economics, management, design, technology, so understanding more knowledge is important. Innovation in ways to deal with climate change is essential. Climate change is an urgent issue that requires global cooperation and joint efforts.”

Assoc. Prof. Pham Khanh Nam - Vice Rector, UEH College of Economics, Law and Government delivers opening remarks

In his lecture, Ambassador Gideon Behar, Israel's Special Envoy for Climate Change and Sustainability, shared: “As the world is facing a global climate crisis with its significant impacts on human life and other species, countries are urgently promoting the search for effective and affordable solutions. In this regard, Israel is considered one of the world’s leading countries in the field of climate innovation. The very fact that it is located in an arid region has demanded that it develop capabilities in many areas that the world needs in order to respond to the climate crisis. Israel is leading in the number of startups in the world per capita and today, about 1 in 7 new Israeli startups work in the field of climate technology, which can be applied to industries such as agriculture, water, energy and transportation. Ambassador Gideon Behar looks forward to sharing more of these solutions with Vietnamese with the hope that the close cooperation between Vietnam and Israel in promoting the application of advanced technologies will push us closer to the goals of combating climate change.”

Ambassador Gideon Behar, Israel's Special Envoy for Climate Change and Sustainability shares the Lecture

Attendees felt very excited after Ambassador Gideon Behar's sharing, and asked many good questions to the speakers. The content of the Q&A discussion revolves around learning how to overcome problems arising from climate change in Vietnam as well as globally. UEH students also discussed with the speaker the importance of knowledge about climate change as well as implementation ideas to put solutions into practice.

Discussion session

The Public lecture was a great success with many exciting activities and The speaker's speech created positive meanings for the lecturers and students

with all participants. The public lecture hoped to make a big difference in promoting an innovation in climate change, and to have inspired all students and participants to take action towards a better future.