Distinguished AIT alumnus Dr. Bindu N. Lohani (above), who is Vice President of Finance and Administration at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), on 4 January 2008 delivered a lecture at AIT on the topic “Challenge of Climate Change: How to deal with it?”.
Speaking to a full house at the Milton E. Bender Jr. Auditorium on the campus of his alma mater, Dr. Lohani covered issues related to energy and climate change scenarios in Asia and the challenges that lie ahead in the post-Bali Conference on Climate Change era. The speaker shed light on the current thinking surrounding this issue at Manila-based ADB, the future work and opportunities that exist, and also how Asia could assume more of a leadership role into the future.
AIT President Said Irandoust (above right) presents a token of appreciation to Dr. Lohani.
The lecture was attended by members of the AIT community, alumni, former faculty, as well as some of AIT's other external partners.
Mr. Noritada Morita, Chairman and CEO, Asia Strategy Forum, and former ADB Director, who serves as the focal person of the ADB Asia Wise Persons Group initiative, also attended the talk.
According to Dr. Lohani, climate change is one of the most important areas of focus for ADB, and significant funds are likely to be made available from various governments (in the initial phase) to the World Bank, ADB and other regional development banks to manage and implement efforts towards transforming developing countries to lower carbon economies.
The climate change initiative at ADB is under the purview of Dr. Ursula Preuss, ADB Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, as advised by Dr. Lohani. President Irandoust plans to visit ADB, and discuss with Dr. Preuss ways in which AIT could effectively partner ADB in this important undertaking.
Dr. Lohani and Mr. Morita provided their advice, guidance and strong support to AIT. Dr. Lohani, who was on home leave during his visit to AIT and was accompanied by members of his family, also took part in an informal interaction session with members of the AIT Nepalese community.