Forward Talks

We’re continuing our conversation with Tanzeed Alam, MD at Earth Matters. Tanzeed shares his experience with the youth at COP28, and our thoughts on how to involve and educate the next generation to be more involved in climate action. If you haven’t heard Part 1—where we talk about the outcomes of COP28 in the UAE and look ahead to COP29—you’ll find that in your podcast app right before this one. This episode closes out our special series on COP28, in partnership with Mastercard and with the support of the Dubai Government Media Office.

We’re joined today by Tanzeed Alam, MD at Earth Matters, to talk about the outcomes of COP28 in the UAE, and look ahead to COP29 in Azerbaijan. Tanzeed is the MD of Earth Matters, with extensive experience consulting with private sector and government on climate action. He also took on a special role last year as an advisor at the private office of Her Excellency Razan Al Mubarak, the UN High-Level Climate Champion for COP28. Tanzeed is also our first returning guest, you can listen to his previous episode about our impact on nature and what we could learn from the pandemic in your podcast app, and on our website. This is the last episode of our special series, Climate Leaders - Rising up to COP28. We’re sharing inspiring stories of sustainability leaders and climate champions, driving impact from our region to the world. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Mastercard. Join the #PricelessPlanetCoalition movement with Mastercard to help restore 100 million trees around the world by 2025. Please visit the Priceless Planet Coalition website to learn more.

Our latest Think Tank took place on day 13 of COP28 at the Slovenia Pavilion under the Take a Breath campaign, in partnership with Telfast and Sanofi. The goal of this campaign is to raise awareness and drive action on indoor air quality, aligning with the UAE Air Quality Agenda 2031. We were joined by Angie Lorena Sanchez Pina, Air Quality Specialist with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Mai Daoud, Sustainability Lead for AMEA and China Region at Sanofi, and our amazing panelists: Dr Diana Francis from Khalifa University, Oriol Teixidó-Advisor with the WHO and Associate Director at Ricardo, and Engineer Abdelazeez Gaffer, Senior Safety Engineer for Indoor Air Quality with Dubai Municipality. Listen in to their insights, best practices and some of the initiatives under way to improve indoor air quality across the country. We also shared details about our school study, running during the 2023-24 academic year, to collect data on indoor air quality in classrooms before and after solutions implementation, and help create a benchmark to inform best practices. This episode was brought to you by Goumbook in partnership with Telfast and Sanofi. You can find out more and how to get involved on our website, where you can also find all of our episodes including our special series on COP28.

Obaid Ali Alshamshi, currently leads the Marine Biodiversity Section and the Youth Council at the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and his colleague, Shaemma Rasheed Mebwana, a Climate Change Analyst with the Ministry, share their expectations from COP28, and some of the programs available for the Youth in the Green Zone. This is a clip from our special series, Climate Leaders–Rising up to COP28. You can listen to the full episode in your podcast app or on our website, and sign-up for a COP28 Green Zone pass here.

We’re joined for this youth-focused episode by Obaid Ali Alshamshi, a distinguished Emirati biologist, currently leading the Marine Biodiversity Section and the Youth Council at the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and his colleague, Shaemma Rasheed Mebwana, a Climate Change Analyst with the Ministry. We talk about how the UAE Government has been engaging with the youth, involving them in policy making, and some of the youth programs at the COP28 Green Zone. This is part of our special series, Climate Leaders - Rising up to COP28. We’re sharing inspiring stories of sustainability leaders and climate champions, driving impact from our region to the world. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Mastercard. Join the #PricelessPlanetCoalition movement with Mastercard to help restore 100 million trees around the world by 2025. Please visit the Priceless Planet Coalition website to learn more.

Jamila El Mir, senior advisor to the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, shares her expectations from COP28. This is a clip from our special series, Climate Leaders–Rising up to COP28. You can listen to Jamila’s full episode in your podcast app or on our website.

The Greek Sheikh, H.H Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Nuaimi, shares his expectations from COP28. This is a clip from our special series, Climate Leaders–Rising up to COP28. You can listen to The Green Sheikh’s full episode in your podcast app or on our website.

Florence Bulte, Chief Sustainability Officer at Chalhoub Group, shares her expectations from COP28. This is a clip from our special series, Climate Leaders–Rising up to COP28. You can listen to Florence’s full episode in your podcast app or on our website.

Andrea Prazakova, Senior Vice President at Mastercard Foundry and ESG for EEMEA, shares her expectations from COP28. This is a clip from our special series, Climate Leaders–Rising up to COP28. You can listen to Andrea’s full episode in your podcast app or on our website.

Allyson Anderson Book, Chief Sustainability Officer at Baker Hughes, shares her expectations from COP28. This is a clip from our special series, Climate Leaders–Rising up to COP28. You can listen to Allyson’s full episode in your podcast app or on our website.