Closing remarks

Dr. Yamina Saheb

Dr. Yamina Saheb is a lecturer and researcher at Sciences Po (Paris), a lead author of the 2022 IPCC report on climate change mitigation and a Senior fellow at OpenExp. Prior to this position, Yamina was a Senior Fellow Researcher at the University of Münster and previously a Senior Researcher at the University of Lausanne. In 2018, Yamina was the head of energy efficiency unit at the Energy Charter Secretariat. Before that, she was a Policy and Scientific Officer at the Renewables and Energy Efficiency Unit at the Institute of Energy and Transport of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC). She also worked as senior buildings energy efficiency policy analyst at the IEA. Yamina holds a Ph.D. in Energy Engineering, master’s degrees on Landscape Architecture and Development Economics and an Engineering degree in Building technologies.

Prof. David Ness

Prof. David Ness from the University of South Australia (UniSA), has a background in architecture, urban and infrastructure planning, and strategic asset management. David conducts research on fair, sufficient, and circular resource use, delivering more services with less resource consumption and cost. He was awarded a grant from Australian-French Research and Innovation Association (AFRAN) to organise the 1st International Forum on Sufficiency during 2022-23, after winning the Arup 2017 Global Research Challenge to adapt the circular economy to the built environment. He heads ‘Ecological Development Union International (EDUI)’, a not-for-profit association that seeks to integrate environmental improvements with socio-economic development. Within the context of the SDGs, David examines ways in which wealthier societies may dramatically ‘shrink’ their absolute resource consumption and GHG emissions, while redistributing resources to enable the disadvantaged to improve services, shelter, and infrastructure. He has advised UN ESCAP and UN Habitat on ‘green growth’ and sustainable, integrated, and inclusive infrastructure, led a training course at the International Urban Training Centre, and evaluated a major UN environmental program. He has authored over 120 publications, including The Impact of Overbuilding on People and the Planet (2019), and co-edited The Green Economy and its Implementation in China (2011).