Welcome to Our Land, Our Future, a special mini-series of Forward Talks by Goumbook focused on land restoration and combating desertification.

Our first episode features Professor Kaveh Madani, a prominent environmental scientist, educator, and leader known for his work on complex human-natural systems at the interface of science, policy, and society. With over 300 publications, Professor Kaveh is currently the Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). Funded by the Government of Canada, the Institute leads efforts to address global water, environmental and health challenges through research, capacity building and policy solutions as the academic arm of the United Nations.

Professor Madani discusses the concept of "water bankruptcy," and argues that simply increasing water supply is not a sufficient solution to address our water needs. He also explains the need for a global approach to addressing desertification and land degradation.

This special series is brought to you in partnership with Saudi Awwal Bank. Find out more at: https://www.sab.com/esg/.

Links:

• UNU-INWEH | United Nations University
• UN: Invest in Nature to Cut Billion-Dollar Costs of Droughts | United Nations University
• Five drought myths experts say must be shattered
• Hurricane Helene Posed a Threat to Over 31,000 Properties in the U.S., with a Combined Value Exceeding $12.5 Billion | United Nations University

Welcome to “Our Land, Our Future,” a special mini-series of Forward Talks by Goumbook focused on land restoration and combating desertification—key topics discussed at the UNCCD COP16, held for the first time in the Middle East, in Riyadh, December 2024.

Host Tatiana Antonelli-Abella will be speaking to regional and global stakeholders who are spearheading innovative efforts to protect and restore land. The goal is to foster awareness and inspire action within the Middle East and beyond to address this urgent environmental challenge of our time. Our conversation will extend beyond COP16, addressing broader issues in the Middle East & North Africa region.

This special series is brought to you in partnership with Saudi Awwal Bank. Find out more at: https://www.sab.com/esg/.

The first MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Program Ceremony took place on the 22nd of May, the International Day of Biological Diversity, where we celebrated the researches and entrepreneurs who hold the keys to solving some of the world’s fundamental agricultural problems.

The Regenerative Agriculture Program has been a transformative journey, from the initial open call in 2023. We received over 100 registration from 18 counties and some of the most innovative academic and entrepreneurial minds. Samantha Keyruz, our Strategy and Sustainability Impact Director who also championed the program, spoke to our three winners about their solutions, the challenges they faced in making them viable and how we can work to close the gap between academia and the public sector.

We also want to thank our partners, HSBC and Saudi Awal Bank, who worked with us to both upskill and empower innovative solutions like these through funding and mentorship, and help them become viable commerical possibilities.

Tatiana sits down with Sylvain Bonnet, Vice President & Global General Manager for Telfast, a brand under global healthcare company, Sanofi. Sanofi and Telfast have been instrumental towards Goumbook’s Take-a-Breath campaign, an awareness initiative to raise awareness and drive action on indoor air quality, aligning with the UAE Air Quality Agenda 2031.

Tatiana and Sylvain talk about Sanofi’s net-zero commitment, their b-corp certification and their declaration to become a purpose-led organization. Sylvain shares how purpose-driven actions unlock health by promoting research, equitable access, preventive measures, targeted interventions, community empowerment, environmental stewardship, and climate action. When organizations align their purpose with these goals, they create a positive impact on a global scale.

Links:

• COP28 Think Tank: Exploring the nexus of indoor air quality, public health and climate action
• Goumbook’s Take-a-breath campaign

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.

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.

We’re joined today by Jamila El Mir, senior advisor to the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, Her Excellency Razan Al Mubarak. Jamila has over 16 years of experience in environmental and sustainability strategy, and policy development for master planning and citywide planning, urban waste systems and more. We talk about the impact of urban growth and the construction sector on the environment, and her work with the Climate Champions team.

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.

We’re joined today by Florence Bulte, Chief Sustainability Officer at Chalhoub Group. Chalhoub Group has been a creator of luxury experiences across the Middle East for over six decades, and Florence is responsible for promoting sustainability across the Group through advocacy and partnerships. We talk about how they engage with their supply chain to embed sustainability across the Group, how the luxury industry is working on recycling and circularity, and her expectations from COP28.

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.

Links:

• EU Greenwashing crackdown

H.H Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Nuaimi, popularly known as The Green Sheikh, joins us on the episode. Sheikh Abdul Aziz serves as environmental advisor to the Ajman Government and is also the founder of the Al Ihsan Charity, which he started in 1998 and The Green Sheikh Academy in 2018. We talk about his journey to becoming a climate leader, his mission to inspire over a billion individuals through his new program for the youth—The Climate Champions—and his expectations from COP28.

You can also find the poem Harmony by H.H . Maryam A. Al Nuaimi (The Blue Sheikha) here.

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.