Sustainability LIVE Singapore – Terence Jeyaretnam Keynote

Opening Sustainability LIVE Singapore, Terence Jeyaretnam, Partner & APAC Leader Climate Change & Sustainability Services at EY, deep dives into inequality and sustainability.

Understanding inequality

Terence begins his keynote with an introduction to inequality within the context of sustainability, highlighting the importance of discussing inequality alongside climate change and biodiversity. He also notes the issues surrounding perception versus reality and how inequality affects individual experiences and perspectives of the world.

"We talk a lot about climate and biodiversity and the environment, but inequality is low. I believe we're going to talk more and more about inequality in the coming years,” says Terence. 

He adds: "Not everything that we see in the world is what it is. We hear things and we see things that are within our context, but it may not necessarily be what the actual stories or the reality is."

Linking inequality to sustainability 

Introducing the concept of ‘Earth Overshoot Day’ – an international day dedicated to raising awareness about the resource shortage that we are creating with our modern lifestyle – Terence highlights how resource depletion and inequality are interconnected, affecting different countries and populations.

Drawing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to inequality, poverty and gender inequality, Terence emphasises the need for collective action to address these goals. 

"Population growth continues to rise and, with inequalities rising and overshoot continuing, you will see the poorer countries experiencing higher levels of population growth [...] The more you're taking out, someone in that country or in another country is paying for,” says Terence.

He adds: "The work has to be both ways. It needs to be from institutions and governments and the UN and globally, but also individual responsibility needs to be a big part of that.”

More to come in 2024

Sustainability Magazine will be hosting a further four events in 2024, both virtual and in-person. Don’t miss out on your chance to hear from leading industry experts at:

• Sustainability LIVE Dubai
• Sustainability LIVE New York
• Sustainability LIVE London
• The Global Sustainability & ESG Awards

To find out more about these events and awards, click here.

Essential diary dates – 2025

• Net Zero & Scope 3 LIVE 2025 | QEII Centre, London | 5-6 March 2025
• Sustainability Singapore Virtual Conference | 19 March 2025
• Sustainability Dubai Virtual Conference | 23 May 2025
• Sustainability LIVE Chicago and Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Chicago | 4-5 June
• Sustainability LIVE & Sustainability Awards 2025 | BDC, London | 9-10 September 2025
• NEW | ClimateTech Magazine

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