From Risk to Resilience: Embedding Human Rights in Asia’s Just Transition

From Risk to Resilience: Embedding Human Rights in Asia’s Just Transition

11:00 ICT | 18 March 2025

Overview

Asia is undergoing a double transition—a shift to renewable energy and green industries, accelerated by AI, automation, and emerging technologies. While essential for climate goals, economic resilience, and business competitiveness, these changes also pose human rights and social justice challenges, particularly for informal workers, women, and frontline communities reliant on traditional industries.

Across Asia, renewable energy projects have triggered land conflicts, displacement, and labour rights violations, while AI and automation are reshaping supply chains, putting low-wage and informal workers at risk of exclusion. Efforts to transition to greener energy sources must avoid repeating past mistakes—demanding that transitions are swift, just, and hold duty-bearers accountable for their impacts on people and the planet. Without human rights safeguards, workforce protections, and community engagement, these shifts could widen inequality and deepen economic divides.

Meanwhile, gaps in energy transition infrastructure and unclear policies create barriers to investment, cost unpredictability, and regulatory uncertainty for businesses. This raises urgent questions: How can companies transition to renewables while ensuring energy affordability and security? What policies or incentives can de-risk green investments? As the push for green energy and automation transforms industries, how can businesses prevent job losses, social exclusion, and labor rights violations, particularly in supply chains and energy projects?

This session will convene business leaders, policymakers, investors, and labor experts to discuss how companies can navigate regulatory uncertainty, secure green finance, ensure energy stability, and drive an inclusive transition.

Format

This interactive panel discussion will feature concise interventions from experts, ensuring a lively, solution-driven exchange. Panelists from business, policy, labor, and investment sectors will share insights, with structured Q&A and audience reflections to foster engagement.

LEARN:

Policy & Regulatory Clarity: What policies exist for renewable energy adoption, labor protections, and AI governance, and how can businesses align with them?
Energy Transition & Infrastructure Gaps: How can businesses secure stable, cost-effective clean energy while addressing land rights and labor concerns?
Workforce Transition & Labor Rights: How are AI and automation disrupting jobs, and how can businesses reskill workers and support informal labor markets?
Why it matters for businesses: Staying ahead of policy shifts, workforce disruptions, and investment risks will determine which businesses thrive in Asia’s evolving economy.

ENGAGE:

Ensuring Energy Security While Advancing Just Transition: How can businesses transition to renewables without compromising affordability and reliability, and what strategies can prevent land disputes and labor violations in energy projects?
AI, Automation & the Future of Work: What are the risks of low-wage and informal workers being excluded from AI-driven supply chains, and how can businesses invest in reskilling to create new job opportunities?
Regulatory & Market Pressures on Supply Chains: How are investors, global buyers, and trade policies pushing for ESG compliance and just transition integration, and what actions should businesses take to align?
Why it matters for businesses: Companies that ignore these risks could face legal liabilities, investor scrutiny, and loss of market access, while those that embrace just transition principles will strengthen resilience and unlock financing.

CONNECT:

Business-Government Partnerships: How can businesses work with policymakers to shape clear, investment-friendly regulations?
Financing Just Transition: Are green finance models taking into account due diligence measures and ensuring do no harm to people and the planet.
Industry Collaboration for Workforce Inclusion: How can businesses engage workers, unions, and civil society to ensure a fair and just transition?
Why it matters for businesses: Companies that proactively align with policy, secure financing, and invest in worker inclusion will lead the transition while mitigating risks.

SESSION SPEAKERS

LARS SVENNSON

Head of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development for ASEAN, Midsummer AB

Lars Svensson is an entrepreneurial leader with a passion for sustainability, business innovation, and positive impact. He holds an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics and studied Malay at the National University of Singapore. With a career spanning Southeast Asia and Asia, he has held leadership roles at IKEA, Novena Holdings, and Oriflame. Lars has led sustainability efforts globally, regionally, and locally, including at IKEA Southeast Asia & Mexico (Ikano Group), Sasin School of Management and Sri Trang Group. A founding partner of Wallander & Sson and Midsummer AB’s Asia Head , he also holds multiple board positions, including Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce. Married with two teenagers, he believes home is the most important place in the world.

HSIN HSUAN SUN

Director of Corporate Accountability and International Affairs, Environmental Rights Foundation

Hsin Hsuan Sun is the Director of Corporate Accountability and International Affairs at the Environmental Rights Foundation, an environmental legal non-profit based in Taiwan, where she works on issues related to corporate accountability and environmental rights. In her current position, she conducts legal and value chain research, engages in policy and investor advocacy, and performs field investigations, working closely with communities impacted by Taiwanese investments and business activities both domestically and internationally. Her recent work has focused on the effects of the nickel and petrochemical industries on local communities, environmental and climate change issues, and the role of Taiwanese businesses within these sectors. Her current areas of focus include ESG legal frameworks, supply chain concerns, business and human rights, and climate change and just transition.

MUHAMMAD JAMIL

Joint Secretary , Ministry of Climate Change & Environmental Coordination, Pakistan

Mr. Muhammad is Joint Secretary at Ministry of Climate Change & Environmental Coordination, Pakistan. He holds master’s degree in English Literature and Management Science and possesses long experience of working at different positions in the Public Sector.
He started his career in Office Management Group as Section Officer coordination and Section Officer Administration at Ministry of Labour Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis. He served as Section Officer Emigration at Ministry of Labour and Manpower.
He served at FBR as Secretary Management and Secretary Expenditure and worked at Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority as Deputy Director Procurement and Director Administration for a long period.
He served as Deputy Secretary Administration & Deputy Custodian Enemy Property in the Ministry of Communication. He remained Director General (Power and Oil & Gas) at Privatisation Commission where he dealt with privatization/divestment and post privatization issues of Power, Oil and Gas sectors. Before his present posting he remained in the Ministry of Finance as Joint Secretary to the Finance Minister.
During his career he participated in many international events/workshops and visited Philippine, Malaysia, Norway, Belgium, Germany, China, Nepal, Philippine, UAE and Qatar.
He has attended Mid-career Management Course and Senior Management Course at National School of Public Policy. In addition, he has attended number of training courses, symposiums and workshops on management, administration policy formulation/ execution and project handling.

ELIZABETH WU

International Economic Lawyer

Elizabeth Wu is a dispute resolution lawyer focusing on the role that international economic law can play in driving sustainable development. She leads legal capacity building and net zero transition initiatives and research in Asia, including regional judicial convening on climate and environmental adjudication, corporate accountability and ESG litigation risks, and the development of international investment law norms that support sustainable development. She is a Legal Consultant with international environmental law NGO ClientEarth, a Global Fellow with the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore, and an ESG Working Group Committee member of the Law Society of Singapore.

TONY WIDJARNARSO

Urban Transformation Lead, World Benchmarking Alliance

Tony is an urban design and planning professional, with more than 13 years of experience across multiple urban sectors, including transportation, construction and engineering, real estate, and utility sectors in the public and private sector projects and organizations. In his current work in the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), he works on issues pertaining to the corporate accountability of global companies in shaping sustainable, and inclusive urban environments. His work in WBA entails looking at how companies are doing in their ESG reporting, both in the environmental aspects of sustainability, which include climate change mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk resilience, as well as the socio-economic of it, such as human rights, affordability, local economic contribution, and just transition, among other topics. Experienced in technical research, data analytics and coordinating urban development projects across multiple disciplines in capacity-constrained environments

APARNA BASNYAT

Programme Advisor, Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights, UNDP

Aparna Basnyat is the Programme Advisor for Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights with the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub. She leads regional initiatives on people-centred justice and security, judicial integrity and effectiveness, and business and human rights and advises country programming on access to justice and human rights for the Asia Pacific region. Previously she worked with UNDP at the global level on governance and SDG 16 research and data analytics as well as on rule of law and human rights policy and programming.