Sir David King will speak at the EUREKA 2019 Conference on June 11th in Bruges, Belgium. The distinguished professor will deliver the keynote speech at EUREKA 2019 – a conference organised by the European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE) and the European Ventilation Industry Association (EVIA). EUREKA brings together policy makers, young people and experts from the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration sector (HVACR). This year, participants will engage in discussions on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as skills, employment and gender participation.
Professor Sir David King is a Partner of SYSTEMIQ and Senior Strategy Adviser to the President of Rwanda. Prior to this, he was the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (2000-2007), the Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on Climate Change (2013-2017), working with 165 Climate Change Attaches in UK Embassies, and Chair of Future Cities Catapult (2012-2016). Sir David King travelled widely to persuade governments across the globe to take action on climate change, for example, he worked with Chinese and Indian authorities to initiate an in-depth risk analysis approach to climate change. In 2015, he initiated a collaborative programme known as Mission Innovation, credited for establishing a USD25bn research fund involving 22 countries and the European Commission.
EPEE and EVIA now have the distinct pleasure of welcoming Sir David King to EUREKA 2019. Russell Patten, Secretary General of EVIA, commented, “This is exactly why we started the EUREKA project – to bring together students and businesses with some of the world’s most influential climate experts. Sir David King is certainly one of those”. EPEE Director-General Andrea Voigt described Sir David King as “a truly inspirational advocate for meaningful climate action from governments and businesses alike”.
Alongside Sir David King, the EUREKA programme features other noteworthy speakers. Amongst others, Hans van der Loo, Chairman of the Institute for Integrated Economic Research, will provide a speech on the morning of Wednesday 12th June. Markus Trilling from Climate Action Network Europe, Lily Riahi from UN Environment and Ian Crosby from the International Finance Corporation will all contribute in a panel discussion on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Wim Boydens, CSTO of Boydens Engineering Group, will deliver the closing remarks.
This year marks the third edition of the EUREKA conference, with previous editions held in The Hague and Berlin. In parallel to the conferences, the EUREKA team have also organised HVACR Roadshow events in Italy and Romania.