SDSN Asia Headquarters
Updates from the Secretariat office in Kuala Lumpur
SDSN Asia Headquarters
Updates from the Secretariat office in Kuala Lumpur
About SDSN in Asia
SDSN established its SDSN Secretariat office in Sunway City, Malaysia, in 2021. The Sunway City office serves as SDSN’s Asia Headquarters, working closely with the New York and Paris offices, as well as regional Networks and partners, to advance SDSN’s global mission, with a particular focus on promoting sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region. Professor Woo Wing Thye, SDSN’s Vice President for Asia, heads the new office, which is generously funded by the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation and hosted by Sunway University.
The 2022 launch highlights can be found here.
Flagship Projects
The ASEAN Green Future project is a collaboration between SDSN, ClimateWorks Australia, the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development at Sunway University, and country-specific research groups from across Southeast Asia. The project aims to demonstrate how sustainable, decarbonized economies offer enhanced economic development and more resilient futures for the region.
Mission 4.7 is a global initiative to advance transformative education for the SDGs. Its Secretariat comprises representatives from SDSN, UNESCO, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, and the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, serve as Patrons. Co-Chairs include Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Founder & Chairman of the Sunway Group; Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO; Professor Jeffrey Sachs; and Monsignor Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, former Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, representing His Holiness Pope Francis. The SDSN team in Kuala Lumpur is working to localize Mission 4.7 by identifying barriers to and opportunities for the implementation of transformative education in the Malaysian education system.
Science Panel for Southeast Asian Forests and Soils
Building on the success of SDSN’s Science Panel for the Amazon, SDSN-Asia will convene a Science Panel for Southeast Asian forests and soils (SP-SEA) to support Southeast Asian governments in designing and implementing practical solutions to protect and expand the forests, transform present agricultural practices to green farming, preserve biodiversity, and ensure harmonious balance between natural eco-systems and national socio-economic systems.