Sonam Zam

Sonam Zam is a civil engineer committed to advancing renewable energy and sustainability. Equipped with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Bhutan and a Master’s in Renewable Energy from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, Sonam has gained experience in the field. Since January 2023, she has served as a Project Officer at ADB, Bhutan Resident Mission, focusing on energy and urban projects. Prior to joining ADB, she spent over a decade at Druk Green Power Corporation, where she gained valuable experience in hydropower development and project management.

Louise McSorley

Louise A. McSorley is a Social Development Specialist at the Asian Development Bank, focusing on the social dimensions of Just Transition and disability inclusion. A lawyer by training, she has shaped labor laws across Asia and led Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency.

Circular Economy in the Construction Industry (Circular Economy Webinar Series Session 26)

In the seminar, the potential of circular economy (CE) in the construction industry, known for its significant environmental footprint, was discussed. It focused on the stakeholders’ perception of costs and benefits. A machine learning model analyzed data from 382 participants from Norway, Latvia, Kazakhstan, UAE, Pakistan, Turkey, Spain, and other countries which were collected using an online survey in 2023.

Climate Risk Management in an Emergency Assistance Loan: The Pakistan Emergency Flood Assistance Project

The session shared the approach and lessons learned in climate risk management for the Emergency Assistance Loan for the Pakistan 2022 floods. The presentation highlighted key approaches and results of rapid climate change assessments used to inform the build-back-better reconstruction of key transport, irrigation, and flood risk management infrastructure.

Capacity Development Course

Forty-one ADB staff from headquarters and resident missions completed seven interactive, half-day virtual workshops of the 2023 Resilience Learning Month (RLM) capacity development course from 26 September to 17 October.

This year’s course tackled carbon pricing and carbon finance, climate finance, climate and disaster resilience, Paris alignment, and post-disaster and emergency assistance.