Dr Winston Chow, Lee Kong Chian Professor of Urban Climate, College of Integrative Studies and Co-Chair of Working Group II, IPCC AR7
Mike Ng, Group Chief Sustainability Officer, OCBC
Dr Sayd Randle, Assistant Professor of Urban Studies, College of Integrative Studies
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body that assesses the science of climate change, providing policymakers worldwide with authoritative, policy-relevant assessments through regular assessment cycles.
In July 2023, the IPCC began its Seventh Assessment Cycle (AR7). As part of this cycle, Dr Winston Chow, Professor at the SMU College of Integrative Studies (CIS), was elected as one of the two Co-Chairs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Working Group II (WG II), which focuses on climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) supports Prof Chow in the establishment and work of the Working Group II Technical Support Unit (TSU).
In his role as Co-Chair, Professor Chow provides scientific leadership and strategic direction for WG II’s work, guiding hundreds of researchers from around the world in the preparation of the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. WG II is also responsible for producing an additional flagship publication this cycle, the Special Report on Climate Change and Cities, which will address themes and topics around the interaction of climate change and urban environments.
Following Professor Chow’s election, the Technical Support Unit (TSU) for IPCC Working Group II is hosted at the SMU College of Integrative Studies.
Partnership with OCBC
In November 2025, OCBC and SMU IPCC Working Group II Technical Support Unit partnered to produce a social media video campaign to highlight the important role of science in climate action in light of the annual UN Climate Conference, also known as COP30, that took place in Belem, Brazil.
In this social media campaign, OCBC's Group Chief Sustainability Officer Mike Ng was featured alongside CIS researchers Professor Sayd Randle and Professor Winston Chow (who also co-chairs the IPCC Working Group II) who were featured as experts responding to questions, posed by the SMU community on climate issues, based on their areas of expertise. These questions were collected in October 2025, where the SMU community were invited to share questions they have about climate issues. This also provided the team with a pulse check of the level of awareness, understanding and concern that the SMU community has of climate issues. The video was also filmed at various parts of SMU's campus.
This video was posted on OCBC and SMU's institutional channels on various social media platforms, such as Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.