Climate change 2023

How are geopolitical tensions influencing international climate diplomacy and to what extent are emerging alliances and divisions accelerating or impeding progress towards net-zero?  What issues could be game-changing at COP 28, and what are the requirements to making substantial progress on mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, and finance?

How will COP 28 measure and report on implementation? And which imperatives should be included in the outcome of the ‘Global Stocktake’ to keep 1.5 degrees alive?

What are the key next steps in progressing climate-related reform efforts across multilateral organizations and development banks? What success cases might be replicated to scale up private financial flows for climate action, particularly in emerging markets and developing countries? What incentives can better support the net-zero alignment and measurement of asset portfolios?

What progress has been made in operationalizing the fund and funding arrangements for loss and damage, agreed at COP27? And what are the main challenges and critical next steps?

What will it take to get the science of climate change, government policies and public perceptions onto the same page? This session aims to identify which stories and perspectives have the potential to empower just and sustainable collective action. 

What are the roles of cities and regions in driving forward decarbonization, adaptation, and resilience? Where have some of the most effective green urban development initiatives taken place and why have they worked? How can limitations in resources and authority be overcome? How are citizen’s perspectives and risk awareness accounted for in resilience strategies across cities and regions?

How can success at the local level be better leveraged to inform national policies and international climate governance structures?

What do corporate decarbonization journeys look like in practice? How can greater alignment between frameworks (TPT, GHGP, TCFD, TNFD, SBTi) enable better delivery on net-zero targets across industries? Have carbon offsets lost credibility and what alternative approaches and solutions are taking priority? What impact will renewed geopolitical concerns have over supply chains for low carbon technologies?

Exclusive to in-person participants and held under the Chatham House Rule.

What are the implications of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and target 15 of the Montreal Agreement? How will these goals and targets translate into corporate decision making, targets, and disclosure frameworks? Where are the major synergies and trade-offs between successful delivery on the GBF and current climate mitigation scenarios?

And how should financial flows be aligned in the mainstreaming of biodiversity and environmental concerns alongside climate considerations?

Exclusive to in-person participants and held under the Chatham House Rule.

How can the competing demands for land use from food production, energy, biodiversity and carbon storage be effectively managed to deliver more sustainable, efficient and resilient approaches? What interventions would achieve the transformation of land use at the pace and scale required?

And what role do economic drivers such as subsidies play in the balance of positive and negative impacts and where are the funding gaps?

Exclusive to in-person participants and held under the Chatham House Rule.

How do we mobilize, scale, and implement biodiversity-positive, science-led nature-based solutions (NbS)?  Where are the gaps in research and metrics, and how can scientists make their findings more relevant to policymakers’ and practitioners’ needs?  How can businesses and governments develop best practices to prevent ‘naïve Nature-based Solutions’, ‘naïve Net Zero’, and greenwashing?

And what does successful evidence-led implementation look like in terms of monitoring, funding, and scalability? 

Exclusive to in-person participants and held under the Chatham House Rule.

What is the outlook at the climate–biodiversity–food nexus over the coming decade? How can greater efficiencies across agricultural practices support reduced emissions and pressure on land and biodiversity? And what conditions are needed to drive transformative change to what and how we produce and consume?

How should NDCs be aligned with GBF commitments to protect and restore natural ecosystems and ensure the sustainable management of ecosystem functions and services?

Exclusive to in-person participants and held under the Chatham House Rule.

How can corporate and financial institutions effectively understand and account for their dependencies and impacts on nature? To what extent is protecting and restoring nature, alongside climate action, recognized as a commercial imperative based on risk? What are the drivers for meaningful corporate engagement with integrated approaches to climate and nature, and what does this look like in different industries?

And how are transition plans expanding towards a systems approach considering nature-based solutions and what are the costs of inaction?