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?

• Which imperatives should be included in the outcome of the ‘Global Stocktake’ to keep 1.5 degrees alive?

Speakers
Antony Agotha, Special Envoy, Climate and Environment Diplomacy, European External Action Service, European Commission
Tim Benton, Research Director, Emerging Risks; Director, Environment and Society Programme, Chatham House
Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation (joining virtually)
Chair: Pilita Clark, Associate Editor and Business Columnist, Financial Times

• 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?

• What are the main challenges and critical next steps?

Speakers
Harry Boyd-Carpenter, Managing Director, Climate Strategy and Delivery, EBRD
Veronica Galmez Marquez, Deputy Director, Division of Mitigation and Adaptation, Green Climate Fund (virtually)
Ed Mountfield, Vice President, Operations Policy and Country Services, World Bank
Faith Ward, Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Brunel Pension Partnerships, Chair, IIGCC
Chair: Creon Butler, Director, Global Economy and Finance Programme, Chatham House

• 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.

Speakers
Akshat Rathi, Senior Reporter, Climate, Bloomberg News
Solitaire Townsend, Co-Founder & Chief Scientist, Futerra
Chair: Laurie Laybourn, Visiting Fellow, Sustainability Accelerator, Environment and Society Centre, Chatham House

• 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?

Speakers
The Honourable Mayor Islam, Mayor of Dhaka North Corporation, Bangladesh (joining virtually)
Sean Lockie, Associate Director, Arup
Champa Patel, Executive Director, Governments and Policy, Climate Group
Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, United Kingdom
Chair: Maia Kutner, Global Head, Cities, States and Regions, CDP

This session is exclusive to in-person participants and held under the Chatham House Rule.

• 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?

Speakers
Christopher Hook, Global Head of Sustainability, Uber
Sherry Madera, CEO, CDP
Darshana Myronidis, Group Sustainability Director, Virgin
Harriet Parker, Head, Sustainability and ESG, Low Carbon
Chair: Daianna Karaian, Founder, Today Do This

• 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?

Speakers
David Craig, Co-Chair, Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
Chair: Ana Yang, Executive Director, Sustainability Accelerator, Environment and Society Centre. Chatham House

• 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?

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

Speakers
Angela Francis, Director, Policy Solutions, WWF
Akanksha Sharma, Head, ClimateTech and Digital Utilities, GSMA
Beccy Speight, Chief Executive, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Chair: Richard King, Senior Research Fellow, Environment and Society Programme, Chatham House

• 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?

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

Speakers
Marianne Kleiberg, Regional Managing Director, Europe, The Nature Conservancy
Andrea Ledward, Director, International Biodiversity and Climate, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, UK Government
Paul Wilkin, Head, Ecosystem Stewardship, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Chair: Bernice Lee, Research Director, Futures; Hoffmann Distinguished Fellow for Sustainability; Chair, Sustainability Accelerator Advisory Board, Chatham House

• 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?

• 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?

Speakers
Sir John Beddington, Senior Adviser, Oxford Martin School; Professor, Natural Resource Management, Oxford University
Morgan Gillespy, Executive Director, Food and Land Use Coalition
Chair: Tim Benton, Research Director, Emerging Risks; Director, Environment and Society Programme, Chatham House

• 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?

Speakers
Marcelo Behar, Vice President, Sustainability and Group Affairs, Natura &Co (joining virtually)
Charles Conn, Chair, Patagonia
Sharon White, Chairman, John Lewis Partnership
Ursula Woodburn, Director, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership Europe
Chair: Emily McKenzie, Technical Director, Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures