AGENDA
Welcome Remarks and Keynote (1:00pm – 1:15pm EST)
- Dan Glickman – Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
- Heather McGeory – Global Lead, Climate and Sustainability, APCO Worldwide
Panel 1: Why action before 2030 matters for 1.5°C (1:15pm – 2:25pm EST)
This session will open with a virtual keynote by Selwin Charles Hart – Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition, Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG), and will present the latest IPCC science and national and sectoral 1.5°C aligned pathways to close the 2030 emissions gap. It will highlight the importance of emission reductions in this critical decade and dispel the narrative that fossil gas is a transition fuel.
- Bill Hare – Chief Executive Officer, Climate Analytics
- Ambassador Conrod Hunte – Lead Negotiator for Climate Change, Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
- Dr. Piers Forster – Professor of Physical Climate Change and Director of the Priestly International Centre for Climate at the University of Leeds
- Mariana Panuncio-Feldman – Director of Country Engagement, NDC Partnership
- Moderator: Frances Fuller – Director of Climate Analytics New York
Panel 2: Turning COP 26 commitments to COP 27 solutions: The role of corporations driving to net zero (2:35 – 3:20pm EST)
What is the role of companies net zero to achieve the 1.5°C target. Discussions will focus on each company’s strategies around decarbonization through campaigns such as the Race to Zero, Race to Resilience and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). Speakers will also discuss how their companies are implementing their climate commitments and what other companies need to focus on to invest toward net zero.
- Luiz Amaral – Chief Executive Officer, Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)
- William Salas, PhD – Chief Strategy Officer, Regrow
- Kerry Constabile – Managing Director, Net Zero and Sustainability, Standard Chartered Bank
- Makiko Ono – Chief Sustainability Officer, Suntory Holdings Limited
- Moderator: Taniya Thomas – Senior Associate Director, Climate & Sustainability, APCO Worldwide
Panel 3: What’s next for Voluntary Carbon Markets (3:25 – 4:10pm EST)
Carbon reductions and removals are critical tools for achieving a net zero economy. Understanding when, how and what type to use is an area of lively discussion across government, investors, companies and civil society NGOs. We will have an active discussion on the role of reductions and removals in the growing voluntary carbon markets. We will discuss SBTi and reductions/removals, the VCMI claims code of practice and the emerging core carbon principles.
- Pedro Barata – Senior Director of Climate Policy, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) / co-chair of the IC-VCM Expert Panel
- Lydia Sheldrake – Member of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI)
- Robin Rix - Chief Legal, Policy, and Markets Officer, Verra
- Moderator: Heather McGeory – Global Lead, Climate and Sustainability, APCO Worldwide
Panel 4: The role of Nature Based Solutions in a high ambition pathway (4:10 – 4:55pm EST)
This panel will discuss the meaning and role of Nature Based Solutions (NBS) in a high ambition pathway to 1.5°C, reflecting jurisdictional voices by putting forest carbon countries at the center of this discussion, and turning to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) to speak to the impact of NBS by highlighting on-the-ground forest protection stories.
- Juan Carlos Jintiach – Coordinator of International Economic Cooperation and Autonomous Indigenous Development, Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA)
- Mark Moroge – Vice President of Natural Climate Solutions, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
- Allan Traicoff – Chief Commercial Officer, Emergent
- Moderator: Marissa Pieratt – Associate Consultant, Climate and Sustainability, APCO Worldwide