The final day of Reuters IMPACT, Reuters flagship climate summit, took place on Thursday with a packed schedule of business leaders, scientists and leading experts tackling climate change’s most burning questions.
Notable speakers on “The Road to COP” global broadcast stage included Bezos Earth Fund CEO Andrew Steer, oche Vice Chairman André Hoffmann, World Green Building Council CEO Cristina Gamboa, International Institute for Environment and Development Executive Director Tom Mitchell, General Atlantic Beyond NetZero Fund Managing Director Rhea Hamilton, HSBC Group Chief Sustainability Officer Celine Herweijer, National Congress of American Indians President Fawn Sharp, Switzerland Ambassador to the UK Markus Leitner, World Green Building Council CEO Cristina Gamboa, and WWF International Special Envoy Marco Lambertini.
Check out the news highlights from today’s forum below:
Bezos Earth Fund’s Steer calls for more creative climate finance
Development banks and philanthropists need to be more creative in the way they finance projects to limit climate change and protect nature, the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund’s CEO said. Andrew Steer said in an interview at the Reuters IMPACT conference in London that reform of the World Bank and other multilateral lenders could go further to bolster financial flows to emerging markets, as could charitable grant-giving groups.
COP28 needs to show action not words for business, finance leaders
Less talk and more action on decarbonising the energy system should be the main focus of world leaders at the next round of climate talks, speakers at the Reuters IMPACT conference said. November’s COP28 conference in Dubai is seen as a crucial opportunity for governments to accelerate action to limit global warming and preserve nature, yet to-date most countries are nowhere close to reaching net-zero carbon emissions.
Impact accounting ‘urgently’ needed – Roche’s Hoffmann
The world “urgently” needs to agree an accounting system focused on corporate impact to push companies to do more to cut emissions and protect nature, Roche (ROG.S) Vice-Chair Andre Hoffmann said on Thursday. Hoffmann, a billionaire environmentalist whose family founded the Swiss healthcare company in 1896, told delegates at the Reuters IMPACT summit that with emissions still rising, he saw “very few reasons” for optimism in the near term.
New EU sustainability reporting rules are a challenge, says Puma
Meeting new European Union requirements for corporate reporting on sustainability is a challenge, sportswear brand Puma’s (PUMG.DE) head of sustainability said on Wednesday, ahead of what he called an “avalanche” of regulation in the bloc. “We are nowhere near being able to fulfil the requirements of CSRD,” Stefan Seidel said on a panel at the Reuters IMPACT conference in London, referring to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
Africa presents challenges, solutions in clean energy transition
Africa’s role in the global energy transition is at a key turning point, finance and business leaders said in London on Thursday, with the potential to leapfrog ahead in green energy with the right funding and support. The continent is rich in the commodities needed for the green energy transition and has abundant solar power, but many governments are also burdened with cripplingly high debts.
Good Energy CEO calls on UK government to ‘get out of the way’
Energy services company Good Energy’s CEO called on Thursday for Britain’s government to “get out of the way” in order to allow the expansion of decentralised renewable energy systems. Nigel Pocklington, who joined Good Energy (GOODG.L) in 2021, told a panel at the Reuters IMPACT conference in London that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government needed to foster an environment where consumer demand and private sector investment can speed along the renewable energy transition.
View all the news from the Reuters IMPACT summit and Reuters sustainability coverage throughout the year here.
Media contact:
Heather Carpenter
heather.carpenter @ tr.com