Unlocking the Capital and Partnerships Needed to Build a More Resilient Climate Future

07:00 - Networking Breakfast

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08:00 - Opening Remarks

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08:05 - Preparing Cities for Climate Change: A Center for Climate Solutions

Format: Keynote
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Confirmed Speaker:
Clare Newman - President & CEO, Trust for Governors Island

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08:20 - Industry-Wide Collaboration: Creating a Net Zero Equivalent for Adaptation

Format: Opening Panel

• What efforts have been made to define clear metrics to measure adaptation progress, like net-zero for mitigation?
• What is the role of different industry stakeholders, and how can they work together to implement action?
• What characteristics make implementing a global target so challenging?
• What standardised approaches can be used to overcome some of these barriers?
• How can we change the narrative around adaptation vs. mitigation to be one of ‘and’ not ‘or’?

Session Chair:
Peter Hall - Managing Director, Resonance

Confirmed Speakers:

Zinta Zommers - Vice Chair, Working Group II, IPCC

Jay Koh - Managing Director, The Lightsmith Group

Linda-Eling Lee - Founding Director & Head of the MSCI Sustainability Institute, MSCI

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09:00 - Urban Heat Islands: Scaling Sustainable and Equitable Ways to Cool Our Cities

Format: Fireside Chat

• What data do we have on the impact of urban heating on health and productivity?
• The emissions from both the refrigerants and the energy used in cooling now account for about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. They are expected to triple by 2050 as temperatures continue to rise. What science-backed innovations are allowing us to cool urban areas but also achieve a reduction in cooling-related emissions?
• What other, low-cost solutions are available to reduce or eradicate urban heat islands? How are we protecting the poorest and most vulnerable populations?
• How are we using nature to sustain further warming in urban areas?
• What can we learn from  cities across the globe that already have to deal with extreme heat?

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Session Chair:
Catherine Wallace - Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships & Advocacy, Adrienne Arsht–Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center

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Confirmed Speakers:‍

Caleb Smith - Resiliency Coordinator, WEACT for Environmental Justice

Erika Jozwiak - Climate Resilience Lead, NYSERDA

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09:35 - Campfire Sessions

Format: Team Collaboration

Organisations invite attendees to an intimate discussion around critical challenges relating to urban adaptation development. The session will culminate in the sharing of new ideas with delegates.

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1. Mobilizing Customers for A&R Innovation
Katie MacDonald - Co-Founder, Tailwind Climate

Emilie Mazzacurati - Co-Founder, Tailwind Climate

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‍2. Building Resilient Cities: The Adaptation-Removal Nexus‍

Christiaan Gevers-Deynoot - Senior Manager, Carbon Removal Platforms, South Pole

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3. Scaling Up: Raising Funds & Deploying Solutions

Alex Laplaza - Advisor, Lowercarbon Capital

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4. Powering the Energy Transition Through Grid Resilience

Hafiz Bello - Assistant Director, Grid Modernization, NYSERDA

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5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Climate Investing

Erin Davis - Co-Founder & COO, Enduring Planet

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6. Design for Climate & Human Adaptation

Colin Vernon - Co-Founder, Slow Factory

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7. Building the Climate Adaptation Workforce

Micah Kotch - Partner, Blackhorn Ventures
Domingo Morales - Founder, Compost Power

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10:15 - Networking Coffee Break

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10:40 - Infrastructure Planning and Deployment: What Climate Reality Are We Building For?

Format: Panel Discussion

• What climate thresholds are city planners and infrastructure companies taking into account? How are we using climate risk models to predict how infrastructure will be impacted based on different levels of warming?
• Where are the quick wins to make our cities more resilient, even if multiple climate thresholds are broken? What infrastructure is most at risk?
• How can we retrofit existing infrastructure to deal with adverse climate effects, saving time and capital?
• Where are the innovation and investment gaps to improve infrastructure resilience?
• What examples of solutions provide additional mitigation benefits whilst also improving resilience?

Session Chair:
Calvin Cupini - Senior Investment Manager, Activate

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Confirmed Speakers:

Nakita Devlin - CEO & Co-Founder, Ric Platform Services

Mary Claire Morris - Senior Sustainability Associate, Siemens Financial Services

Ana Gonzalez Guerrero - Senior Manager of Climate & Cities, MaRS Discovery District

Brendan Hermalyn - CEO, Thalo Labs

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11:20 - Ending Destructive Wildfires, and the Necessity of Good Fire

Format: Presentation

• Why are extreme wildfires on the rise?
  
• What is the difference between 'good fire' and 'destructive' wildfires? 
  
• What solutions exist, or are being developed, to synergistically transform how fires are managed and fought? 
  
• How can we further incentivize innovations in firefighting technologies to help solve this issue? 
  
• Where are the gaps, and who do we need to join the firefight?

Confirmed Speakers:

Jay Stalnacker - Technical Lead, XPRIZE Wildfire

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11:30 - Tech Showcase: Pioneering Solutions for Urban Resilience

Format: Start-Up Pitching

• Spotlighting the next generation of pioneers, 3 start-up founders take the stage to showcase their solutions to a panel of potential investors.

Start-Up Founders:

Sissi Liu - Co-Founder and CEO, Metalmark Innovations
Kaitlyn Suarez - Co-Founder and CEO, Terra Watts

Kevin Mukai - COO, Hohonu
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Investor Judges:
Austin Evarts - Director, ACRE Incubator, Urban Future Labs

Isabella Akker - Advisor for Restoration Finance, American Forests

12:00 - Networking Lunch Break

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13:00 - Canary in the Coal Mine: Solutions to Improve Early Warning Systems & Crisis Response

Format: Panel Discussion

• What new tools are being used to improve our understanding of the risk, from hazards, exposure, and vulnerabilities, to coping capacities? How do we apply this to specific communities and regions?
• What early disaster detection and crisis response innovations have emerged over the last year? How are the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems informing these?
• How are we leveraging advancements in machine learning and satellite imagery to help identify areas suffering most acutely and model our interventions? How close are we to being able to deliver real-time imagery?
• What examples are there of low-cost, open-source, and community-maintained solutions that have been effective?
• How are we ensuring the full detection and response value chain is not siloed? How can collaboration between government agencies, private companies, and NGOs strengthen our response efforts?

Session Chair:

Rebecca Szkutak - Senior Writer, TechCrunch

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Confirmed Speakers:

Michael Jacobs - Sustainability & Social Innovation Leader, IBM

Aakash Parekh - CCO, Pixxel

JT White - Co-Founder & CEO, Forerunner

Jeff Schlegelmilch - Director, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia Climate School

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13:40 - Water Resilience: Managing Scarcity, Flooding and Pollution in Our Cities

Format: Fireside Chat

• What are the most pressing climate-induced threats to urban water resilience?
• What innovations can enhance the resilience of a city’s water infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes? Are there any notable success stories? 
• How can utilities and municipalities use predictive technologies to model how current systems will respond to increasingly chaotic weather and ensure cities are prepared for opposite ends of the spectrum; flash floods and droughts? 
• What are the latest advancements in containing and ultimately destroying emerging contaminants in water sources? What contaminants are most likely to impact our water sources? 
• How do we move from reactive to proactive processes?

Session Chair:
Tom Ferguson - Managing Partner, Burnt Island Ventures

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Confirmed Speaker:

Alan Cohn - Senior Policy & Science Advisor, New York Department of Environmental Protection

Subit Chakrabarti - Vice President of Technology, Floodbase

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14:10 - Closing the Capital Gap: Changing the Narrative from Sunk Cost to Economic Opportunity

Format: Panel Discussion

• What is the current shortfall in urban adaptation financing? How much could the total adaptation market be worth by 2030?
• Adaptation has largely been seen as a sunk cost that doesn’t deliver returns, not an investment. What is needed to unlock more private capital like we see in renewables or carbon removal?
• What current avenues of funding are available for adaptation start-ups? What examples are there of public and private sectors working together to create more effective blended finance vehicles for long-term solutions?
• Which areas of innovation are most supported in this space? Where is not being adequately financed that could see oversized returns?

Session Chair:

Louie Woodall - Editor, Climate Proof News

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Confirmed Speakers:
Emilie Mazzacurati - Co-Founder, Tailwind Climate

Sonam Velani - Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Streetlife Ventures

Anish Patel - COO & Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Ventures

Maëlis Carraro - Managing Partner, Catalyst Fund

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15:00 - Closing Remarks and Networking Drinks

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16:00 - End of Summit

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