Registration opens today for the first Green Horizon Summit, co-hosted by the City of London Corporation and the Green Finance Institute, with support from the World Economic Forum, from 9-11 November 2020.The Summit brings together more than 60 global policy and industry leaders who are shaping the future and supporting an international green recovery and the transition to net zero. Several new initiatives and commitments will be announced during the three days of panel discussions and breakout sessions.

The international line-up of speakers and participants will cover five key themes: risk, reporting and returns; the energy transition; infrastructure and green growth; nature; and resilience and adaptation. Discussions will focus on how public and private finance can accelerate the progress towards net-zero carbon and climate resilient economies, ahead of the UN’s COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow in November 2021.

Speakers and participants include Emma Howard Boyd, Chair, Environment Agency; Dr Ma Jun, President, Beijing Institute for Finance and Sustainability; Nigel Topping, High Level Action Champion, COP26; Bill Winters, Chief Executive, Standard Chartered; Shemara Wikramanayake, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Macquarie Group; Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UNEP; Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment; Richard Curtis, Writer, Director, Co-founder Make My Money Matter and Comic Relief, and UN SDG Ambassador; The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and COP26 President; and Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, who will unveil his Framework for Financing a Whole-of-Economy Transition. The full line-up of speakers will be listed on greenhorizonsummit.com.

UN special envoy for climate action finance and COP26 UNCCC financial advisor Mark Carney said: “For COP26, the goal of the private finance work is to ensure every financial decision takes climate change into account. We've seen considerable progress across the financial sector and businesses in this regard, as they increasingly recognise the risks and opportunities that climate change presents. To maintain this momentum and in the build-up to COP26, the Green Horizon Summit will take stock of progress and build further ambition to make the COP26 in Glasgow a success, so that private finance can be part of the solution to the climate crisis we face. This will help to build the new green economy we need now and that future generations deserve." 

Policy Chair of the City of London Corporation Catherine McGuinness said: “As we look ahead to COP26 next year and towards the post-pandemic global economic recovery, the Green Horizon Summit will be an essential opportunity to progress fundamentally important discussions around the development of green finance.

“London and the UK have already been leading the way, so I am therefore delighted that we will have insights from the most influential international figures working across this space. This will provide a major impetus as we come together to address the climate emergency.

“Now more than ever, this is a vital opportunity to accelerate job creation and work towards sustainable global prosperity.”

Lord Mayor of London William Russell said: “The Green Horizon Summit is a key milestone on the road to COP26 next year, the principal objective of which must be to close the gap between global net zero ambitions and reality.

“Now is the time to start building momentum, so I am delighted that the City of London will be welcoming such a stellar line-up of influential figures within green finance to keep moving the debate forwards.

“The green transition is the commercial opportunity of a generation. This will be a unique opportunity to hear from many of the leaders guiding that change, so I urge firms and stakeholders from across the sector to register today.”

Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, Prof Klaus Schwab said: “Convening global leaders of finance, business, government and civil society at the Green Horizon Summit is an opportunity to help realize the “Great Reset” we need in our post-COVID world. It is a chance to showcase innovative financial solutions to accelerate our transition to net zero, steer a global economic recovery and address the bio-diversity crisis.”

Chief Executive, Green Finance Institute, Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas said: “The Green Horizon Summit will convene leading thinkers from finance, policy and industry to address how to remove barriers to investment, direct more capital towards climate change mitigation and resilience projects and move beyond ambition to actionable solutions in response to the critical challenges facing the world today.

“Through cross-sector leadership collaboration we have the potential to harness the creativity, innovation and commitment needed to unlock the opportunities from emerging green economies.“The Green Finance Institute is delighted to partner with the City of London Corporation and World Economic Forum in the year leading to COP26 to unleash the power of finance to create economic prosperity for all.”

Registration for the event is now available by visiting https://bit.ly/2RLKc5j.

Contact:

City of London Corporation: Joe Dibben joe.dibben@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Green Finance Institute: Catrin Thomas comms@gfi.green

Notes to Editors:

About the City of London Corporation

The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally successful UK. For more information visit cityoflondon.gov.uk  and follow @CityofLondon

About the Green Finance Institute

The Green Finance Institute is an independent, commercially focused organisation, supported by Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the City of London Corporation. As the UK’s principal forum for public and private sector collaboration in green finance, it is uniquely placed to mobilise capital to accelerate the domestic and international transition to a sustainable, net-zero carbon economy that is also climate resilient. The Green Finance Institute convenes and leads mission-led coalitions to identify and unlock barriers to deploy capital at pace and scale towards impactful, real-economy outcomes. For more information visit greenfinanceinstitute.co.uk and follow the Institute on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About the World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation, engaging the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests. The Forum’s Platform for Global Public Goods brings together over 140 leading companies and 50 governments, institutions and civil society organisations to advance and scale collaboration on climate action and nature-based solutions, including activities such as the Mission Possible Platform in collaboration with the Energy Transition Commission; The Tropical Forest Alliance and the Nature Action Agenda. For more information visit weforum.org or follow @wef