ESG News

8th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum (APAN Forum)
2023-08-30 00:00 - 2023-09-01 23:59 (America/New_York) | Songdo Convensia Convention Center, Incheon City, Korea, Republic of
Considered Asia-Pacific’s largest and longest-standing gathering of adaptation practitioners to share information, knowledge and best practices in adaptation and resilience-building, the Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum (APAN Forum) is the biennial flagship event of the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN) Secretariat, hosted within the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
The APAN Forum serves as a primary regional platform for adaptation practitioners to meet, exchange knowledge and experiences, and collaborate towards the pertinent outcomes and practical solutions that are needed to address the challenges of climate change.
The 8th APAN Forum will take place in-person from 30 August (Wednesday) to 1 September (Friday) during the Korea Global Adaptation Week (KGAW) 2023. It will be hosted by the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea, the Korea Environment Institute – Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change and Incheon Metropolitan City, and co-organised by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UNEP through the APAN Secretariat.
Objectives
The APAN Forum aims to:

Enhance understanding of climate change adaptation issues, approaches, and policies for effective planning;
Provide a comprehensive report on actions taken and progress made to address knowledge, policy, and funding gaps since the last APAN Forum;
Serve as a platform for accelerating action and implementing adaptation knowledge and programmes, offering actionable guidelines for communities, practitioners, and policymakers;
Formulate recommendations to expand adaptation efforts in the Asia-Pacific region, guiding contributions to COPs and other global/regional initiatives; and,
Promote climate change adaptation and resilience through knowledge sharing, collaboration, and amplification of messages from local to global levels.

Forum Theme
Resilience for All: Enabling transformative implementation
Over the past two decades, Resilience has served as a unifying theme for the APAN Forums. The past years have seen significant efforts towards generating knowledge and information on climate change adaptation at the global and regional levels. However, we are still significantly off-schedule to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and the world is in a state of climate emergency. The current climate change impacts are evident and disruptive in sectors like agriculture, ecosystems, human health, urban settlements and infrastructure.
Therefore, this year’s theme underscores the urgency of adaptation action that is required to build resilience and equip communities with the capacity to withstand and moderate worst-case climate scenarios. It is also in line with the key outcomes of COP 27, further emphasising the importance of transformative approach to accelerating and enhancing adaptation efforts.
Target Participants
Representatives from governments, financing institutions, academia and research, international organisations, UN agencies, civil society organisations, youth organisations and the private sector, among others, will participate in the 8th APAN Forum to work together to build and strengthen partnerships across sectors for adaptation action. The Forum will also provide a space to reflect on the outcomes of COP 27, and to highlight regional lessons learned. These will serve as inputs for the discussions at COP 28, which is to be held at the Expo City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates in November 2023.

Liam Marais

3rd International Forum on Low-Carbon Cities: City-led climate actions in North-east Asia
2023-08-28 19:30 - 2023-08-29 04:30 | Incheon (Hybrid), Republic of Korea
The 3rd International Forum on Low-Carbon Cities will be jointly organized by ESCAP East and North-East Asia Office and Incheon Metropolitan City on 29 August 2023 during the Korea Global Adaptation Week, in collaboration with Green Climate Fund, Incheon Carbon Neutrality Center, ICLEI, innovative Green Development Program, CityNet, Climate Change Center and Local Government Association for Climate and Energy Transition. The Forum is expected to facilitate information sharing and strengthen partnership and peer-learning among cities and city networks in North-East Asia and beyond, by bringing together local governments, international and regional organizations, national and regional city networks and various stakeholders.
More details including registration site will be updated in due course.
Liam Marais

International Conference on Sustainable Tourism Management (ICSTM 2023)
2023-08-25 00:00 - 2023-08-27 23:59 | Park Inn by Radisson Copenhagen Airport, Denmark
2023 7th International Conference on Sustainable Tourism Management (ICSTM 2023) will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark during August 25-27, 2023. The conference was initiated in 2017 and held in Barcelona, Spain, then Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2018, Budapest, Hungary in 2019, virtual mode in 2020, 2021, 2022 due to the covid-19 epidemic for the past six years. It aims to provide a forum for researchers, practitioners, and professionals from both the industry and the academia to share their newest research findings and results in the filed of sustainable tourism management.
REGISTER HERE
Key Themes & Topics

The conference is soliciting state-of-the-art research papers in the following areas of interest:

Tourism strategies
Environmental issues
Community issues
Climate change
Safety and security
Tourism as a tool of development
Art, architecture and culture
Heritage tourism
Wildlife and adventure tourism
Health and wellbeing tourism
Medical tourism
Marine and coastal areas tourism
Sport tourism
City tourism
Tourism impact
Tourism and protected area
Ecotourism
Rural tourism
Tourism and technology
Industrial tourism
Transport and tourism
Education and tourism
Theme parks and leisure
Destination management
Planning and development
eTourism
Simulation models
Social and physical infrastructure

Liam Marais

Sustainability Opportunity and Climate Risk in Government Supply Chain
2023-08-23 12:00 - 17:00 | Virtual Event
As the world’s single largest buyer of goods and services—purchasing over $630 billion in fiscal year 2021 alone—the U.S. Government supply chain faces significant financial risks from climate change. In November 2022, the U.S. government proposed the Federal Supplier Climate Risks and Resilience Rule to address some of these challenges. Join Moody’s in a deeper dive into ESG regulations, sustainability opportunities and the risks of climate events in the U.S. government supply chain.

Liam Marais

ESG: Dispatch from the Front Lines of Accountable Capitalism
2023-08-22 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Event
Over the past decade, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors have captured the attention of trillions of dollars of capital, engaged thousands of consultants, and become a top strategic concern in the C-suite and board rooms. However, over the past 18 months, a countermovement has challenged the efforts to value ESG factors and incorporate them into strategic initiatives, claiming that such efforts are “woke” and antithetical to free markets. This countermovement has culminated in seven separate Congressional hearings in Washington, DC in July 2023, challenging various aspects of ESG integration. Yet, at the same time, EU ESG disclosure regulation continues to expand and investor and corporate interest in ESG factors remains strong.
In this LinkedIn Live Session, three leaders in ESG integration – across financial services, consulting, and corporate – will join Wharton professors to discuss their perspectives on the current battle of ideas, dollars, and action. Join us to learn the latest actionable insights from the front lines of accountable capitalism.
Liam Marais

6th International Conference on Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change
2023-08-21 00:00 - 2023-08-22 23:59 | Delta Hotels By Marriot Philadelphia Airport
Coalesce Research Group is delighted to welcome all the Speakers, Delegates, Researchers, Students and Industrialists to be a part of our “6th International Conference on Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change”. It is a two-day conference going to be held from August 21-22, 2023 in Philadelphia, USA.

The theme of the conference is “Current Research on on Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change” covering a wide extent of critically vital sessions of Environmental Science and Climate Change equally. Environmental Science section will cover all the major and minor topics which help in finding solutions for environmental problems (Air Pollution, Water Pollution, Soil Pollution, Noise Pollution, Thermal Pollution, Radioactive Pollution and Light Pollution) and Global Warming. We will also cover the technology section which plays an important role to maintain a sustainable development for Future Technology, Renewable Energy like Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Wave Energy, Geothermal Power and more.

The conference includes Keynote and Plenary Sessions, Speaker Sessions, Young Researcher Forum, Workshops, Symposia, Video Presentations, Poster presentations, E-Posters, Exhibitions and also an opportunity for B2B meetings on the most recent improvements in the field of Environmental Science, Ecology, Climatology, Renewable Energy, Trade and Policies, Risk, Pollution Control, Mitigation Natural Resources and many more… by specialists from both Scholastic and Commerce foundation.
Scope and Importance
The goal of environmental sustainability is to conserve natural resources and to develop alternate sources of power while reducing pollution and harm to the environment. Controlling the environmental pollution, conservation of the environment and biodiversity are the major focus areas of all the countries around the world. In this context, the importance and impact of biotechnological approaches and the implications of biotechnology must be thoroughly evaluated. Environmental biotechnologists are playing a key role by applying biological processes to technology to create more sustainable societies.
Aim of the Conference
This conference deals with the scientific concepts that underpin modern biotechnologies and how innovations can be exploited for the development of products and processes such as biofuels, novel bioactive compounds and waste conversion technologies. You’ll also explore the bioethical, socio-economic and regulatory aspects of environmental sustainability and the role of biotechnologies in environmental protection.
Target Audience

Biologists
Geologists and Geo Scientists
Ecologists
Climatologists
Meteorologists
Marine Biologists
Oceanographers
Chemical and Biological Engineers
Environmental Engineers
Researchers and Innovators
Academic Faculty and Students
Training Institutes
Associations, Societies and Professional Bodies
Industries
Environmental and Climate Change Policy Analysts
Non – Governmental Organizations
Business Entrepreneurs

DOWNLOAD BROCHURE
Liam Marais

World Water Week 2023: Seeds of Change
2023-08-20 00:00 - 2023-08-24 23:59 | Stockholm, Sweden
Theme: Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World
World Water Week has been organized every year since 1991 by Stockholm International Water Institute, which curates the content. It is the leading conference on global water, championing cooperation across sectors and national boundaries.

Tackling the greatest challenges of our time often starts with water. Here you can delve into a broad range of topics, from food security and health to agriculture, technology, biodiversity, and the climate crisis. Each year has its own theme which is explored from many different perspectives.
At World Water Week you will meet a diverse and inspiring mix of decision-makers, business leaders, city planners, activists, and researchers from all over the world. Many are trailblazers who have found new and smarter ways to manage water. People join the conference to share new ideas, learn from each other and collaborate on innovative solutions.
World Water Week is also an important meeting place for policymakers and institutions to accelerate progress in international processes related to water, development, and climate.
The World Water Week programme is co-created with leading international organizations to give access to the latest trends and insights from many different fields. Here you find:

Sessions on a broad range of topics. For the most part, these are curated by SIWI but convened by leading organizations from around the world.
SIWI Scientific Seminars arranged by World Water Week’s Scientific Programme Committee. The topics of the seminars are chosen to delve deeper into different aspects of the year’s thematic scope.
Accelerators, which is a capacity-building programme run together with partner organizations. Currently, the focus is on communication and business, two perspectives of crucial importance to accelerate the shift to more sustainable societies.
Prize ceremonies. The world’s most prestigious water award, the Stockholm Water Prize, is presented in a royal award ceremony during World Water Week. You can also follow the exciting finals of the international competition Stockholm Junior Water Prize.

RESISTER HERE

Liam Marais

S&P Global: Beyond ESG Webinar with Transition Outlooks at Climate Week and COP28
2023-08-16 10:00 - 11:00 | Virtual Event
As we look ahead to Climate Week and COP28, join S&P Global thought leaders to unpack what’s needed for a just transition, how nature and biodiversity risks are impacted by the transition, and what factors are at play in financing this transition. Register now for the conversation on August 16.

Don’t miss the next episode in our Beyond ESG webinar series, where you’ll hear market specialists across the global value chain examine critical topics, including:

What role green bonds, debt financing, and Second Party Opinions (SPOs) play in the transition.
How the Inflation Reduction Act is shaping the energy transition in the United States and beyond, a year after becoming law.
What the changing economics of the transition mean for sustainability progress.

Register now to join the live discussion or receive the on-demand replay.
REGISTER NOW
Liam Marais

ESG Portfolio Management: Optimizing Opportunities & Performance
2023-08-15 14:00 - 15:00 | Virtual Event
More investment portfolio managers are recognizing that ESG factors can have a material impact on a company’s long-term financial performance. Companies with strong ESG practices may be better positioned to manage risks and capitalize on opportunities, while those with weak ESG practices may face reputational and regulatory risks that could negatively impact financial performance.
Institutional investors are also under increasing pressure from stakeholders to consider ESG factors in investment decisions. As a result, measuring and managing companies’ ESG practices and performance has become an important consideration and essential component of portfolio managers’ fiduciary responsibilities. However, implementing this strategy is a considerable undertaking, with significant challenges including alignment of ESG priorities, tedious manual data collection processes, and insufficient analytics and insights into ESG performance.
We invite you to join Archer and BPM for this webinar to learn about:
• Current developments, roadblocks, and upside potential of ESG portfolio management
• Optimal approach for portfolio management companies to build and sustain an ESG program
• How Archer can enhance ESG performance management and reporting practices for optimized management decision-making
Liam Marais

Electrify 2023
2023-08-10 12:00 - 17:00 | Virtual Event
The decarbonization of transportation is accelerating, driven by economics, regulatory demands and climate goals. It’s critical to stay up-to-date on the confluence of market forces to ensure your operations are efficient and sustainable.
Electrify is an online, collaborative experience that deepens connections between leaders decarbonizing and electrifying fleets. Interact with the transport electrification community through exclusive small-group discussions, live broadcasts from innovative facilities and case study sessions that get you up to speed on emerging trends and best practices.
Topics Will include:

Light-duty vehicle electrification

Medium-and-heavy-duty-vehicle electrification

Charging infrastructure

Fleet and sustainability

Liam Marais

S&P Global: Beyond ESG Webinar with Mid-Year Economic Outlooks in Sustainability – 2nd session
2023-08-10 02:00 - 03:00 | Virtual Event
With 2023 more than halfway over and only four months until COP28, we are taking stock of the key trends impacting progress toward both near- and long-term sustainability goals. Join our upcoming webinar on Thursday, August 10 to unpack the mid-year economic and sustainability outlook.

Join S&P Global Sustainable1 for the next episode in our Beyond ESG webinar series to hear from market specialists across the global value chain examine critical topics, including:

Stakeholder challenges in aligning initiatives as new sustainability standards come into effect
Climate risks and nature loss factored into risk management by central banks and investors
The impact of continued inflationary pressures on manufacturing and supply chains
Forecasting expectations for COP28 and what’s needed to measure if COP28 is a success

REGISTER HERE

Liam Marais

Indian ESG Network: Orientation Program on ESG
2023-08-04 00:30 - 07:30 | india habitat centre, New Delhi
Participants will gain valuable insights into the impact of business operations on the environment, social factors, and good corporate governance. Renowned industry experts will share their knowledge and experiences, making this event an excellent opportunity for professionals across industries.
Early Bird Registration is available until 20th July, offering a 15% discount. Interested individuals can register effortlessly by scanning the provided QR Code or visiting our website at www.indianesgnetwork.com.
Program Experience
Highlights and Key Outcomes
Key Takeaways for Indian ESG Network Orientation program on ESG:

Environmental & Sustainability : Understanding the impact of business
operations on the environment, climate change, resource conservation,
pollution control and renewable energy.
Social Factors: Examining the social impact of organisations, including
diversity, human rights, employee and community engagement and social
impact assessment.
Governance Factors: Exploring NGRBC principles of good corporate
governance, ethical practices, transparency, accountability and the
board’s role in overseeing ESG performance.
ESG Reporting and BRSR Disclosure: Understanding of Indian ESG
reporting framework, BRSR guidelines and illustrative cases to effectively
communicate ESG performance to stakeholders.

Indian ESG Network Orientation Program on ESG Details:

Event Name: ORIENTATION PROGRAM ON ESG
Date: 4th August 2023
Time: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Venue: Delhi (India)
Key Takeaways: ESG Awareness, ESG Readiness, ESG Networking

Liam Marais

Bloomberg Building a Green Economy For All 2023
2023-07-28 11:30 - 15:00 | Virtual Event
The world is watching. We are at a course-correcting, critical moment in history as we challenge the status quo in our path toward decarbonization. Over the last 12 months, soaring energy prices and the war in Ukraine have dramatically reshaped the global energy landscape and once again, highlighted the need to transition towards clean energy. We need to look at a diverse range of sources to power our future and we cannot wait.
At Building a Green Economy for All, we ask: which sources are accessible and affordable and can achieve scale? What emerging technologies will be the most disruptive? Who is investing in and manufacturing these sources and will we be able to balance the need for cleaner resources with energy security concerns?
Liam Marais

Taking Action with your ESG and Climate Data – APAC Edition
2023-07-27 22:00 - 23:00 | Virtual Event
As most major financial hubs in Asia are stepping up regulations over ESG and climate disclosure as well as target-setting, companies in the region – whether they are listed or planning to go public – will need to have a better grasp of their ESG performance and emission footprints.

MSCI’s enhanced visualization and analysis solution on MSCI ONE – Corporate Sustainability Insights – not only gives you the option to track, measure and compare your ESG and climate metrics against peers, but also helps identify potential disclosure gaps through intuitive charts, graphs, and maps.

Join the virtual event on July 27 (Thursday) to understand more about the tool, which provides the necessary clarity for stakeholder communication as well as ESG targets and business strategies alignment.

In this session we will walk you through the tool and show you how to:

Deepen your understanding of your material ESG and Climate exposures
View your company’s MSCI Implied Temperature Rise and target scorecard
Provide feedback and enter new climate data for MSCI review
Explore any company’s MSCI ESG & Climate metrics

Liam Marais

Managing the Carbon Footprint of Government Facilities
2023-07-27 12:00 - 17:00 | Virtual Event
Carbon emissions from buildings and facilities are estimated to be responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions, posing a challenging timeline for these properties to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. How can you better estimate the current carbon emissions and also devise a comprehensive plan to update the buildings and facilities to be more energy efficient towards the net zero goal by 2050? What electrification options are most cost and time effective for the building type and what does that mean for carbon emissions? We will discuss:

Transition risk analysis and cost estimation
Scenario analysis and mitigation options
Case studies

Liam Marais

How ISO standards and guidelines can solve your ESG reporting and data challenges
2023-07-26 11:00 - 12:00 | Virtual Event
Most companies are coming to terms with the fact that ESG reporting is increasing exponentially, with more and more countries mandating some form of reporting. Mandatory ESG reporting requirements now extend well beyond detailing greenhouse gas emissions, and include disclosure of other key environmental issues, safety, human rights, modern-day slavery, supply chain and overall third-party due diligence, among other topics.
While reporting is a challenge, it is not the solution. The solution is building programmes to address these critical areas in your materiality assessment and using those programmes to develop ready-made data that can be easily turned into ESG reports required by regulators.
In this 30-minute webinar, Speeki’s CEO Scott Lane will take you on a journey of ESG and sustainability. He will explain how already existing management system standards can help you run your programmes as one integrated management system that can meet available reporting requirements from all known jurisdictions.
You will be introduced to:

the steps beyond a materiality assessment and how to turn important areas into a management system
how to identify the available management systems that you can use
how to quickly and easily migrate your existing initiatives into a management system
how an integrated system can save you time and effort in managing separate issues
how an integrated system can help solve the data challenges that come with ESG reporting.

REGISTER HERE
Liam Marais

USAID & Climate Change: a Conversation with USAID's Climate Leadership
2023-07-25 10:30 - 11:30 | Virtual Event
Join for a conversation with USAID’s climate leadership team. We are excited to welcome Gillian Caldwell, USAID Chief Climate Officer, and Colleen Allen, USAID Chief Sustainability Officer, to discuss USAID’s Climate Strategy. We will cover a wide range of topics, including both climate funding for USAID projects, as well as USAID’s internal climate objectives and progress.

Liam Marais

2023 APAC Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit
2023-07-25 06:30 - 2023-07-26 09:00 | Shangri-La Singapore, 22 Orange Grove Road, 258350, Singapore
The Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summits bring together business leaders and investors globally to drive innovation and scale best practices in sustainable business and finance.
Amid economic uncertainty, geopolitical challenges and ever-changing regulations, companies are under pressure to drive business value and meet their ambitious ESG goals. Join us in Singapore for a day of solutions-driven discussions and community building as the Summit returns to APAC.
Liam Marais

Financing Industry Decarbonization For Just Transition
2023-07-22 05:30 - 07:00 | Virtual Event
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) is delighted to co-host with LeadIT and the Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI) this official side event of the 14th Clean Industry Ministerial and the 8th Mission Innovation (MI-8), in Goa, India. Narrowing the financing gap for deep decarbonization efforts in hard-to-abate sectors (For example, iron and steel, cement and aluminum, pulp and paper, chemicals, shipping) is essential to helping developing countries make a just transition to zero-carbon growth paths. Equally, it is critical to channel concessional resources where they can be most effective and provide a transformational effect that can lead to replication and scaled up investments across the developing world.
This event will explore enhanced coordination and targeted finance amongst partners and initiatives to maximize development impact. In addition, it will convene government, industry, and multilateral development banks to discuss where concessional resources can be channeled in support of industry decarbonization globally.
Liam Marais

World Bank Tokyo Online Morning Seminar #172 “The Effect of Multinational Enterprises on Climate Change: Supply Chain Emissions, Green Technology Transfers, and Corporate Commitments”
2023-07-20 19:00 | Virtual Event
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) provide both a fundamental risk to and an opportunity for climate change mitigation. The climate ambitions of MNEs will affect the environmental performance of countries around the world. As a leading actor, proactive MNEs can impose sustainability standards or encourage green technology transfers that, in some cases, could affect millions of producers and accelerate the climate transition. However, obstructive MNEs may equally hold back any progress to reduce a country’s emissions via inaction or by actively resisting, obstructing, or lobbying against change. It is critical for policymakers around the world to consider the role that MNEs play in climate change mitigation strategies, monitor their current commitment to transition their supply chains to net-zero emissions by 2050, and adopt the necessary measures to accelerate this transition. To guide this endeavor, the World Bank, in partnership with CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) have developed a new report “The Effect of Multinational Enterprises on Climate Change: Supply Chain Emissions, Green Technology Transfers, and Corporate Commitments” that provides insights into MNEs’ impact on climate change.
Liam Marais

Sustainability Focus Series - Water Stress and Climate Variability Credit Impact Across Sectors
2023-07-20 09:00 - 10:00 | Virtual Event
The challenges of climate variability and water stress may have short and long term influence on credit quality absent adaptation efforts. Please join S&P Global Ratings’ credit rating analysts for a live webinar presenting our views on how water stress could affect our credit ratings across corporate and government sectors.
Read the research:

Agriculture Industry Is Still Sweating This Year’s Drought
Western U.S. Drought: Declining Supply, Rising Challenges
Sustainability Insights: Research: More Mexican States Could Face Water Stress By 2050

Register now to find out:

Key challenges associated with extreme hydrological volatility on economic sectors, population trends, and financial performance
How can regulation, infrastructure investment, and an entity’s risk management efforts offset these challenges and what is the potential impact on the cost of water
How certain industries will adapt to an environment where water stress may become a more influential risk

Speakers:
Chris Johnson, Director, Corporate Ratings
Jenny Poree, Sector Leader, Public Finance, Americas (U.S. Public Finance)
Sarah Sullivant, Sector Leader, Public Finance, Americas (International Public Finance)
Moderator:
Nora Wittstruck, Sector Leader, Public Finance, Americas (U.S. Public Finance)

This webinar is part of the S&P Global “Sustainability Focus ” webinar series. In this session, the company will discuss key findings from the abovementioned research. S&P Global defines the agenda and speakers for each episode based on market events, notable credit rating actions, sustainable finance opinions, recent research publications, or questions received from market participants
Liam Marais

2023 SDG Global Business Forum
2023-07-18 08:30 - 12:00 | Virtual Event
Turbocharging the 2030 Agenda with business impact
As we approach the halfway mark to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the world has been confronted with a complex web of interconnected crises that have put the achievement of the 2030 Agenda at serious risk. What needs to change to get back on track to achieve the 2030 Agenda? Who needs to play a more prominent role? How do we ensure a just and fair transition to net zero? What immediate action can companies, governments, business organizations and civil society take to move the needle on the 2030 Agenda?
This year’s 2023 SDG Global Business Forum, taking place alongside important policy debates at the ministerial segment of the 2023 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), will welcome a global community of movers and shakers, problem solvers and innovators to debate these questions, discuss priorities, build alliances and co-create high-impact business solutions to turbocharge the SDGs in the remaining seven years before 2030.
In-person registration is now closed. Those with a valid UN grounds pass or stakeholders already registered to attend the 2023 HLPF can attend in person.
An engaging virtual hour–long session is open and the remaining sessions will be available to view
on UN Web TV.
Liam Marais

2023 Higher Education Sustainability Initiative Global Forum
2023-07-17 10:00 - 13:00 | United Nations New York Headquarters, 405 E 42nd St, New York, NY, 10017, United States
The Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) is an open partnership between several United Nations entities and the higher education community launched in the lead-up to the Rio+20 Conference in 2012. It is currently chaired by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the Sulitest Association – a non-profit organization and online platform aimed at improving sustainability literacy for all. Other UN partners include UNESCO, UN Environment Programme, UN Global Compact’s Principles for Responsible Management Education initiative, UN University, UN-HABITAT, UNCTAD, UNITAR, UN Office for Partnerships and UN Academic Impact.
Each year, HESI organizes a global forum as a special event to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) – UN’s main platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the global level – to highlight the critical role of higher education in achieving sustainable development.
This year’s HLPF is focused on “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels”. The HLPF will provide an in-depth review of SDGs 6 on clean water and sanitation, 7 on affordable and clean energy, 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, 11 on sustainable cities and communities and 17 on partnerships for the Goals. The HESI Global Forum will examine the role of higher education in achieving these goals.
Liam Marais

Fourth Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
2023-07-16 10:00 - 16:30 | United Nations New York Headquarters, 405 E 42nd St, New York, NY, 10017, United States
Background

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement are intrinsically linked, and one cannot be achieved without the other. In the same spirit, the Secretary-General in a recent address on his 2023 priorities stressed that “Climate action is the 21st century’s greatest opportunity to drive forward all the Sustainable Development Goals.” As such, maximizing on the interlinkages between the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement by leveraging climate action and SDG synergies has the potential of achieving both agendas faster, while ensuring a just and equitable future.
Integrated planning, coherent policies, and economic stimulus investments designed to meet both the SDGs and climate challenges can generate significant co-benefits and speed up progress. Research has shown that aligning actions on climate and SDGs globally can yield up to US$26 trillion before 2030 in economic gains, produce over 65 million new green jobs, and save approximately 7 million premature deaths per year. With concerted and coordinated global public and private collaborative efforts, achievement of all SDGs can be advanced, trade-offs avoided, and social disparities reduced.

FOURTH GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE AND SDG SYNERGIES

The Fourth Global Climate and SDG Synergy Conference is convened by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Conference is conducted in association with the 2023 HLPF. It thus also provides delegations the opportunity to reflect their on-going review of progress on achieving the SDGs, notably SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17, in a wider context of the multiple interlinkages between these goals and global climate action. The Conference will take stock of progress on synergistic action at all levels. It will also shed light on some of key findings and messages from the work of the Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergies. More specifically, the Fourth Global Conference on Climate and SDD Synergies will deliver:

A forward-looking summary, with a set of key recommendations for enhancing synergistic implementation of the SDGs and climate action at the political level as well as practical levels.
A set of empirical evidence on climate action and the SDGs co-benefits, including how various stakeholders are progressing in delivering jointly on these two agendas and transitioning towards just, equitable, and climate compatible pathways.

Liam Marais

Harvard Climate Forum 2023
2023-07-14 08:00 - 17:00 | Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Science and Engineering Complex, 150 Western Avenue, Allston, MA, 02134, United States
Sponsored by The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard and the Harvard Professional and Lifelong Learning Committee, the Harvard Climate Forum will bring together faculty and participants across all disciplines – business, policy, health, education, law and beyond – in a one-day, on-campus event. Led by a multi-disciplinary team of faculty, you’ll work with inspired contemporaries from across the professional spectrum and around the world. In addition to gaining new approaches to climate change issues, this University-wide event will also provide an unprecedented opportunity to broaden your own network.
Liam Marais

U.S. C3E Women in Clean Energy webinar series: Hydrogen: A rising pillar for our clean energy future
2023-07-13 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual Event
Hydrogen has been recognized as a key pillar of decarbonizing the global energy system, with application across numerous sectors including transportation, heavy industry and energy storage. Indeed, it is anticipated that the use of clean hydrogen will avoid up to 60 Gt of CO2 emissions over the next 30 years (IEA). Developing the policy, technology and commercial solutions necessary to realize the full potential of hydrogen is not for the weak-hearted. In this webinar, we’ll hear from leading women experts who are paving the way forward for a hydrogen economy and discuss the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
About the series
The C3E webinar series provides a forum to hear the latest on clean energy topics from women who are making a difference. The goal of the quarterly webinars is to highlight the outstanding work of clean energy professionals in various fields and to foster discussion around clean energy opportunities and solutions.
Get to know the work of today’s leaders, including C3E Ambassadors and recent Awardees, by participating in an upcoming webinar, followed by a discussion session, allowing participants to ask the speakers questions, share their own ideas and experiences, engage in conversation, and network with other clean energy professionals.
Liam Marais

ESG Topics in Focus: Biodiversity and Water
2023-07-13 09:00 - 09:30 | Virtual Event
Beyond climate, and of course strongly related to it, is the topic of biodiversity and natural capital, brought to the attention of the public at the COP15 in Montreal at the end of 2022.
Join this webinar to learn how you can start to build out your analysis in this important area by leveraging the Bloomberg Terminal, and discover the plans ahead for Bloomberg to further expand on the existing metrics throughout 2023.
Discussion points:
– As Reported metrics
– Impact and Dependencies
– Asset level exposure analysis
– Materiality analysis
– Plans for 2023
Liam Marais

Explore EU Banking Regs & ECB Expectations
2023-07-12 09:00 - 17:00 | Virtual Event
Join for an engaging discussion on EU Banking Regs and ECB expectations on Climate Risk with leading industry practitioners who will be sharing first-hand insights on the state of play. Our discussion will cover:

A regulation overview; what are they, their impact and future evolutions. And interpreting ECB guidance.
Key market insights and the challenges banks are grappling with.
How Moody’s Analytics’ climate risk data and modelling solutions are helping market participants prepare for and respond to these emerging requirements

The panel session will be followed by Q&A opportunity with experts. We look forward to your participation.
Liam Marais

TED Countdown Summit 2023
2023-07-11 17:00 - 2023-07-14 15:00 | Fillmore Detroit, 2115 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI, 48201, United States
TURNING VISION INTO REALITY
When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, the world was on track for a catastrophic 4-5°C of warming. Thanks to spectacular progress made since then, the expected warming has been cut in half.
But we remain in crisis, and have huge work to do to protect our planet and its people. So how do we come together and design a better future? The TED Countdown Summit will explore this crucial question by highlighting the state of climate progress, visualizing a better future, and exploring the solutions, tools and partnerships that will help us move forward.
Liam Marais

Session 3: Resilience in a time of crisis: Transforming Energy access, Climate Action Learning and strengthening indigenous knowledge to achieve the SDGs
2023-07-11 08:30 - 10:00 | Virtual Event
Resilience in a time of crisis: Transforming Energy access, Climate Action Learning and strengthening indigenous knowledge to achieve the SDGs
Liam Marais
