“We are at a unique stage in our history. Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet, and never before have we had the power to do something about that.”

Sir David Attenborough

Let’s nurture the nature and build resilience and solutions at the World Economic Forum in Davos this May.  I will be moderating a side event to the WEF meetings for climate accelerators solving some of the world’s biggest problems through their innovative approaches.  Curated and geared up in advance to COP27 in Egypt this year, the panel will begin with remarks from The Minister of International Cooperation of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Rania Al-Mashat together with Dr. Laura-Marie Topfer a sustainable finance expert and Partner at Extantia Capital.

The discussions are timely and a follow-up from the recent 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow more commonly referred to as “COP26”  which was the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). COP26 in the “climate space” was significant as it was the first of its kind since the Paris Agreement (COP21).  COP26 resulted in the Glasgow Climate Pact which included wording that encouraged more urgent greenhouse gas emissions cuts and promised more climate finance for developing countries to adapt to climate impacts. There was considerable exposure from the private sector at COP26 and how private sector finance will be instrumental in funding and assisting emerging markets “just” transition.

The first panel hosts selected impact investors and industry leaders focused on leading the energy transition, such as, Kerry Adler – a visionary serving as SkyPower’s global President and CEO who helped propel SkyPower since inception; now, one of the largest and most innovative renewable companies focused on large-scale solar generation in over 35 countries and four continents.

The significant impact of climate change has been a dominant cause for concern globally, gaining attention from investors with venture capital firms pouring $53.7B (S&P Global) into climate tech in 2021. The tech ecosystem has seen a dramatic interest in climate start-ups, but the significant challenge is scale. The Accelerator seeks to address the challenges within the green ecosystem where innovators get to meet their angel capital and investors can play their part in decarbonization.

The Accelerator focuses on bringing catalytic, patient capital into the mix with presence from emerging market impact investors like Barbara Ann Bernard, the Founder & CIO of Wincrest Capital to the stage. The second panel will be moderated by myself before the climate pitch to lead the discussions around planetary boundaries with Professor Johan Rockstrom. Rockstrom is an internationally recognized scientist and Professor of Environmental Science, PIK at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. He is also known for the trending Netflix Documentary “Breaking Boundaries” that outlines the Science of Our Planet, narrated by Sir David Attenborough that follows the scientific journey of Rockström and his team’s discovery of the nine planetary boundaries we as a species must stay within for the stability of our planet and the future of humanity.

Other keynotes include Dr. Bryan Scheler, the Head of Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing at the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt. The BMW foundation Herbert Quandt promotes responsible leadership and inspires global leaders to work towards a peaceful, just and sustainable future that advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and 2030 Agenda. The Respond Accelerator is a BMW Foundation accelerator program operated by UnternehmerTUM. It is the first accelerator program that supports responsible leadership and seeks to further scale sustainable business models. The program supports founders who use entrepreneurial approaches to work towards a peaceful, just, and sustainable future in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

“Our imprint is now truly global. Our impact is now truly profound.”

Sir David Attenborough