ICC brings the world to COP26 with virtual climate forum

Free of charge to attend, the Make Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum is being held virtually given the travel restrictions that many prospective COP attendees face. The Forum will feature more than 60 partner-hosted plenary sessions led by leading businesses, industry associations and non-governmental organisations of every size. They include EY, the International Energy Agency, PwC, UNICEF, UPS, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama, the International Trade Centre, Inter-IKEA Group and the World Resources Institute.

The two-week forum which run in parallel to COP26 and feature speakers such as Kadri Simson, the EU Commissioner of Energy; Stephen De Boer, Canadian Ambassador to the World Trade Organization; Peter Ingram, CEO and president of Hawaiian Airlines Pär Larshans, Chief Sustainability Corporate Responsibility & Public Affairs Officer, Ragn-Sells; Lisa Schroeter, Global Director of Trade and Investment Policy, Dow; Kristi Davidson, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Associate General Counsel, Movado Group; Robert Jan Jeekel, Head of European Union Institutional Affairs, Arcelor Mittal Europe; and Berit Hinnemann, Director, Head of Decarbonisation Business Development, A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Participants include business leaders from small-, medium-sized and multinational enterprises representing different sectors and jurisdictions; policymakers leading the United Nations (UN)

negotiation process as well as local government representatives and UN agency heads will engage in peer-to-peer discussions. The forum will also help catalyse coherent dialogue on critical climate, energy and environment related issues and the necessary regulatory frameworks and incentives needed to enable rapid decarbonisation of the global economy – particularly to lower the barriers to action for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Sage Chief Executive Steve Hare said: “For global climate commitments to be met we must simplify the journey to net zero for small- and mid-sized businesses, who represent over 99% of all businesses in many countries. Gathering virtually on the margins of COP26 is a great way to ensure that SMBs stay front of mind as we collectively seek to accelerate climate action.”

The forum is designed to draw an audience that transcends national and sectoral barriers, with engaging content that runs the full scope of climate action – from launches of roadmaps to guide decarbonisation of high-emitting sectors to in-depth discussions on environmental marketing, green trade policy, net-zero arbitration and climate finance. Notably, it will bring new voices to the international stage to shine a spotlight on innovative measures being taken by forward-looking businesses and international organisations that have the potential to be successfully replicated in other regions.

“What’s exciting about the Make Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum is that it is democratizing the COP26 experience in the COVID-19 era, ensuring that technical experts that have the know-how needed to drive real change are able to exchange directly with the businesses and policymakers that can benefit from them,” said Jennifer Wong, Head of Sustainability at Convoy.

To bridge the gap between COP26 and the Make Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum, ICC – as the institutional representative of over 45 million businesses worldwide and the focal point for business and industry engagement in UNFCCC processes – will be enabling online access to its closed-door briefings for private sector stakeholders on the status of the intergovernmental climate negotiations for the first time. The BINGO briefings, as they are known by insiders, are the best way for industry leaders to gather and collectively reflect on government commitments to setting meaningful and actionable climate strategies

Sandra Hanni, ICC’s Climate Lead said: “Many stakeholders in the business community are hopeful for a high-standard outcome to COP26. This will be principally determined by whether or not governments agree to a common rulebook on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement which is needed to guide the implementation of cross-border greenhouse emission markets – including carbon markets. Our network will be watching closely – both in-person and virtually – to see how this plays out in Glasgow next month”.

In addition to the conference programming, the ICC Make Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum is designed to mimic an in-person experience and facilitate networking well beyond COP26 by leveraging a platform that allows for virtual networking, prescheduled meetings and closed-door substantive discussions. Participants will be able to access the event 24-hours a day from 1 – 13 November, ensuring that attendees in every time zone can benefit from the space.

Click here to view the full conference programme and request a ticket for the ICC Make Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum. Further event and media enquiries can be directed to ICC External Affairs Advisor Sabrina Klayman.