09:00 – 09:10
Welcome address: The Rt Hon The Lady Mayor of the City of London, Alderwoman Dame Susan Langley, DBE
09:10 – 09:20
Keynote: Albert Cheung, Chief Executive Officer, BloombergNEF
09:20 – 10:20
Session 1: Transition Finance
Opening remarks:
Rt Hon Lord Alok Sharma KCMG, Chair of Transition Finance Council and UNFCCC COP26 President
Panel discussion: Country-level action
The transition is global and so is the capital that fuels it. That’s why different jurisdictions must work together to build investor confidence and help identify real transition opportunities worldwide.
In this panel, representatives from different countries will be invited to outline how they are mobilising transition finance. They will be invited to speak to the guidelines, policies, regulatory tools, international collaboration, and market mechanisms that are helping to mobilise transition finance in their country.
Moderator:
Irem Yerdelen, Deputy Chair of Transition Finance Council and Lead Member for Sustainable Finance at City of London Corporation
Speakers:
Japan: Takako Onitsuka, Director, Environmental Finance Office, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
UK: Vanessa Havard-Williams OBE, Chair of the Transition Finance Market Review
Indonesia: Dr Friderica Widyasari Dewi, Chairperson, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK)
Panel discussion: Corporate-level action
This panel hears directly from corporates that have engaged with developing and road-testing the UK Transition Finance Council's Guidelines. Panellists will discuss their company's transition strategy and long-term vision, and discuss how the Guidelines can be used to identify risks and opportunities in practice.
The panel will also explore how the Guidelines could be further developed to improve market interoperability and support cross-border alignment, enabling capital providers to deploy funds with greater confidence.
Moderator:
Faith Ward, Chair, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
Speakers:
Jonathan Dunn, Vice President Climate, Anglo American
Ben Daly, Global Head of Transition Finance and Advisory, Standard Chartered
10:20 – 10:45
Break
10:45 – 11:45
Session 2: From fragile to financeable – de risking carbon credit markets
In collaboration with The Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets
As governments and investors look to carbon credit markets to mobilise climate finance at scale, questions remain over how to turn today’s fragmented, high‑risk landscape into a mature, investable market. This high-level panel, co‑hosted with The Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets, will examine how proven tools from established financial markets – such as standardised contracts, robust market infrastructure and clearer legal and regulatory frameworks – can unlock liquidity and build confidence in carbon credits as tradeable units of climate impact.
Key discussion areas will include:
- What practical steps are needed to move from project‑by‑project transactions to scalable, internationally linked carbon markets that attract institutional capital.
- How liquidity mechanisms, risk‑sharing instruments and better data can help de‑risk participation for both buyers and sellers.
- The role of governments and standard‑setters in providing the policy clarity and market “plumbing” required to make COP31 a catalyst for high‑integrity, financeable carbon credit markets.
Moderator:
Jamie Fergusson, Global Director Climate, World Bank Group
Speakers:
Rachel Kyte, UK Co-Chair, The Coalition To Grow Carbon Markets
Andrew Wilson, Deputy Secretary General, Policy, International Chamber of Commerce
Mike Zehetmayr, Partner, UK EY LLP
Oi-Yee Choo, Chief Executive Officer, Climate Impact X
11:45 – 12:30
Session 3: Adaptation, Resilience and pricing physical risk
In collaboration with UK Government Office for Science
This panel will explore how governments, insurers and finance actors can improve the use of climate-risk intelligence and modelling in support of better public planning, underwriting, investment and adaptation decisions. It will examine the balance between climate data as a public good and modelling/analytics as a commercial service. It will also test whether improved risk intelligence is sufficient to unlock resilience outcomes and adaptation finance at scale, how actions and priorities vary across national and geographical boundaries, and how to address the insurability problem.
Key themes will include:
- Climate risk intelligence and how it informs what we currently do
- Tipping points, cascading risk, and the opportunity to incorporate them into future risk models
- Insurability
- How to drive the flow of adaptation finance
Moderator:
Dr Nina Seega, Director, Centre for Sustainable Finance, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
Speakers:
Claudia Prates, Director of Sustainability, CNseg
Professor Dame Angela McLean, UK Government Chief Scientific Advisor, Government Office for Science
Swenja Surminski, Managing Director Climate and Sustainability, Marsh
Meryam Omi, Chief Executive, Climate Arc
12:30 - 1:30
Break
1:30 – 1:50
Keynote: André Corrêa do Lago, COP30 President, Government of Brazil
1:50 – 2:35
Session 4: City-level finance
In collaboration with C40 Cities
This session will focus on how partnerships between financial institutions and city governments are helping to unlock the funding required for local climate action.
Cities are primary engines of the transition, but the level of infrastructure required demands private capital at an unprecedented scale. This session explores how city leaders are leveraging their balance sheets and policy levers to create bankable, large-scale investment opportunities and how financial institutions are evolving their strategies to support these essential urban climate solutions.
This session will:
- Demonstrate how cities are attracting investment and deploying private capital for decarbonization and resilience projects, employing innovative mechanisms to overcome finance barriers.
- Showcase how to catalyse investment in urban infrastructure and sustainable regeneration and provide insights from the investor perspective.
2:40 – 3:25
Session 5: Nature Finance
In collaboration with Conservation International
This session will underscore the pivotal role that high-integrity nature-based solutions play in tackling the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and the importance of designing financial mechanisms that support and enable indigenous stewardship. Panellists will share real-world examples of nature finance in action, demonstrating how aligning high-integrity finance that delivers community benefits can unlock climate and biodiversity outcomes that are both impactful and lasting.
Opening remarks:
Xiye Bastida, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Re-Earth Initiative, Lead Contributor for How to Live on Earth
Moderator:
Sebastian Troëng, Chief Executive Officer, Conservation International
Speakers:
Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity
Tony Goldner, Chief Executive Officer, Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
Mme Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, President and Coordinator, Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples' of Chad (AFPAT)
Caitlin Clarke, Director of Policy & External Affairs, BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group
3:25 – 3:30
Closing remarks: Policy Chairman Elect
Timings subject to change