An inclusive, collaborative event enabling climate action at COP26
Event Partners
COP26 is the most important climate meeting of our generation.
For 11 years, Climate Action has been uniting heads of state and multilaterals, environment ministers, business leaders, investors, and NGOs alongside the UN Climate Change negotiations, convening the largest multi-stakeholder forum: Sustainable Innovation Forum.
The 12th Sustainable Innovation Forum (SIF) will be convened alongside COP26, 6 years after 196 world leaders signed the historic Paris Agreement. COP26 marks a crucial deadline for countries to present more ambitious climate commitments. The UNFCCC’s climate conference must set clear pathways for the transition to a net zero economy, a decisive moment for global climate action.
To create truly transformational change and accelerate the transition to a net zero global economy, greater cooperation, collaboration, and cross-sector partnerships between governments, businesses and investors must be forged at COP26 this November.
Ambition must turn to action. Promises must become plans. Visions must become reality. We have this decade to deliver a net zero future.
Meet our speakers. We are adding more every day.
Sharan Burrow
General Secretary
International Trade Union Confederation
Sarah O’Driscoll
Cities Director
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Stephan Sicars
Managing Director, Directorate of Environment and Energy
UNIDO
After a year at the National Research Council Canada, he worked for, and then managed, the Research Centre for Refrigeration and Heat Pumps in Germany.
Later, he headed his own consultancy undertaking research for international industries, NGOs and governments. He implemented projects in India and China, and was part of delegations to the Montreal Protocol and its Multilateral Fund. He served as a technical expert on several international panels.
In 2004, he started work in the United Nations as Senior Programme Officer with the Multilateral Fund.
Joining UNIDO in 2014, he became Director of the Department of Environment in 2015. In that role, he focused the department on reduction of emissions of Greenhouse Gases and of industrial pollution, and on circular economy. Since June 2020, he is Managing Director of the Directorate of Environment and Energy in UNIDO.
He was recognized for his contribution, as coordinating lead author for IPCC, to the Nobel Peace Prize 2007, and has received an US-EPA Ozone Award.
Mr. Sicars holds the equivalent of a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hanover, Germany.
John T. Colas
Financial Services Partner
Oliver Wyman
John has worked in each of the world’s principal financial centers advising senior management in financial services and the public sector on critical matters of strategy, regulation, and risk and capital management.
He is a co-leader of Oliver Wyman’s Climate and Sustainability platform while also serving on Marsh & McLennan’s Climate Risk and Sustainability Task Force and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Committee.
John led our project team assisting the United Nations Environment Programme – Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and a working group of 16 leading banks to develop a framework to assess and disclose climate-related risk factors. He serves as a member of the Climate-Related Market Risk Subcommittee (Climate Subcommittee) of the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC). He also serves on the GARP Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) Advisory Committee.
Dr Jennifer Jenkins
Chief Sustainability Officer
NCX
Jim Lynch
Senior Vice President & General Manager
Autodesk
Jim Lynch is senior vice president and general manager of Autodesk Construction Solutions, where he leads Autodesk’s efforts to create and deliver products and services which provide the foundation for a digital construction workflow. In his more than 20-year tenure with Autodesk, Jim has held a variety of leadership roles and was a key player in the successful scaling of Revit, a flagship Autodesk product, and the establishment of BIM as an industry standard.
In his role leading ACS, Jim oversees the vision and strategy of Autodesk’s construction portfolio, including product design and development, marketing, sales, and customer success. Jim and his team are focused on delivering innovative, cloud-based solutions to help the global construction industry reduce risk and increase margins using Autodesk construction solutions.
A respected voice within the construction industry, Jim has recently been featured in Forbes, Fortune, and construction industry leading publications including ENR, Construction Dive, and Construction Business Owner. As a 30-year veteran of the CAD industry, Jim has served in a variety of senior management roles in the AEC, manufacturing, and electronic design automation industries. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Fitchburg State College.
James Thornton
CEO
ClientEarth
James Thornton is the founding CEO of ClientEarth.
James is a world authority on the power of the law to create lasting change, having dedicated his life to fighting for climate justice. He is a global thinker, revered public speaker and a beacon of hope for our planet.
He launched ClientEarth in 2007, sparking fundamental change in the way environmental protections are made and enforced across Europe. Now operating globally, ClientEarth uses advocacy, litigation and research to address the greatest challenges of our time – including nature loss, human health and social justice.
In the last decade alone, his creative and critical-thinking has shaped an EU-wide law banning illegally harvested rainforest timber, won numerous cases against governments for failing to tackle air pollution, and helped block the largest coal plant in Europe. He and his team of not-for-profit lawyers use the most effective tool in the arsenal for change, the law.
Simon Daniel
Founder and CEO
Moixa
Simon has 25 years’ experience in technology and business innovation. He leads Moixa’s overall strategy and growth plans and market relations across government, industry and investors. He is a serial inventor, with numerous patents in energy and mobile devices. Prior to founding Moixa he spent eight years in Accenture’s Technology practice, and worked in research at IBM. He holds an MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and is a member of the BEIS/Ofgem Smart Systems Forum.
Three days. Four Stages of Content
The 3-day agenda spans 4 stages, and will unite heads of states and multilaterals, innovators, business leaders, scientists, investors, and COP26 delegates. The forum will facilitate competitive, action-led discussions, designed to address contentious issues and inspire fresh thinking.
Global Climate Action Stage
The plenary stage will address the largest sustainability challenges we face around the globe, hosting decisive sessions on how we can truly accelerate the global green economy. This is a decisive moment to define our future, and it will require unity on a global scale from all stakeholders.
Transition Stage
Explore the systemic pathways to net zero within and across different sectors. The opportunities presented are significant, and the risks of inaction are profound. From energy to transport, cities to heavy industry, these are the transitions that will define the net zero economy over the next decade.
Reimagine Stage
This track stage will showcase how we can think differently and take a new approach in tackling climate change challenges. We can re-think our relationship with nature, shift human behaviours, and reimagine the vital systems that underpin our societies
Finance Stage
Examine the need for to direct capital for a greener, inclusive recovery and redirect fiscal policy towards resilient, sustainable growth. It will discuss best process for responsible investors to actively support climate-friendly investments, and drive the momentum for a low carbon global economy.
A Part of the COP Journey
For 11 years, the Sustainable Innovation Forum has been uniting heads of state and multilaterals, environment ministers, business leaders, investors and NGOs alongside the UN Climate Change negotiations.
For 11 years, the Sustainable Innovation Forum has been uniting heads of state and multilaterals, environment ministers, business leaders, investors and NGOs alongside the UN Climate Change negotiations.
A Flagship Event of
Take part in the Sustainable Innovation Forum 2021
Climate Action’s Roadmap to COP26 has created a platform to help organisations from across the stakeholder spectrum to honour their pledges at a time when face-to-face meetings are not an option. I look forward to the evolution of Climate Action’s Roadmap towards COP26 in Glasgow.
Climate Action brings people together who are passing each other like ships in the night. But this is an event that has a sustained and thoughtful program around the multiple perspectives that people are considering.
We see the exchange in this forum as essential to learn from a broad community of thought leaders. Thus, the BMW Group is proud to be once again part of the SIF and we are looking forward to providing an update on our achievements at COP26 in Glasgow.