2014 Investor summit on climate risk
Tackling climate change and transitioning to clean energy are the greatest economic challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
On Wednesday, January 15, 2014, more than 500 global financial leaders will gather at the United Nations to discuss the growing urgency of climate change and investor actions that are needed to mitigate escalating economic risks. The all-day gathering will include key players in the climate debate, including:
Christiana Figueres, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Tom Steyer, Farallon Capital Management
Nick Robins, HSBC
Robert E. Rubin, former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury
Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO
Timothy E. Wirth, UN Foundation
Unlocking the Low-Carbon Economy
At the 2014 Investor Summit on Climate Risk, investors will:
Explore the latest climate science trends and their implications for investment portfolios;
Learn about innovations in financing mechanisms for scaling climate and energy solutions, including energy efficiency, clean technology, and green infrastructure investment;
Discuss the financial community’s role in supporting strong, comprehensive climate and energy policies domestically and internationally; and
Identify actionable opportunities to invest profitably in climate and clean energy solutions.
Climate Risk & Energy Opportunities
As atmospheric CO2 concentrations reach 400 ppm and extreme weather events proliferate, climate change is posing growing risks to economies and investments.
In 2010, governments agreed to reduce emissions enough to hold the increase in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius. To achieve this goal, $36 trillion in global investment in clean energy will be required by 2050, according to a 2012 International Energy Agency report. This means the world needs to invest an average of $1 trillion per year in clean energy for the next 36 years to avoid climate catastrophe.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported that global investment in clean energy in 2012 was $281 billion – far short of what is needed. There is a massive clean energy investment gap. Closing it will require action from investors, businesses, policymakers, and others.
Background
Summit Audience 2The biennial Investor Summit on Climate Risk is the preeminent forum for leading global investors to discuss the implications of climate change for capital markets. The first Investor Summit, held in 2003, launched the Investor Network on Climate Risk and catapulted the term “climate risk” into the international spotlight.
At the most recent Summit, held in January 2012, nearly 500 of the world’s leading investors and financial market players gathered at the United Nations to showcase progress and discuss promising trends to catalyze the large-scale investment needed to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate potentially catastrophic climate impacts.
While progress made over the last decade has been promising, there is still much more to accomplish.
About the Investor Summits
Since 2003, the biennial Investor Summit on Climate Risk at the United Nations has been the preeminent forum for leading institutional investors in North America, Europe and the rest of the world to discuss the implications of climate change for capital markets and their portfolios.
At the last Summit on January 2012, more than 520 financial, corporate, and investor leaders with more than $22 trillion in combined assets highlighted the fact that private investment in climate change solutions is crucial for addressing the climate crisis and will not happen at the necessary scale without climate and energy policies that limit emissions and put a price on carbon. The 2014 Summit will continue to drive forward this urgent agenda.