Many inspiring innovators spoke, including Sean Simpson, founder and chief scientific officer of LanzaTech; Will Barker, co-founder and CEO of Mint Innovation; Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI); Audrey Zibelman, a member of President Biden鈥檚 National Infrastructure Advisory Council; Anthony DeOrsey, research manager of Cleantech Group; Alice Havill, business fellow with Breakthrough Energy; and Ian Short, co-founder of The Connective.
Bringing together different players was a major goal of the conference, and it worked 鈥 there was plenty of k艒rero (conversation) between new connections and a consensus grew that the only way to solve the climate crisis is to collaborate through 鈥渃o-opetition.鈥
Trade and finance for change
One major theme of the discussions was that international agreements, including trade agreements, can be major forces for climate-positive change.
Historically, trade agreements have 鈥渢ended to pull in the opposite direction鈥 from international climate change agreements 鈥 but that鈥檚 starting to change, said Minister Shaw.
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a Biden administration initiative involving 14 countries that collectively represent 40 percent of global GDP, names both trade and 鈥榗lean energy, decarbonization and infrastructure鈥 among its four key pillars.
鈥淭rade rules can and should support climate action,鈥 said Mark Sinclair, 免费色情视频 chief negotiator for the IPEF.
Ambassador Udall agreed that trade, particularly climate-friendly supply chains, can be a 鈥済ame changer.鈥 However, more capital is necessary to invest in innovation, nurture the next generation of clean technologies and scale them, he said.
The U.S. administration is committed to the goal set in 2009 of mobilising US$100 billion a year for climate action in developing countries, but working with the private sector could mobilise trillions, said Udall.