World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment

Disruption.

Collaboration.

Action.

In-person. Invitation only.

22 September 2022 University of Oxford

Oxford University’s annual high-level, high-impact flagship event on enterprise and the environment will return in 2022. In this critical year, the event will bring together world leaders in policy, business and academia to embrace bold ideas, identify priority solutions to get their firms, industries and countries to netzero and investigate how real progress can be made.

Previous speakers have included Bill Clinton, Mohamed Nasheed, Dr Steven Chu, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Kathryn Murdoch and Al Gore.

The Forum will bring together a limited number of extraordinary individuals for a full day of talks, workshops and opportunities to engage with additional occasions to build relationships before and after the main conference.

Getting the world to net zero emissions in time to avert catastrophic climate change 
will take unparalleled ambition, daring thinking and collaborative leadership. The World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment will address what needs to be done by governments and enterprise, explore radical ideas that could lead to a leap forward, and catalyse action.

As economies, societies and markets rebuilding from the pandemic face a new shock – this time from geopolitical conflict – the ‘decisive decade’ for climate action risks turning into a ‘disruptive decade’. In this context, and with the alarming speed of ecosystem degradation, existing international agreements may be insufficient. Governments and enterprise must prioritise areas that make the greatest real difference, catalysing positive feedback loops with multiplier effects and collaborating across systems to avoid unintended consequences and bring about the scale of change necessary. Selected (invitation-only) academics, policymakers and leaders from business and civil society will be brought together to share bold and ambitious approaches and investigate how they can be most effectively translated into climate policy, implemented, and rendered politically acceptable.

Strategic collaboration is critical for progress.

Mainstage Plenary Sessions

Hear from world leaders in politics, business, academia and civil society.

Discussions will follow all presentations.

The Necessary Art of the Possible

Inspirational speakers with big ideas that will support the transition to net zero (10 minutes each)
How can our societies, governments and businesses shape the world we want? How might collaboration lead to climate breakthroughs?

The Geopolitics of Net Zero

What can global leaders do between now and 2030 to make significant progress toward net zero while improving food and energy security? How should they prioritise? How can such action be politically acceptable and economically incentivised in different contexts, sectors and spaces?

Creative Collaboration

What did COP26 teach us about creative collaboration to get to net zero? What are the critical areas that need to be ramped up at COP27 and beyond? What further collaborative action is needed to accelerate the transition (partnerships between public, private and civil society,  ‘climate clubs’, multilateral/ bilateral agreements)?

Disrupting the Energy Sector

What are the positive ‘tipping points’ that could help move global economic development firmly onto a zero-carbon path? How can collaboration enable faster technological innovation in the energy sector?

Innovative Finance

How can the financial sector be mobilised to drive concrete progress toward global net zero? How can climate-related risks and stranded assets be properly measured? How rapidly can international sustainable finance flow into supporting accelerated action in capital-constrained countries?

Workshops
 

Opportunities to discuss and debate topics in interactive, roundtable style sessions, with input from those in business, policy, academia and civil society. These workshops will allow a longer and focused discussion of themes addressed in the plenary sessions.

What political or implementational challenges may need to be overcome? How can the ideas be understood from a range of perspectives?

Technical Sessions
 

In depth presentations allow for a fuller understanding of some of the most complex, but critical issues.

In the evening delegates will be invited to attend a reception and dinner at Balliol College. A conference breakfast and Oxford walking tour will be arranged for the morning following the conference, 23 September.