programme

Climate Synergies 

With every region in the world now exposed to widespread disruption from climate change, the need for climate action is clear. However, competing demands on governments and businesses often prevent them from taking sufficient action on this pressing issue.

Recent technological advances offer hope for addressing both the climate crisis and global economic challenges. Policy solutions that address climate change can also strengthen the social contract between states and their citizens and build a more sustainable economic future.

At the Oxford World Forum, we will bring together leaders, entrepreneurs, and civil society representatives to explore these synergies and how we can translate them into practical action.

Join us as we seek to identify and highlight these "double-win" opportunities and examine the real-world challenges of directing resources to where they are most needed in a risk-averse climate.

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

The Forum will bring together a selected number of extraordinary individuals for a full day of talks, workshops, debate and opportunities to build relationships in one to ones before and after the main conference.

Registration

To confirm your place at the World Forum 2023, please register online. Registration will only be accepted from invited guests. For support with registration, please contact Cleo Dunkley

 

 

World Forum 2022 highlights

Video transcript

Professor Cameron Hepburn
The theme of today is disruption. So we do need to disrupt some established orders. We need to collaborate because we have to collaborate on these international and global environmental challenges, and we have to act because we're running out of time. This is not a day for grand speeches. It's a day focussed on what do we need to do and how do we do it, and who has to do it and when do they have to do it and what help do they need and how can we navigate and move the pieces around?

Professor Dame Louise Richardson
It need hardly be said that this forum is taking place at a time of unprecedented global fragility, geopolitically, economically, societally and environmentally. And underpinning all of this, of course, is the climate emergency and the really narrowing window that we have to avert catastrophic climate change.

Alok Sharma
We know the opportunities presented by a clean and sustainable transition built on collaboration, on action and on disruption are vast environmentally and economically. And we know that the risks of falling short are potentially catastrophic for countries and communities around the world. We really should need no further motivation and we will be judged by other populations and by current and future generations on whether or not we rise to this challenge.

Ranjita Ranjan
So we need to engage with businesses in order to find those solutions and to accelerate our transition to net zero. The World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment is a vital annual metronome that presses with urgency and with global cooperation, bringing research and practise together with an attitude of positive disruption, but also seeking solutions of a solutions oriented mindset.

Md. Abul Kalam Azad
So Bangladesh having its energy transition in the last decade from 47% coverage to 100% coverage on electricity. Where are we are suffering with the energy crisis. Last year, our government scrapped ten coal based power plants. So we are living in the same world. We are on the same boat. If you emit one unit of carbon here that reflects all over for you and for me also. We need to keep that in mind.

Professor Amory Lovins
For many decades, I've worked largely with the private sector because I want to get stuff done at scale and the private sector is particularly good at that. So anything that blends enterprise with making sure that we can have a clean, safe, prosperous, fairer future for all definitely gets my attention. And I'm very pleased with the quality of the colleagues I get to learn from here.

Dr Radhika Khosla
Electrification of transport, of heating and tackling cooling are really, really essential. We know that the largest number of deaths from climate disasters come from extreme heat, more than floods, droughts, anything else, you know, extreme heat is what kills the most. By the end of the century, the demand for cooling is going to be more than the demand from heating.

Dr Mallika Ishwaran
I mean, this is the moment where, you know, businesses should sieze the opportunity, the economic opportunities that this sort of space of low carbon provides and step in and positively and proactively to provide those solutions and to really drive progress in the energy transition. So having a group of deep thinkers, but coming from such a range and diversity of perspectives and all focussed on the single sort of task of how do we accelerate the energy transition? I mean, I think it's is inspiring and hopefully generates new ideas and new sort of collaborations. So that's why I'm here.

Professor Eric Beinhocker
The surest way to get to net zero is to drive the costs of clean energy down below the costs of dirty energy as quickly as possible. The good news is this will save us huge amounts of money and be very good for the economy. And because of this learning, by doing effect again, the more we make, the faster we go with clean technologies, the cheaper they get. By going fast we save $12 trillion in global energy costs. Going faster is cheaper.

Professor Dame Louise Richardson
Collaboration, disruption and action. Collectively, these themes are meant to convey the opportunity to concentrate climate action on the areas that make the greatest real difference catalysing positive impact loops with multiplier effects and collaborating across systems to avoid unintended consequences and bring about the scale of change that's necessary.

 

It’s the standout. It’s got the people you want, the people who are doing it. But they’re not up there performing, giving you the spin.  They’re engaging -  with the unacknowledged dilemmas, the unknowns, the as yet untested intuitions. Go, if you want to take yourself off cruise control.

Leo Johnson, Head of Disruption & Innovation, PwC

 

Context

Alt text

 

As a participant in the World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, I can attest to the value of this conference in bringing together leaders from policy, business, civil society, and academia to drive action towards net zero. The discussions were thought-provoking and insightful, and I had the opportunity to meet with many talented and passionate individuals working on environmental issues.

One of the things that sets this conference apart is its focus on tangible progress and action as well as bold ideas. You will leave the conference with a fresh perspective, connections, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Lord Deben, Chair, Climate Change Committee

 

Plan Your Visit

The World Forum will be held in venues across the centre of Oxford. Oxford is well located for international visits and has a range of accommodation options. 

World Forum Contacts

Programme enquiries - Amy Wevill 

Logistical enquiries - Cleo Dunkley

Partners

Associate Sponsors

Bank of America logo

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 68 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs and award-winning digital banking with approximately 56 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

Lombard Odier logo

Lombard Odier is an innovative bank of choice for private and institutional clients seeking a tailored, sustainable approach to wealth and asset management. The Firm creates sustainable value for their clients via innovative investment solutions that seize the opportunities of the transition to a CLIC® (Circular, Lean, Inclusive and Clean) economy. It aspires to become the leading independent firm for sustainable investing. Lombard Odier works in collaboration with the world-renowned University of Oxford to foster sustainable investment research, with a particular focus on climate change, circular economy and nature.

Supporting Sponsor

Marex logo

Marex is a diversified global financial services platform, providing essential liquidity, market access and infrastructure services to clients in the energy, commodities and financial markets.

The Group provides comprehensive breadth and depth of coverage across four core services: Market Making, Clearing, Hedging and Investment Solutions and Agency and Execution. It has a leading franchise in many major metals, energy and agricultural products, executing around 50 million trades and clearing 205 million contracts in 2022. The Group provides access to the world’s major commodity markets, covering a broad range of clients that include some of the largest commodity producers, consumers and traders, banks, hedge funds and asset managers.

Marex was established in 2005 but through its subsidiaries can trace its roots in the commodity markets back almost 100 years. Headquartered in London with 36 offices worldwide, the Group has over 1,800 employees across Europe, Asia and America.

For sponsorship enquiries contact Amy Wevill

Media partner

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