COP26 | CLIMATE JUSTICE 2021
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ACCESS EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Meet some of our amazing speakers and panelists

Lisa Manley

Vice President, Sustainability, Mars Inc

Esther Ngumbi

Assistant Professor of Entomology and African-American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, and Founder, Oyeska Greens, Kenya

Anne N. Kabugi

Regional Gender Lead - Africa, Gender and Economic Inclusion Group, IFC

Maria Claudia Valdivia Verde

Thematic Leader in Green Business, Practical Action, Latin America

Maria Teresa Zappia

Chief Impact and Blended Finance Officer, and Deputy CEO, BlueOrchard Finance

Elena Höge

Founder & Ceo, Yaldi Games

Katie Hoard

Senior Global Director, Sustainability & ESG, AB InBev

Nick Robins

Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, LSE

Saad Arshad

Senior Manager Program & Research, HBL Habib Bank

Jack-Wasserman

Investment Director -Impact Strategies, BlueOrchard Finance / Schroders

Stefan Hirche

Principal Portfolio Manager, KfW

Bénédicte Faivre-Tavignot

Associate Professor of Strategy and Business Policy, HEC Paris

James Payne

Associate Director for Transformational Strategies,Forum for the Future

Georgina Njeru

Millenium Fellow, Millenium Campus Network

Anouk Heilen

Global Sustainability Director, Social Equity and Inclusion, Unilever

Katie Hyson

Director, Thought Leadership, Business Fights Poverty

Zahid Torres-Rahman

Founder and CEO, Business Fights Poverty

Climate change is affecting us all, but the most severe impacts are being felt by the most vulnerable people, who contribute least to the causes of the problem. How can business ensure people are at the centre of climate action?

Existing inequities - due to factors such as gender, race and income - exacerbate the risks to people’s lives and livelihoods. Inequity also affects people’s capacity and opportunity to participate in the transition to a green economy. Climate change is the defining issue of our time. How we respond can protect or undermine the human rights of people around the world.

The Business Fights Poverty Climate Justice Summit 2021 explored - through three days of online events, and an in-person event in the Green Zone at COP26 in Glasgow, the social and equity dimensions of climate change.

We brought together leading thinkers and front-line practitioners from around the world to deep-dive into the role that business can play to ensure resilience, equity and opportunity for the most vulnerable people and communities.

The UK hosted this year’s meeting – COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference. COP26 was a decisive moment – climate change is a clear and present danger to all people and our planet. The real-world consequences of rising temperatures are already all too visible.

We can no longer afford to wait to act against the threat of climate change. We must work together to protect our planet and people to ensure a greener, more resilient future for us all.

Together for our Planet is building momentum for positive action on climate change across UK society to support engagement around COP26. Find out more here.

Access Insights. Build Relationships. Drive Collaboration on Climate Justice.

The three days insisted of highly interactive events bringing together voices and insights from across the globe, from business, NGOs, academia and government. We shared the latest thinking on the role of business in ensuring climate justice. We deepened connections and built new relationships to drive forward collaborative action

We had the chance to:


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Hear how businesses are driving social and environmental innovation internally, with valuable advice on how you can overcome challenges to do the same.
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Access the latest practical insights from real-world examples of businesses taking action on climate justice so that you can scale the impact of your own efforts.
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Tap into current thinking and best-practice lessons on priorities for collaborative action, and identify new connections to take forward your own partnerships.
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GREEN GIRLS ORGANISATION
Green Girls Organisation is a charity that trains women and girls in African rural communities on how to generate energy from the sun and waste using artificial intelligence.
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Climate Justice Framework
Use this guide, written with the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, to inform business action to put people at the centre of climate action.

Published March 2021

Climate change is affecting us all, but the most severe impacts are being felt by the most vulnerable people. This new framework explores what climate justice means in practice and the actions that business can take.

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AGENDA
WED 3 NOV
RESILIENCE
Building the resilience of vulnerable people to the impacts of climate change
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WELCOME | ONLINE

12.30 - 1.00 PM GMT
8.30 - 9.00 AM EDT

Welcome by Zahid and Yvette Torres-Rahman, Founders, Business Fights Poverty

Followed by a Fireside Chat between:

Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government, and Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics

Jane Nelson, Director, Corporate Responsibility Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School

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WEBINAR | ONLINE

1.00 - 2.00 PM GMT
9.00 - 10.00 AM EDT

How do Businesses Put People at the Heart of Climate Action?

Hosted with Mars Inc

Anouk Heilen, Global Sustainability Director, Social Equity and Inclusion, Unilever

Katie Hoard, Senior Global Director, Sustainability & ESG, AB InBev

Lisa Manley, Vice President, Sustainability, Mars Inc

Dr Tara Shine, Director, Change by Degrees

Katie Hyson, Director, Thought Leadership, Business Fights Poverty (moderator)

Climate change is affecting people. But it affects us unequally and in different ways.

This session examined why, where and what business action looks like - to help people everywhere become more resilient and more prepared for climate change.

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WEBINAR | ONLINE

2.30 - 3.30 PM GMT
10.30 - 11.30 AM EDT

Connecting Investment, Climate Action and Social Justice

Hosted with Schroders

Benjamin Agili, Managing Director, REGIC

Stefan Hirche, Principal Portfolio Manager, KfW

Jack Wasserman, Investment Director - Impact Strategies, BlueOrchard Finance / Schroders

Maria Teresa Zappia, Chief Impact and Blended Finance Officer, and Deputy CEO, BlueOrchard Finance

Zahid Torres-Rahman, CEO, Business Fights Poverty (moderator)

Climate action and social justice, in particular in emerging and frontier markets, call for a focus on climate adaptation strategies.

The importance of investments in climate adaptation is often neglected because of its complexity, mid-to long term investment horizon, and multiple correlations with core livelihood themes for the base of the pyramid. All of these factors make building resilience to climate change for poor and vulnerable people in emerging and frontier markets a challenge in terms of combining innovation with track-record and scaling up innovative/viable climate solutions.

In this session we learned about successful strategies in climate insurance and the ways in which a number of stakeholders have been able to mobilise both public and private sector funds along the climate insurance value chain.

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PEER CIRCLES | ONLINE

4.00 - 5.00 PM GMT
12.00 PM - 1.00 PM EDT

Finding Ways to be Regenerative and Create Just Transitions

Interactive peer support sessions (by application).

With Caroline Ashley, Global Director, System Change Programmes, & James Payne, Associate Director for Transformational Strategies, Forum for the Future
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THU 4 NOV
EQUITY
Understanding and addressing the equity dimensions of climate change impacts and policies.
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WELCOME | IN-PERSON AND ONLINE

12.30 - 2.00 PM GMT
8.30 - 10.00 AM EDT

Empowering Women Through a Just Transition

Tower Base South, Glasgow Science Centre (Green Zone) with Livestream

Hosted with Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Responsibility Initiative and Green Girls Organisation


Amal-Lee Amin, Director Climate Strategy, CDC Group plc and Senior Advisor, COP26 Unit, Cabinet Office

Zlatina Loudjeva, Partner, PwC

Ellen Maynes, Operations Officer, Fiji and PNG, Gender & Economic Inclusion Group, IFC

Monique Ntumngia, Founder, Green Girls Organisation 

Nick Robins, Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, LSE

Kristina Skierka, CEO, Power for All

Jane Nelson, Director, Corporate Responsibility Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School (moderator)

In this session we explored the importance of clean energy as a driver of social impact and a lever for empowering women. Clean energy is key to increasing energy access for rural communities in Africa - with direct benefits for people's lives, livelihoods, and learning. Clean energy also provides opportunities for women entrepreneurs - such as selling solar lamps and installing solar panels.

We learned from the latest thinking on empowering women through a green transition, with practical examples from leading businesses and practitioners.

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WEBINAR | ONLINE

2.30 - 3.30 GMT
10.30 - 11.30 AM EDT

Women and the Net Zero Economy: Business Opportunities and Challenges in Supply Chains

Hosted with Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) / UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office


Rachel Barre, Environmental Leadership Director, L’Oreal

Zelda Bentham, Group Head of Sustainability, Aviva

Cristina Bortes, Director - Sustainability and International Development, PwC

Katherine Brown, VP, Head of Inclusive Impact & Sustainability, Europe, Visa

Anne N. Kabugi, Regional Gender Lead - Africa, Gender and Economic Inclusion Group, IFC

Alice Allan, Collaboration Director, Business Fights Poverty (moderator)

This interactive panel discussion focused on the twin challenges of realizing women’s economic empowerment and tackling climate change. How do these critical social and environmental issues relate and how can a transition to net zero still achieve economic empowerment for women in global value chains?

We learned about practical ways companies can address climate change and gender inequality. We launched a new toolkit for business developed by WOW and Business Fights Poverty in partnership with the Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Responsibility Initiative.

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PEER CIRCLES | ONLINE

4.00 - 5.00 PM GMT
12.00 PM - 1.00 PM EDT

2030 Leadership and What it will take to get there.

Interactive peer support sessions (by application).

With Edward Cameron, Founder, International Institute for Climate Justice
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FRI 5 NOV
OPPORTUNITY
Ensuring vulnerable people have the opportunities to benefit from the transition to a green economy.
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WELCOME | ONLINE

12.30 - 1.00 PM GMT
8.30 - 9.00 AM EDT

Welcome by Zahid and Yvette Torres-Rahman, Founders, Business Fights Poverty

Followed by a Fireside Chat with:

The Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP, Minister for Asia, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Esther Ngumbi, Assistant Professor of Entomology and African-American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, and Founder, Oyeska Greens, Kenya

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WEBINAR | ONLINE

1.00 - 2.00 PM GMT
9.00 - 10.00 AM EDT

Global Youth Perspectives on Scaling an Inclusive Green Economy

Saad Arshad, Intrapreneur, Unusual Pioneer and the Senior Manager Program & Research, HBL Habib Bank

Maria Claudia Valdivia Verde, Thematic Leader in Green Business, Practical Action, Latin America

Eoghan Griffin, Head of Sustainability - EMEA, Facebook

Marta Vania Uetela, Founder, BioMec, Mozambique. Supported by YBI member organisation ideiaLab

Annabel Beales, Director, Learning and Engagement, Business Fights Poverty (moderator)


In this panel discussion, we brought together youth voices to explore what an inclusive green economy means in practice, and what role business can play.

In this session we heard fresh perspectives and practical insights on how businesses can take action to scale and inclusive green economy.

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WEBINAR | ONLINE

2.30 - 3.30 PM GMT
10.30 - 11.30 AM EDT

Skills & Innovation for a Sustainable Future

Hosted with Pearson


Jennifer Carroll, Customer Success Business Partner, SThree

Elena Höge, Founder & CEO, Yaldi Games

Pablo Luengo Martín, STEM Innovator, Living Energy

Niall McGrath, Director, Robocean Ltd.

Bindu Sancheti, Investment Professional, Nexus Venture Partners, and Founding Partner, Ecodabba Packaging Products Llp

Ben Stein, Director, Digital Marketplace & Portfolio Innovation, Virtual Learning, Pearson

Katie Hyson, Director, Thought Leadership, Business Fights Poverty (moderator)

Young people are already rising to the global challenge of climate change, driving the shift with their passion, purpose and innovative business solutions. We heard about the shift that's happening from those driving the movement - and organisations on a mission to support them.

In the session we met and shared questions with the young innovators creating our green inclusive future. This session provided inspiration, ideas and new connections so that we can be a part of putting people at the heart of climate action.

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PEER CIRCLES | ONLINE

4.00 - 5.00 PM GMT
12.00 PM - 1.00 PM EDT

How business and young people can work together for innovation

Interactive peer support sessions (by application).

With Jane Nelson, Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
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About Us
We are a global community of people, companies and organisations passionate about building an equitable and resilient future.

We believe in the power of business to help improve the lives, livelihoods and learning opportunities of the most vulnerable people and communities.

We know that driving system-level change for a better future requires people to unite across traditional divides and come together in fresh and creative ways.

We curate purposeful collaboration to help companies and their partners access the insights and relationships they need to unlock new opportunities for business and social impact.

Join us. We are Business Fights Poverty.


Business Fights Poverty is proud to be a Founding UK B Corp.

© 2022 Business Fights Poverty. The Business Fights Poverty logo and tree device are registered trademarks. View Terms and Conditions.
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