EIT Climate-KIC at COP29

The COP29 UN Climate Change Conference, hosted by Azerbaijan this year, will take place from 11 November to 22 November in Baku. In addition to advancing global climate talks and action, this year’s climate conference will focus on setting a new climate goal on finance. 

This will replace the previous $100 billion annual pledge made by developed countries to support developing nations in addressing climate change, a target that was not fully met. The new financial framework, known as the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), aims to better reflect the current financial needs, which could range from $500 billion to $1 trillion annually.

As a key actor in climate action in Europe and abroad, EIT Climate-KIC is going to COP29 to share our expertise in supporting cities, countries, regions and their value chains to bridge the gap between their climate goal commitments and current reality. 

We are also going to Baku to listen to other actors, find like-minded organisations we can partner with and learn from, and try to understand how our expertise in driving systemic change could contribute to solving today’s most pressing global challenges.

We will soon update this page with the events and sessions we’ll take part in.

In the meantime, please register to our COP29 list to receive our COP updates.

Please note: all the events will be listen in local time.

Special Episode on COP29

In our latest How Could We? episode we pulled back the curtain on COP29’s most pressing challenges and the tough decisions facing global leaders in Baku with Megan Rowling from Climate Home News. Listen on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

High-Level Session on Accelerating Transformative Climate and Sustainability Innovations

Location: Blue Zone, Buta Room

The high-level session will explore how systems thinking combined with moonshot mindsets can serve an expanded climate and sustainability innovation space. The session will feature corporate leaders as panelists.

Moderator: Kirsten Dunlop

More information coming up soon.

Session on Global Coalitions for Climate Innovation: Serving People and the Planet

Location: Blue Zone, WGEO Pavilion

The Global Coalitions for Climate Innovation will focus on global leadership’s role in enhancing the development and effective implementation of transformative climate and sustainability innovation to serve people and the planet. This session is jointly organized by UGIH and World Green Economy Organization (WGEO).

Moderator: Kirsten Dunlop

More information coming up soon.

Unlocking the potential of green and innovative technologies: stepping up financial tools to scale up technological innovation

Location: Blue Zone, EIB Benelux Pavilion

This event centers on Mario Draghi’s report about strengthening European competitiveness through innovation, especially in advanced technologies, to close the gap with the U.S. and China, drive productivity, and secure Europe’s future growth. The discussion will focus on financing strategies for innovative companies and introduce a recent study by the European Patent Office and EIB on advancing cleantech innovation in Europe.

Speakers include:

• Mrs Lee Beck
• Jean Christophe Laloux – European Investment Bank – Director General Operations
• Kirsten Dunlop – CEO Climate KIC
• Moderator: Mrs Lee Beck (Clean Air Task Force)
• Mr Souleymane Ba, LeapFrog Investments – Partner and Climate Action responsible – Confirmed
• Breakthrough Energies – Alberto Toril Castro, Manager, Europe – Power Sector at Breakthrough Energy –  Confirmed
• Marie d’Argentre – Head of ESG Data & Transformation, BNPP – Confirmed
• Rosana de Santos –  Diretora Executiva do Instituto E+ Transição Energética – Confirmed
• Simona Viscardi (TBC) – Partner, McKinsey

Investing in Climate Resilience in Emerging Markets: The Unavoidable Opportunity

Location: Multilateral Climate Funds Pavilion

This event will highlight the growing investment opportunities in climate adaptation and resilience, drawing on key insights from the CAIL project. It will address critical barriers to unlocking these opportunities, including developing a taxonomy and building a robust pipeline of investable projects.

Speakers include Neil Walmsley, Head of International Adaptation Programmes & International Markets at EIT Climate-KIC

Unlocking the potential of green and innovative technologies: stepping up financial tools to scale up technological innovation

Location: Blue Zone, Benelux Pavilion

More information coming up soon.

Sustainable Innovation Forum

Location: Baku Marriott Hotel Boulevard

EIT Climate-KIC is a partner of the Sustainable Innovation Forum at COP29. The Forum will unite 1,000 global climate leaders from all sectors to build cross-sector partnerships, promote impactful business actions, mobilise green finance, and provide access to cutting-edge solutions for rapid global adoption. Dedicated to advancing transformative innovations, the Forum aims to help us meet our climate commitments and targets, driving a sustainable and resilient future through collaborative efforts.

Register here

Mobilizing Private Sector Investments for Climate Adaptation: A World Café on Innovation & Learning

Location: Blue Zone, UNIDO Pavilion

This side event will adopt the World Café format, providing an interactive, engaging and collaborative platform to discuss key questions aimed at stimulating private sector engagement in climate adaptation. The event will consist of three simultaneous roundtable discussions, each dedicated to one of the CoPs’ key themes. Participants will be divided into three small groups, with each group seated at a different table. Each Community lead will introduce the key questions and act as a facilitator, allowing participants to share insights, experiences, and lessons learned. Discussions will occur simultaneously for 18 minutes, after which participants will rotate to the next table, ensuring everyone engages with all three topics.

This format will encourage collaborative dialogue, the cross-pollination of ideas, and deep participation in a structured, yet flexible, conversational environment.

Participants include Neil Walmsley, Head of International Adaptation Programmes & International Markets at EIT Climate-KIC

UNFCCC Use of Foresight for Visioning Adaptation

Location: Blue Zone, Side Event Room 5, Area B

This side event delves into the critical role of foresight in shaping the future of climate adaptation. Five leading experts will each bring a unique, thought-provoking perspective, offering insights that challenge prevailing assumptions about adaptation and resilience. Following these expert reflections, attendees will engage in interactive exercises designed to examine their own underlying assumptions and explore how foresight can enhance decision-making for resilient, adaptive futures. This session is about both intellectual rigor and practical insights, providing participants with tools to think creatively and strategically about climate adaptation.

Kirsten asked to speak

Speakers includ:

• Youssef Nassef, Adaptation Director, UNFCCC
• Xiaomeng Shen, Vice-Rector (Europe) and EHS Director, United Nations University
• Kirsten Dunlop, CEO, Climate-KIC
• Eugenio Sergio Longo, Sustainability Director, Tata Consultancy Services
• Kotchakorn Voraakhom, Climate Change Working Group of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA World)

UNFCCC Climate Champions “The Role of the Insurance Industry in Unlocking Capital’

Location: Blue Zone, Special Event Room 2 – Mugham

This lab will discuss and explore a plan for delivery of an Enabling Insurance Breakthrough (EIB) to mobilize insurance, industry and finance in order to catalyse a paradigm shift needed to derisk & help accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Climate Solutions.

Speakers include Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC

How will AI redefine sustainable value?

Location: Hill Restaurant, Baku

Sustainability applications of artificial intelligence are emerging, from predictive modelling to the automation of data collection and insights. If we can now collect data, calculate, and predict with far greater ease, will companies double down on reporting and decarbonisation, or harness AI for new business models and disruptive innovations on future-focused themes? How should companies think about gleaning value from sustainability, addressing planetary boundaries, and doing business in more just and sustainable ways?

Speakers include:

• Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC,
• Sophia Mendelsohn, Chief Sustainability and Commercial Officer, SAP.
• Moderated by Stephen Dunbar Johnson, President, International of The New York Times

Agri-Food Systems Summit

Location: Baku Marriott Hotel Boulevard

As the world faces growing challenges like food security and climate change, impacting water shortages, it will become imperative to develop new models of multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure a sustainable and resilient future for our food systems. The Agri-Food Systems Summit at COP29 will bring together 300 diverse stakeholders from across the agri-food sector to showcase solutions and access innovations that will safeguard our food and water systems, paving the way for a sustainable, nature-positive future.

Register here

The Citizen at the center of the energy system

Location: Blue Zone, Spanish Pavilion

The session will examine how the energy transition can be used as a means of empowering citizens by providing access to clean, affordable energy in remote areas, strengthening community resilience and creating new revenue streams for local communities. It will focus on the energy transition, and particularly the deployment of renewable generation technologies, which present an opportunity for a transformation of energy systems that puts the citizen at the heart of the process. The session will cover best practices, pioneering projects, innovative financing formulas and public-private partnership experiences from around the world.

Speakers include Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC

Scaling Just Energy Transition Innovations Through Global Collaboration

Location: Blue Zone, UNIDO Pavilion

This event, led by UNIDO, is designed to showcase how global collaboration can advance the innovations needed for the Just Energy Transition (JET). In line with the goals of UNIDO’s Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP), the event will officially launch the “Just Transition to the Future” (JTF) Innovation Challenges. Additionally, there will be an engaging dialogue on the essential actions required to further empower industry, governments, and financiers to drive and scale innovations for Just Energy Transitions through South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTIC).

Speakers include: Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC

High level multi-stakeholder roundtable on Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as a driver of a just transition and a resilient green economy

Location: Mugham, Zone B, Blue Zone

Climate Proofing SMEs is a campaign launched at New York Climate Week in September 2024 by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP29. This special event, held as part of the COP29 Action Agenda programme, will convene stakeholders – across business, finance, academia, subnational governments and cities, international organisations and policymakers – in a roundtable dialogue designed to amplify the role of SMEs as critical drivers of the transition to a net-zero resilient future, and explore how to galvanise more systemic and on-the-ground support for SMEs to respond to the transition ahead.

Speakers include Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC.

4+1 ClimAccelerator spotlight: showcasing tomorrow’s solutions

Location: Green Zone

Join EIT Climate-KIC’s ClimAccelerator partner Viveka showcasing 11 pioneering start-ups taking part in the 4+1 ClimAccelerator programme.

The 4+1 ClimAccelerator programme brings together key actors, startups, and stakeholders from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey and from around the world aiming to drive a climate-positive new normal for the entire world.

Event schedule:

• 14:30-15:30 – Bridging Insights from Sabancı Holding: Experience Sharing in Corporate-Startup Alliances
• 15:30-16:30 – 4+1 ClimAccelerator Spotlight: Showcasing Tomorrow’s Solutions
• 16:30-17:00 – 4+1 ClimAccelerator: Corporate-Startup Networking Session

Register

Building the Business Case for Climate Finance at the Subnational Level

Location: Blue Zone, Room 2

Organised by the MAIA Project, a key initiative under the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, this event will look at the importance of investing at the subnational level to accelerate mitigation and adaptation action in the context of the negotiations on the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance (NCQG).

Subnational actors (state, regions, provinces) can play a critical role to accelerate action on the ground given the proximity to their citizens, territorial approach and engagement with different actors and sectors in their territories. Nevertheless, investment at this level needs to be boosted, and investors and financial actors need to see the interest and attractively for investing at subnational levels.

During the panel, the new Committee of the Region report ‘Adaptation financing mechanisms for action at the local and regional level’ will be referenced.

Moderator: Kirsten Dunlop

A New Horizon for Climate Action: The IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities

Location: Multilevel Action & Urbanization Pavilion

As cities around the world increasingly grapple with climate impacts, it’s critical for urban leaders and climate scientists to understand the cutting-edge insights offered by the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities. This landmark report is set to deliver the most comprehensive assessment to date on urban climate change vulnerabilities, adaptation strategies, and resilience measures for cities. The session will explore the collaborative and potential incorporation of new sources of knowledge, such as grey literature and community-generated insights, is set to transform urban climate adaptation and mitigation planning.

This session aims to foster dialogue between urban practitioners, climate scientists, and city leaders on the unique role of cities in advancing the climate agenda. By spotlighting innovative methodologies and community-driven perspectives, the session will discuss how the report’s findings can be mobilized at the local level to shape impactful climate actions that are scientifically grounded and locally relevant.

Cleantech Innovation Ecosystems: What Counts Beyond Numbers for People and Planet

Location: Blue Zone, UNIDO Pavilion

This session will focus on building innovation ecosystems that go beyond traditional quantitative metrics, and highlight success factors from a systemic perspective.

GreenTech ClimAccelerator Demo Day

Location: Green Zone, Digital Azerbaijan

Our partner New Space Open Innovation will host a Demo Day for the GreenTech ClimAccelerator Azerbaijan. Get ready to witness 12 groundbreaking climate tech teams changing the world in a positive way, starting from the developing innovation materials including those making cities more sustainable.

These start-ups are pushing the boundaries of technology to create a sustainable, climate-positive future. Over two hours, these brilliant minds will pitch their solutions, share their visions, and demonstrate their potential to make a global impact. Start-ups are represented in 4 cohorts:

1. Energy Efficiency
2. Green Business Models
3. Sustainable Cities
4. Innovative Materials

Investing in skills is the climate commitment that counts

Location: Blue Zone, tbd

This is a Climate Champions debate event. It’s not enough to imagine a green future: we need the skills to deliver it. Every National Determined Contribution of the Paris Agreement will require a fundamental prioritization of human development. All climate commitments made by both businesses and governments in the last few years (including, for example, the global goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030) are intrinsically linked to job agendas and labour market concerns, with every business in every sector having to find new solutions: for upskilling their people and innovating at an unprecedented speed and scale; attracting young talent; financing and partnering with SMEs; and supporting entire communities of workers who have been displaced to operate new green infrastructure. In other words, green transformation is nothing without a radical investment in the jobs and skills of tomorrow.

But is it ‘the’ investment that counts? Are there some agendas that matter more (like nature and biodiversity or fossil-fuel phaseout) that should come first, alongside other investment areas like technology or adaptation? Will upskilling workers in a system that is already playing catch up be the most reliable and efficient path to climate progress? Crucially, if workforce investment were considered the ultimate climate commitment, what could it cost us; and what other realities might we be avoiding?

Speakers include Kirsten Dunlop

Mission thinking on climate change: examples from the Mission of Adaptation, Mission Cities & Mission Innovation

Location: online

This event will invite a series of mission cities and mission regions in Spain and across the EU to present their first-hand experience as missionaries on the implementation of city decarbonisation and climate change adaptation.

Objectives:

• According to the EU, “Missions are a new way to bring concrete solutions to some of our greatest climate change challenges. Missions have ambitious goals and aim to deliver concrete results by 2030
• The session will give special attention to the Mission on Adaptation and the Mission on Carbon Neutral Cities. One of the main aims has been to put research and innovation into action, combined with new forms of governance and collaboration, as well as by engaging citizens”.
• The EU Missions are a novelty of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme for the years 2021-2027, with a coordinated effort by the Commission to pool the necessary resources in terms of policies and regulations.
• This session will reflect on the experience first-hand so far in the deployment of these missions by talking directly to cities and regions.
• In a discussion with regional and local authorities, research institutes, and entrepreneurs we will look at current initiatives to create real and lasting impact.
• The discussion will consider questions around: How are missions supporting Europe’s transformation into a greener, healthier, more inclusive and resilient continent? How are Missions helping to engage with citizens to boost societal uptake of new solutions and approaches ? How can missions bring tangible benefits to people and engage in their design, implementation and monitoring?

Speakers:

• Kirsten Dunlop. CEO. Climate-KIC.
• Alejandro Hernández. Environment Councillor. Valladolid City Council. Spain.
• Noelia Cruz Pérez. Lecturer. University of La Laguna. Canary Islands. Spain.
• Pierpaolo Campostrini. Managing Director. Consortium for coordination of research activities concerning the Venice lagoon system (CORILA).
• Ignacio García Fenoll. Mission Innovation. Spanish Government.

Moderator:

• Elena López Gunn. Founder & Director. iCatalist.