As London prepares for a heatwave, and a week ahead of the General Election, the capital will see almost 50,000 people gather for London Climate Action Week, Europe’s largest independent climate festival, with more than 350 events taking place.
Attendees will include Sadiq Khan, mayor of London; Bill Gates as part of his initiative Breakthrough Energy Summit; and UN climate change high-level champion for COP29, Nigar Arpadara.
The festival kicks off with the Wildlife Trust’s Restore Nature Now March on Saturday 22nd, with the week featuring events ranging from theatre productions from the Royal Shakespeare Company on the Kyoto Protocol to tours of local recycling plants and family forest picnics, as well as high level political discussion and private sector debates on net zero. The week will see climate festivals from several London boroughs, including Hackney, Hammersmith and Barnet.
During a year of global elections, climate change think tanks E3G’s State of Climate Politics Forum will bring together international political leaders to discuss the geopolitical barriers to climate action. Featuring David Lammy (Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs) and Jennifer Morgan, Special Envoy for International Climate Action.
Amid an expected heatwave in the capital a special lesson plan on “Beat the Heat” has been put together as part of the regular London Climate Curriculum that goes to all 3600 London schools for use during the week.
London has the largest concentration of climate professionals in the world, over 250,000 mostly working globally, and a highly ambitious net zero target for 2030. The London Mayor leads the C40 cities coalition overseeing global debates on urban pollution and decarbonisation.
Highlights include:
Net Zero Debates: intense debates – especially from leading businesses and decision makers – over the big challenges the UK faces in delivering its net zero 2050 target.
Energy Transition: New research launched at LCAW and will be the focus of major events like the PRI Investment Summit and IIGCC Net Zero Summit. Sectoral events will look at scaling-up investment in energy, tackling building efficiency, clean heating and energy poverty, and investing in resilience and nature-based solutions. There will also be a focus on improving women’s representation in clean investment and energy transitions.
Tech and Innovation: Building on London’s clean tech, venture capital and start-up communities, including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Summit and how to apply AI to climate solutions. Using the strength of London’s innovative university sector such as Imperial’s Undaunted Innovation Hub and the wider UK Universities Climate Network, and starting from the building blocks of London’s schools.
London Climate Curriculum: A special lesson plan on “Beat the Heat” has been put together as part of the regular London Climate Curriculum that goes to all 3600 London schools for use during LCAW. Other schools engagement include design workshops at the V&A Museum, a student climate challenge day at HSBC, explaining green careers, exposing Sixth Formers to innovative start-ups and encouraging student climate innovators.
Local Council Climate Festivals: LCAW will also see a huge number of local and community events involving the public, including festivals in Southwark, Hackney and Barnet. Londoners will also be able to join an on-line campaign to log their environmental actions.
Fashion: LCAW aims to mobilise London-based sectors with large global reach and influence. This year we have focused on fashion, hosting the Future Fabrics Expo and a range of sustainable fashion events from fashion shows to engaging consumers and how to harness AI to green fashion.
Creative and Culture: Royal Shakespeare Company’s new play on the Kyoto Protocol. LCAW will host events on how to the creative industry should collaborate better for impact, improve media design, understand the role of commercial broadcast media, and build a creative professionals climate community. Finally, the BBC will host an evening of films and discussions on the art of climate storytelling. During the Euros discussions will also focus on Sustainability in Sports.
Climate Politics: The inaugural State of Climate Politics Forum will host a range of international high-level speakers examining the politics and geopolitics of delivering ambition in 2025, and how to sustain it through the next turbulent decade. The practical diplomacy of delivering ambition will be discussed at Countdown to COP 29 hosted by the EU Mission and Mission 2025 a new global multistakeholder campaign for climate ambition will be launched during LCAW.
Finance: London remains one of the world’s leading financial centres, but global competition is fierce especially for green and sustainable finance. LCAW 2024 will see over 100 events addressing all aspects of climate financing including what London needs to do to keep ahead.
Investment: Major events like the Climate Investment Summit, Climate Innovation Forum, Green Finance Institute Series, Bloomberg Sustainable Finance Forum and Reset Connect plus convenings of pension funds, banking and institutional investors. Many events will focus on investment in emerging markets in energy and resilience sectors.
