Dec. 7 in Paris: High-Level Dialogue to Accelerate Climate Action

On Monday, December 7, at Hub Culture in Central Paris, we hosted the second in a series of high-level dialogues, convened under Chatham House rules, to focus on the opportunities inherent in mobilizing widespread, innovative climate action locally, nationally, and globally.

The outcome from October 26 is a strategy document called “A Convenient Opportunity” which outlines key strategies for mobilizing existing resources at a faster pace and in more diverse ways, to accelerate climate action and build value for communities, businesses, and for people around the world.

December 7 Program

10:00 am: First half of moderated conference-table dialogue among participants.
11:30 am: Short coffee break
11:45 am: Second half of moderated conference-table dialogue among participants.
1:30 pm: A working lunch for participants, where those gathered share concrete proposals and commitments, at their discretion.

Sharing Insights & Outcomes

Four challenge areas were explored by participants:

Do we have the concrete strategies, local capabilities, and global collaborative capacity, to stay within 1.5ºC on time and within budget?
Do we know which policies and practices provide the optimal outcome in each circumstance where we need to make big adjustments quickly?
Is it possible to measure the hidden costs of moving too slowly—the “carbon delta” or added investment cost attributable to added climate disruption?
Where capacity exists, and valuable action is accelerating, do we know it’s happening, and if so, how to adapt it for others’ needs?

Two new kinds of tools were identified, through discussion among participants, as necessary for addressing these needs

Rapid and robust business-model innovation as a routine part of business, finance, and investor planning, to allow carbon-heavy enterprises and activities to transition to a more viable future strategy.
A detailed understanding of the “carbon pricing value chain” —a way of first identifying pressures emerging from well-designed carbon pricing policies, and then discerning those pressures that amount to hidden value added.