Moving faster and going further, Microsoft has made an inspiring recent commitment to obliterate its carbon footprint. By 2030, Microsoft will be carbon negative, and by 2050 Microsoft will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975.

In a GLOBE exclusive armchair with Amy Harder of Axios, Microsoft’s first Chief Environmental Officer Lucas Joppa will pilot us along Microsoft’s bold journey to carbon negative. Hear the latest on their upped ambition, intrepid roadmap, the role of technology in reaching shared planetary goals and what your company should be doing to join this quest for a net zero future.

“Cleantech” is a broad term, spanning agriculture, mobility, energy, heavy industry, and carbon capture. Low-emissions technologies in these areas must scale to achieve climate change curtailment and adaptation, and are critical to continued economic, ecological, and human health across the globe. Speakers featured in this showcase will share their outlooks for the coming decade. Learn from their fearless predictions for our collective future and best bet pathways towards a stable climate.

• What are the current and long-term outlooks for substantial decarbonization?
• What market mechanisms must be in place today to create an environment to scale and improve clean energy technologies?
• How can we use innovative investment strategies to support young companies driving decarbonization?

In the next fifteen years, an estimated $90 trillion USD will be needed in infrastructure investment for climate safe growth. Due to the lock-in effects of our infrastructure choices, the New Climate Economy has referred to the next two to three years a global “use it or lose it” window on climate action. This dialogue will address how to direct the massive infrastructure investment opportunity as well as the existing and emerging avenues to scale Canadian investments. Leaders will share best practices and chart the promising path leading to COP 26 in the United Kingdom, with a focus on the transformation imperative:

• Given expected spending on infrastructure, what does it look like to “use” this window of opportunity? What are the key frameworks and tools to price climate risks and facilitate resilient investments?
• What role can Canada play in accelerating global leadership on climate-smart investments and how might Canada lead in developing a national framework on resilient infrastructure?
• How should government and the private sector work together to mobilize capital for climate resilience and how can initiatives be pursued in 2020

With representation from the public, private, domestic, and international perspectives, this discussion will identify key ways to seize the resilient infrastructure opportunity in a changing climate.

Sponsored by:

In the hard-hitting impact-oriented conclusion of GLOBE Forum, business leaders, government, not-for-profits, academics, cleantech innovators and youth will all come together on Feb. 13 for GLOBE Advance. In a completely new event format for GLOBE, experts from the GLOBE community will put pen to paper and develop strategic action plans to further the clean economy.

With $2.5 trillion global market opportunities on the table and 10 years and counting to meet Paris Agreement targets, now is the time for Canada to move from star tup to scale up and impact in clean technology. This session will explore:

• The current state of Canadian cleantech and lessons learned
• Challenges in scaling technologies and companies, as well as exporting
• Solutions to accelerate the path to commercialization and impact

Expected outcome:  A prioritized list of next steps for Canada, including individual commitments and actions. Each participating organization is asked to come prepared to commit to some action that moves the needle on addressing barriers to scale-up.

Who should attend: 

• Cleantech CEOs
• Government departments  and funding agencies
• Cleantech industry representatives
• Accelerators, incubators and other ecosystem actors
• Financial institutions
• Innovation and research and development experts
• Buyers and developers
• Institutional investors

To register for GLOBE Advance, indicate your preferred session on the Order page of the GLOBE Forum registration process. The cost of GLOBE Advance is included in your GLOBE Forum pass.

Sponsored by:

In the hard-hitting impact-oriented conclusion of GLOBE Forum, business leaders, government, not-for-profits, academics, cleantech innovators and youth will all come together on Feb. 13 for GLOBE Advance. In a completely new event format for GLOBE, experts from the GLOBE community will put pen to paper and develop strategic action plans to further the clean economy.

This session will consider various financial mechanisms available to deploy in ocean-based initiatives and ‘best fit’ for domestic and international expansion based on best practices deployed to date. We’ll focus on specific high priority deployment areas (e.g., blue carbon) as well as the scale and timing for advancing investment interest which will feed into specific targets that can be established for broader consideration.

Expected outcome: A list of public and private sector opportunities to address barriers and accelerate deployment of financial mechanisms for ocean and shoreline deployment, as well as potential lead organizations that would be necessary to scale deployment. Specific targets for domestic and international deployment will also be addressed.

Who should attend:

• International financial institutions
• Canadian financial institutions
• Pension funds, venture capitalists and other investment interests
• Government financial institutions
• Government departments
• Ocean– and coastal-focused companies and institutions
• International policy centres

To register for GLOBE Advance, indicate your preferred session on the Order page of the GLOBE Forum registration process. The cost of GLOBE Advance is included in your GLOBE Forum pass.

It’s 2020 – can we finally confront the challenges inherent in capitalism? Speaking to the essence of sustainability in our modern age, don’t miss GLOBE’s pivotal debate on what growth means today.

Economics 101 tells us that growth is essential for a system to thrive, as do the billions of people living in poverty. Yet, there is little doubt that the overconsumption this system produces only perpetuates global environmental crises. Will propositions for ‘green growth’ and ‘degrowth’ as alternatives offer a better path? Where does ‘climate capitalism’ fit? Join us for an existential reality check:

• Is there such a thing as sustainable growth? What does it look like and how do we measure it?
• What opportunities for ‘good’ growth are being borne of the climate crisis?
• What approaches are delivering a win-win outcome – the circular economy, a Green New Deal…?
• What is the role of the GLOBE community in providing answers and a road map for ‘sustainable growth?’

Canada’s late to the dance with its Bioeconomy Strategy, released in the summer of 2019. Yet Canada’s enviable natural resource wealth positions us favourably to capitalize on value-added products and services, from biofuels, bio-based textiles, chemicals and bioplastics. The bioeconomy presents a massive trillion dollar opportunity for Canada that underpins a more circular economy and delivers measurable climate benefits. As Canada’s strategy rolls out, critical questions around how biomass will be deployed are timely, especially in light of competition for valuable feedstocks and capital, emerging technologies and foreign markets looking to capitalize on the opportunities. Join us in reimagining our natural resources under a lens of higher value as we discuss the bioeconomy as a crucial piece in Canada’s low carbon transition.

• How do we create the market demand and value chains necessary to accelerate the move to a bioeconomy?
• What are the promising pathways for high value deployment of forestry and agriculture biomass and how can Canada lead in this space?
• What is the job potential associated with the bio-economy and where do we expect to see growth in the near-term?
• How is capital being deployed in this arena and where are entrepreneurs likely to find financing and assistance with scale?

Sponsored by:

GLOBE 2020 is rich in discussions around emerging innovations, technologies and practices that will help shift Canada, and the world, to a low-carbon future. Yet unresolved questions surround the financing of this meaningful transition. A push is forthcoming to close the S90 trillion global infrastructure gap and position Canada to unlock funds. This engaging discussion will explore how Canada can attract capital for investments in infrastructure, innovation and technology that are critical to thrive through the 21st century. We’ll answer:

• What are the market developments defining the next frontier of sustainable finance?
• Where will the requisite capital come from to shift all aspects of the economy and how can Canada attain its share?
• What needs to happen to ensure investment flow starts now?

Sponsored by:

We live in changing times with shifting expectations for companies and boards of directors. Dissatisfied with business as usual, many stakeholders are expecting change to come from the top. A change that will require a dynamic skillset, mindset and commitment from the boardroom. Key considerations surround what boards should do to ensure they and the businesses they serve are fit for the future. Join executive leaders in panel and workshop to explore:

• How are mega-trends, including geopolitical issues, environmental concerns and human values, impacting expectations for businesses, investors and boards?
• How are emerging business models such as the circular economy, sharing economy, gig economy and future of work disrupting business as usual?
• What are the different views and understandings of fiduciary duty and how is this being reshaped in the 21st century?
• What is the role for sustainability professionals to support board leadership?

In light of the FSB Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) efforts, we explore how these recommendations have impacted corporate performance in disclosing climate risks and setting forward-looking targets. This enlivened debate will bring together an asset owner and corporate player to share perspectives on implementing TCFD recommendations in a quest to turn the dial on increased transparency.

• What successes, failures, and barriers are we seeing from TCFD recommendation integration across industries?
• Where and why are there gaps between the recommendations and what we are witnessing on the ground from finance and industry?
• Is disclosure driving industry to prioritize projects and investments that have lower climate risk?
• Will uptake facilitate the necessary changes to ensure we stay below 2 degrees?