Are you traveling to COP25 in Madrid? If so, please make sure to connect with our team! David Antonioli, Naomi Swickard, Sam Hoffer, Carina Bracer and Angelo Sartori will be attending.

To learn more about what we are doing at the COP, we have created this page that lists which events we will be attending in Madrid. We will be posting new information to this page regularly, so please make sure to come back and check for updates.

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Article 6 Pilots: Challenges and Opportunities

Host: South Pole and Swedish Energy Agency
Date: Wednesday, December 4
Time: 15:00 – 16:00
Venue: Nordic Pavilion

The session will focus on the current virtual Article 6 pilots that the Swedish Energy Agency has been developing around the globe. Together with the Colombian government, the Swedish Energy Agency will be discussing the challenges, successes and results of the virtual pilots and the future of Article 6 and other market mechanisms. Attendees of this session will walk away with a better understanding of the expectations, needs and approaches to this new market mechanism, from both a host country and buyer perspective.

Speakers:

  • Moderator: Jeff Swartz, Director Climate Policy & Carbon Pricing, South Pole
  • Sandra Lindström, Senior Climate Finance Specialist, Swedish Energy Agency
  • David Antonioli,  CEO, Verra
  • Roberto Esmeral, Viceminister of the Environment, Government of Colombia
  • Susana Vélez, Senior Consultant, South Pole

Scaling Private Sector Investment in Natural Climate Solutions

Date: Wednesday, December 4
Time: 16:00 – 17:30
Venue: Columbia Pavilion

This session will explore the capacity of NCS to contribute towards the low carbon transition, the role the private sector can have and ways to deliver a step change in investment levels.

Speakers:

  • Angelo Sartori, Director, Latin America & Caribbean, Verra
  • Antonio Baldassarre, Senior Vice President Forestry Initiatives, Eni SpA
  • Erica Meta Smith, Director, Terra Global Capital
  • Katrin Harding, Environmental products originator, BP
  • Representative from IndigoAg

ICROA Workshop: Increasing Voluntary Action under the Paris Agreement & Launch of State of Voluntary Carbon Markets 2019 Report

Date: Thursday, December 5
Time: 12:00 – 13:30
Venue: IETA Business Hub

Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace will kick off the event with the launch of their latest publication on the voluntary carbon markets, giving insights on current trends and sharing the latest aggregated market data.

ICROA will then present its most recent work and thinking on scaling private sector voluntary action post-2020 to help close the global emissions gap, finance gap and time gap. Read more here.

IPIECA Side Event: How Nature and Technology Can Enhance Ambition and Accelerate GHG Mitigation

Date: Friday, December 6
Time: 15:00 – 18:00
Venue: IETA Business Hub, Hall 8, Pavilion 8A08; includes networking reception with refreshments

This event will examine how nature and technology can be utilized to enhance ambition – both in terms of accelerating GHG reductions but also to bring co-benefits through improved environmental and social performance. Compensating mechanisms, transfers with corresponding adjustments, or carbon offsets, however they are termed, can form an important part of a company’s or country’s carbon mitigation strategy.

Speakers:

  • Arthur Lee, Chevron (moderator)
  • Brian Sullivan, Executive Director, IPIECA
  • Lorena Perez-Bajo, Climate Change Manager, IPIECA
  • Katie Sullivan, Managing Director, IETA
  • Lucia Perugini, Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici
  • Lina Berrara, Senior Director, International Policy, Social and Environmental Governance, Conservation International
  • David Antonioli, CEO, Verra
  • Antonio Lopez Rodrigues, Energy and Climate Manager, Repsol
  • Duncan van Bergen, VP Nature Based Solutions, Shell
  • Ann-Cathrin Vaage, Equinor
  • Enric Arderiu Serra, BP

MDB Working Group on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

Date: Friday, December 6
Time: 17:00-18:30
Venue: MDB Pavilion

The MBDs are working together on the design and piloting of carbon market and non-market mechanisms under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This event will share insights from the MBDs’ piloting activities and the importance of Article 6 for climate ambition, market efficiency, and ability to absorb the negative effects of the scaled-up transition to low carbon and climate resilient economies. The World Bank will take a global view, which will be further articulated for the European region by the EBRD and Southeast Asia by ADB.

Speakers:

  • Preety Bhandari, Director, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division and Chief of CCDRM Thematic Group, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, Asian Development Bank (Moderator)
  •  Chandra Shekhar Sinha, Lead Climate Change Specialist, World Bank
  • Jan-Willem van de Ven, Head of Climate Finance and Carbon Markets, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • Virender Kumar Duggal, Principal Climate Change Specialist, Asian Development Bank
  • Simon Fellermeter, Policy Advisor, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment
  • David Antonioli, CEO, Verra
  • Gareth Phillips, Chief Climate Change and Green Officer, African Development Bank

Ocean Finance

Date: Monday, December 9
Time: 18:30-20:00
Venue: EIB Benelux Pavilion

This event will feature investors, including governments, multilateral development banks and private investors, discussing the landscape and needs for fast-tracking investments into coastal resilience projects. Experiences and lessons learned from the Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility and other actors will be discussed.

This event aims to crystalize clear action priorities to build a pipeline of investable coastal and marine projects for the benefit of climate action and conservation of natural resources and services.

Introductory Remarks:

  • Carole Dieschbourg, Minister of Environment, Luxembourg

Panelists:

  • Andrew Johnstone CEO, Climate Fund Managers
  • David Antonioli, CEO, Verra
  • Representative from Colombia TBD
  • Additional panelists TBD

Quantification of SDGs to Implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

Date: Tuesday, December 10
Time: 14:00 – 15:30
Venue: IETA Business Hub, Side Event Room (Hall 6, IFEMA)

In order to assist GHG emission reduction projects in measuring their SDG baselines and to measure future progress, ALLCOT is developing an open-source SDG Quantification Methodology which aims to establish the measurable co-benefits of the SDGs as an operational tool in development activities to ensure a fair carbon price.

Speakers:

  • Sergi Cuadrat, Chief Technical Officer, ALLCOT Group
  • El Hadji Mbaye Diagne, Vice-Chair, CDM Executive Board
  • David Antonioli, CEO, Verra
  • Owen Hewlett, Chief Technical Officer, Gold Standard

Making Nested REDD+ Work

Date: Tuesday, December 10
Time: 15:30-17:00, reception with drinks to follow
Venue: IETA Business Hub Side Event Room

Emerging domestic and international markets (e.g., CORSIA) pro­vide concrete opportunities to drive finance to REDD+ activities. Nested REDD+ projects can play an important role, but most countries don’t yet have a nested accounting policy in place.

This panel discussion will draw on real experiences around the world to share the latest approaches to advancing nested REDD+, as well as highlight the role that private finance can play in driving mitigation action and scaling ambition.

Speakers:

  • Mike Korchinsky, Founder, Wildlife Works
  • Mariodly Sanchez, AIDER, Peru
  • Naomi Swickard, Chief Market Development Officer, Verra  (Moderator)
  • Duncan Van Bergen, Vice President, Shell New Energies
  • Representative, MADS, Government of Colombia

ICAT Session: Transparent and Ambitious Climate Action: How Transparency Can Help Raise Ambition

Date: Wednesday, December 11
Time:13:05-14:05
Venue: Capacity-building Hub

The session will focus on the tools the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) offers to countries as part of their capacity-building support and discuss how these can be used to drive climate action and ambition. Focus will be on the newly released final version of the ICAT Series of Assessment Guides.

Speakers:

  • Moderator: Henning Wuester, Director of ICAT
  • David Antonioli, CEO, Verra
  • Karen Holm Olsen, Senior Researcher, UNEP DTU Partnership
  • Pankaj Bhatia, Deputy Director, Climate, World Resource Institute
  • H.M. Buddika Hemashantha, CEO, Climate Smart Initiatives, Sri Lanka
  • Ana Lucía Moya Mora, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica

ICAT Side Event: Enhanced Transparency Frameworks as a Basis for Effective Climate Policies: Practical Insights

Date: Wednesday, December 11
Time: 18:30-20:00
Venue: Room 5

The session will highlight lessons learnt from experience in countries building comprehensive transparency frameworks to support effective climate action. The Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) will highlight its assessment guides and tools that help to integrate efforts at sectoral and subnational levels. Countries will share experiences in building transparency frameworks that can support tracking NDC progress and for long-term planning. ICAT Director, Henning Wuester, will provide a brief overview presentation on the ICAT’s support to countries, including the newly launched ICAT Series of Assessment Guides and other tools which support ICAT’s work to help countries achieve climate action transparency.

Speakers:

ICAT Director, Henning Wuester, will provide a brief overview presentation on the ICAT’s support to countries, including the newly launched ICAT Series of Assessment Guides and other tools which support ICAT’s work to help countries achieve climate action transparency.

Panelists:

  • H.E. Mr. Ernesto Reyna Alcántara, Executive Vice President, National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism, (CNCCMDL), Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, Dominican Republic
  • H.E. Mr. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica
  • Ms. Jenny Mager Santos, Head of Mitigation and Inventories Department, Division of Climate Change, Ministry of Environment, Chile
  • Mr. Daniel Benefor, Head of Low-carbon Development and Transparency Programme, Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana
  • Ms. Macarena Maia Moreira Muzio, Climate Change Mitigation Coordinator, National Directorate of Climate Change, Argentina
  • Ms. Luz Alcántara, Mitigation Expert, National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism, Dominican Republic

Roundtable: The Role of Carbon Offsets and Standards in South Africa’s emerging Carbon Market

Date: Thursday, December 12
Time: 13:30-14:00
Venue: South Africa Pavilion

This event will be a brief discussion about offsets, including those produced by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the role they can play in driving finance to carbon emission reduction activities in South Africa.

The Carbon Offset Administration Mechanism (COAS) allows for the use of carbon credits generated using the VCS to play a role in the Carbon Tax system. We’ll address how carbon credits serve as a flexibility mechanism to enable delivery of least cost mitigation and as a mechanism to enable mitigation in economic sectors or activities not directly subject to the carbon tax.

Speakers: Chief Market Development Officer Naomi Swickard and Market Development Manager, Carina Bracer will share details about the VCS Standard program and answer any questions.

Enhanced transparency for informed decision-making to empower developing countries: unlocking climate action from national and non-state actors

Date: Thursday, December 12
Time: 9:00 – 10:30
Venue: GCF – GEF Pavilion, Hall 8

This high-level side event is a timely opportunity to convene country leaders and key actors to discuss how to spur climate action, with transparency as a foundation, at the national, sectoral, and global levels. The discussion is also an opportunity to explore unique partnerships for transparency among countries, private sector entities, and global programs.

Speakers:

  • H.E. Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica
  • H.E. Mr. Ricardo Lozano Picon, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia
  • H.E. Alue Dohong, Vice Minister of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia
  • Dr. Karsten Sach, Director General, Deferal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), Germany
  • David Antonioli, CEO, Verra
  • Nicolette Bartlett, Global Director of Climate Change, CDP
  • Robert Bradley, Knowledge and Research Director, NDC Partnership Support Unit