19 October 2020
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VIDEO: Gavin Esler talks to UNDP's Cassie Flynn; the UK government's Minister for Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility Lord Callanan, Jen Austin from the High Level Climate Champions for COP25 and COP26, and E3G's Shane Tomlinson
Labelled by some as the summit to save the world, the COP26 UN climate change summit is widely regarded as the most critical moment for the Paris Agreement since it came into being in 2015, with global governments now under pressure to come forward with more ambitious plans to drive down their emissions.
Although originally due to take place in Glasgow in 2020, it quickly became apparent as the pandemic unfolded earlier this year that it would be impossible to stage an international summit bringing together tens of thousands of top diplomats and world leaders in one place. However, the inevitable delay until 2021 has sparked fears that the climate crisis could slip down the agenda of world leaders, and there have been increasingly urgent questions about how hosts the UK can engineer a successful summit - and, of course, how businesses can help.
Drilling down into these issues and more at BusinessGreen's recent Net Zero Festival, host Gavin Esler spoke to a several key figures and experts who are keeping close eyes on the UN climate negotiation process: United Nations Development Programme's strategic advisor on climate change Cassie Flynn; Jen Austin, who is director of strategy and policy for the High Level Climate Champions for COP25 and COP26; the UK government's Minister for Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility at BEIS, Lord Martin Callanan; and Shane Tomlinson, deputy CEO at climate think tank E3G.
The discussion - which touches on the many urgent priorities over the next year to prepare for the summit, the immediate and long-term challenges, and the chances of delivering a successful summit - is available to watch again in full above.
All of the panel debates, keynote speeches, and presentations from the world's first Net Zero Festival - which took place over three days from 30 September featuring hundreds of top speakers from business, politics and academia - are now available to watch again on demand through the Net Zero Festival website.
