Climate Group at London Climate Action Week 2026
Where opportunity turns into action
Climate Group was out in full force at London Climate Action Week 2026 across the city between 20–28 June. We brought together our experts, our members, governments, and our wider global network for a focused programme of events across business, government, and civil society.
Anchored by our inaugural Opportunity Summit, delivered in partnership with the Mayor of London, we put implementation front and centre.
Across the week, we convened critical conversations on clean energy competitiveness, electrification, AI, climate finance, energy efficiency, subnational leadership, food systems, and the fight against climate disinformation - with a clear focus on what it takes to move from ambition to action at scale.
For investors, policymakers, decision-makers, and business leaders, this was where partnerships took shape, solutions moved forward, and momentum was built ahead of Climate Week NYC and COP31.
Our events
Across the week, our experts and global network will speak at, attend, and host events, including our inaugural Opportunity Summit.
Monday, 22 June
Pollutants to Prosperity: Subnational Leadership on Super Pollutants
12pm – 2pm
This invite-only joint Climate Group Subnational Methane Action Coalition (SMAC) and Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) event focused on accelerating subnational leadership on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), including methane.
The session highlighted the role of subnational governments in delivering climate action with co-benefits for health, resilience, and economic growth. Lessons from pilot initiatives were showcased to invite exploration of pathways for global scale implementation.
Investment Dialogue: Where Capital Meets Subnational Climate Solutions
2.30pm – 4.30pm
This invite-only event was jointly organised by Regions4 and Climate Group’s Under2 Coalition, in partnership with the European Climate Foundation, the Sustainable Finance Observatory, and UNEP.
Subnational governments are responsible for up to 80% of climate implementation, yet they remain a largely untapped investment opportunity across nature, urban, energy, water, and infrastructure projects. This closed-door roundtable brought together private financiers, philanthropic donors, and senior government representatives to identify practical opportunities and help shape a finance accelerator for subnational climate investment.
Subnational Climate Leader Reception
5.30pm – 7.30pm
An invite-only reception hosted by the Government of Quebec and Climate Group’s Under2 Coalition for states and regions taking part in London Climate Action Week.
Tuesday, 23 June
Opportunity Summit
12pm – 5.30pm
Climate Group, in partnership with the Mayor of London, launched its inaugural Opportunity Summit – a flagship, solution-led event for senior leaders across business, government, and civil society, focused on shaping Europe’s clean energy competitiveness.
Europe is entering a defining phase. The direction of travel is clear – electrification, clean industry, digital infrastructure, and resilience – but the playbook for scale is still being written. The Opportunity Summit was where leaders aligned on what happens next: where investment flows, which system barriers need to be removed, and which partnerships can accelerate implementation across the UK and Europe.
Find out more and register
Local Climate Action Summit
2pm – 5pm
Led by Climate Group’s Under2 Coalition and Bloomberg Philanthropies, this invitation-only summit brought together governors, premiers, presidents, ministers, and senior subnational leaders. A centrepiece event of London Climate Action Week, it showed how multilevel collaboration can drive implementation at scale. The summit included key plenary sessions such as:
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C40 Mayoral Dialogues: how cities are accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels
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Under2 State and Regional Dialogues: governors and ministers convened on energy security and clean industrialisation
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Bloomberg Philanthropies Local Leaders Exchange: a forum that showcased progress and priorities across city and regional climate action ahead of COP31
Wednesday, 24 June
The Rate of Investment of Energy Efficiency For Corporates
9.30am – 11.30am
A focused breakfast briefing hosted by Climate Group for corporate leaders on how stronger energy productivity can reduce costs, strengthen operational resilience, and support competitive growth.
The discussion focused on practical ways to accelerate investment in energy efficiency, aligned with the Smart Energy Coalition’s ambition to double economic output for every unit of energy used. The briefing also included a keynote, a corporate case study, and a moderated Q&A.
Our speakers:
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Emma Harvey-Smith, Managing Director for Partnerships at Green Finance Institute
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Bishal Thapa, Chief Strategy and Impacts Officer at CLASP
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Nicola Cullen, Senior Manager, Energy, at Climate Group
- Tobias Huber, Global Sustainability Officer at Siemens Smart Infrastructure Buildings
Start, Stop, Scale: Climate Disinformation Workshop
10.30am– 12pm
Building on an earlier government-only dialogue, this multi-stakeholder session focused on strengthening subnational responses to climate misinformation and disinformation. The conversation moved from diagnosis to practical collaboration, exploring how AI, algorithms, and evolving media ecosystems are reshaping climate narratives. It identified actionable approaches, partnerships, and tools to support trusted climate communications and information integrity at the community level.
Thursday, 25 June
Leveraging Disclosure Data and AI to Accelerate Adaptation and Resilience Investments
9am – 10.15am
In this invite-only session, CDP, in partnership with Under2 and Regions4, launched the new global CDP Adaptation & Action Explorer tool. Its relevance for subnational adaptation planning was discussed, and highlighted the collaboration between CDP and Google that underpins the tool’s functionality.
The roundtable brought local and regional governments together to share how they use disclosure, data, and AI to advance adaptation and resilience.
The CDP Adaptation & Action Explorer tool is an AI-powered, public purpose platform for cities, states, and regions to assess their climate and nature risks, learn how peer jurisdictions are taking action, and identify effective adaptation pathways for their own communities.
Overcoming Barriers to Net Zero Whole Life Carbon in UK Airports
10.30am – 1.30pm
This invite-only roundtable from Climate Group and Corgan brought together airport stakeholders to examine the barriers to, and opportunities for, achieving net zero whole life carbon across airport operations and assets in the UK and internationally.
The discussion spotlighted practical, replicable approaches for the sector, including modular construction, energy centres, district heat loops, supply chain decarbonisation, low-carbon materials, and circular design.
It also explored how engagement with commitments, including Climate Group initiatives, can help airports and their supply chains make net zero progress while aligning with external frameworks such as ACA, SBTi, and CDP.
Funders Roundtable: Catalysing Investment for India’s Food Systems Transition
1.30pm – 3.30pm
This closed-door roundtable brought together Climate Group, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), and Energiva Ventures, funders, and strategic partners to discuss the emerging India Food Systems Coalition and explore opportunities for collaboration and investment. The session presented the coalition’s approach to advancing private sector action across food and beverage value chains and created space for discussion on partnership models, ecosystem coordination, and long-term funding opportunities.
Friday, 26 June
The SteelZero and ConcreteZero Member Action Forum
9.45am – 3pm
This dual-stream Member Action Forum brought together SteelZero and ConcreteZero members, with limited spaces for non-members, to drive forward progress on decarbonising steel and concrete.
Running across two parallel content streams, the forum covered low-emission steel market outlook and buyer strategies, the impact of trade measures on the steel transition, pathways for low-carbon concrete, and how to accelerate government commitments on blended cement, with a joint session on market preparedness for low-emission industrial materials.
SteelZero content stream
Breakfast and networking start at 9.45am
Session 1 (member exclusive): Consultation on updates to the SteelZero commitment framework
10.30am – 11.25am
With SteelZero members, we kicked off the review of the SteelZero commitment framework and considered any updates to our commitment pathways.
Session 2: ResponsibleSteel GHG certification: demand signals and credible claims
11.25am – 12:15pm
Our technical partner, ResponsibleSteel, the global multi-stakeholder steel standards and certification organisation, shared progress on its standalone GHG certification and claims requirements.
Speakers:
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Amy Jackson, Director of Programmes, ResponsibleSteel
Networking lunch 12.15pm – 1.30pm
Session 4: Low-emission steel market outlook and buyer strategies for early supply
1.30pm – 2.15pm
This session addressed two urgent questions for buyers: where will low-emission steel come from in the next few years, and what can companies do now to secure access? We heard from Agora Industry on supply outlook and from steelmakers on transition progress and constraints, with clear insights into the procurement strategies, partnerships, and demand signals that can unlock early supply.
Speakers:
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Ysanne Choksey, Global Lead, Steel Transition, Agora Industry
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Dr. Tobias Lehnert, Head of Department Wind Power, Construction and Infrastructure, Dillinger
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Ian Nachemson, Head of Technology Business Development, Stegra
- Thomas Hörnfeldt, VP Sustainable Business, SSAB
Session 5: Low-emission steel transition in the era of protectionism
2.15 pm – 3pm
We examined the impact of tightening trade measures and potential local content requirements for public procurement, and asked how to ensure the availability and trade of low-emission steel aren't hindered by efforts to support domestic industries.
Speakers:
ConcreteZero content stream
Breakfast and networking start at 9.45am
Session 1 (member exclusive): Membership in action
10.30am – 11.45am
- ConcreteZero 2025 commitment progress update: 2025 marked the first milestone year of the ConcreteZero commitment. We shared membership progress toward the low-carbon concrete consumption target and set the stage for what's next
- Rising to the challenge of low-carbon construction: A fireside chat with ConcreteZero's newest member, Vinci Buildings UK, explored their journey to joining the initiative, the practical realities of embedding low-carbon concrete across major projects, and what the commitment means for their pipeline ahead.
- Member spotlight – First residential application of calcined clay: We looked at how to bring low-carbon alternative mixes into mainstream residential and infrastructure delivery, capturing the technical and tactical levers that contributed to this landmark project's success.
Speakers:
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Nia Bell, Senior Manager, ConcreteZero
- Emma Poneskis, Principal Environment & Sustainability Manager, Vinci Building Limited
- Tim Hoyland, Environment Manager, Related Argent Limited
- Alison Fulford, Carbon Technical Lead, National Grid UK
Session 2 (member exclusive): A stocktake of decarbonisation pathways for the UK concrete sector
11.45am – 12:15pm
Building on LCCG phase 1 scoping, Atkins Realis led an interim assessment of decarbonisation pathways. This session summarised early insights on the gap between projected sector emissions and the UK Government's net zero trajectory, and the key measures needed to close it.
Speakers:
- Panagiotis Stratos, Senior Materials & Construction Researcher, AtkinsRéalis
- Ines Cava, Assistant Structural Engineer, AtkinsRéalis
Networking lunch 12.15pm – 1.30pm
Session 3 (member exclusive): Embodied carbon reporting best practices
1.30pm – 2.10pm
In this hands-on workshop, we worked through common barriers together, understood what has worked for others, and collectively built a member playbook of best practices for capturing, managing, and reporting embodied carbon data across projects.
Session 4: In the words of innovators: How to translate lab success to site uptake
2.10pm – 2.35pm
Technology is advancing and momentum is building, so what's holding us back? This conversation with innovators shared key highlights from our on-the-ground study of the UK landscape and tackled the pressing questions around systemic and scientific barriers to adoption.
Speakers:
- Ben Azoula-Victory, Independent Consultant Concrete Technologist, Love Concrete LTD
- Benjamin Constant, Partner+Co-founder, NeoCem
- Mike Higgins, Head of Technology & Products, Europe, Power Minerals
Session 5: Accelerating global government commitments on blended cement
2.35pm – 3pm
Mapping the global push to secure government commitments on blended cement, with COP31 in Türkiye as a critical near-term milestone. Drawing on early findings from ConcreteZero and Systemiq, we explored how diplomatic effort connects to real-world conditions across cost, availability, and performance.
Speakers:
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Ben Bilefield, Senior Associate, Systemiq
Our priorities for London Climate Action Week 2026
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Unlock clean economic opportunity in Europe: Aligning on where investment should flow, identifying the barriers that still hold progress back, and showing how Europe can accelerate its clean energy transition.
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Strengthen subnational climate leadership: Positioning governors, ministers, and senior officials as central to climate implementation and advancing solutions across clean energy, climate finance, resilience, the fight against disinformation, and multilevel governance.
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Turn corporate ambition into action: Helping businesses make faster progress on energy efficiency, renewable electricity procurement, and sustainable finance through practical, scalable solutions.
Media enquiries
For general media enquiries, contact our media team: media@climategroup.org
For Under2 Coalition media enquiries, contact Vanessa Power: vpower@climategroup.org