Last week saw the meeting of leaders from more than 70 countries at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, in the midst of the highly publicized Worldwide Climate Strike championed by Greta Thunberg and other youth activists. Sadly, the desired advances in the 2015 Paris Agreement were not achieved due to the refusal of the world’s leading polluters to make significant new commitments. Indeed, the United States remains poised to pull out of the Paris Agreement despite having experienced its first rise in emissions last year, after years of decline.
Still, a glimmer of light shone through the gathering, from countries like Costa Rica, which has already begun to transition off of fossil fuels in earnest and optimize the considerable reduction in prices for renewable energy. More generally, an impressive promise was forged, despite lacking in details, of reaching ‘net zero’ by 2050 and ultimately to eliminate fossil fuels. Widespread agreement, however, appeared to point to the greatest hope lying with the energy and commitment of the youth outside of the hallowed diplomatic halls.
Many Confluence members were enmeshed in the fray; however, when freed up from debates regarding divestment or offsets, many of our members attended two evening ‘edutainment’ events hosted by Confluence and some of our great partners.
On Tuesday evening, Confluence and the Climate Solutions Collaborative (C2C) co-hosted a Climate Solutions Cocktail Party in partnership with Autodesk Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, The Penney Family Fund, and Bank of the West/BNP Paribas. Nearly 150 Confluence members – foundations, family offices and sustainable investment managers and impact funds – reflected on this historic moment and exchanged views as well as contact information at this special reception. Facilitating the unwinding were Confluence’s specialty climate-themed cocktails: Alternative Energy Highball, Green Gin Fizz and Sea Rise on the Beach.
The prior evening, many members crossed the avenue from the United Nations to the Ford Foundation to attend a special ‘Our Village’ event produced by the Hip Hop Caucus and co-sponsored by Confluence and organizations representing Meso-America. It was a unique, powerful evening featuring the voices – in narrative, chant and song – of primarily indigenous people from Central and South America who are frontline climate and environmental-justice activists, guardians of the forest, water and other natural resources. Presenters noted not only the harm being done to their communities but the resilience, innovation and fighting spirit that such communities contribute towards building healthy ecosystems and biodiversity. They also emphasized the importance of recognizing community ownership, consent and community-driven decision making, respecting ancestral knowledge and cultural leadership, and the need for direct funding and finance. The event took place in the Ford Family Auditorium of the newly reopened Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice.
These events were a great forum to reflect on and highlight Confluence and C2C’s other investor meetings during Climate Week. These included, Communicating Climate Risk to Investors, and Addressing Investment Opportunities in Renewable Energy projects.
