As we head into Climate Week NYC, held each year alongside the United Nations General Assembly, the climate community is preparing to host hundreds of gatherings across New York City to accelerate climate action. Confluence Philanthropy will bring its members and friends together at its own Climate Week events designed to share information, spark new efforts, and build community. As a Confluence member, I look forward to every time I can gather with fellow members, people seeking to deploy their resources for ever greater impact. This Climate Week is no different, and it affords a moment to reflect on this summer’s Sun Valley Forum when I last got to gather with our Confluence community.
This year my firm, Christensen Global, hosted the Forum in partnership with the Forum’s founding host, Sun Valley Institute for Resilience, and with organizations at the forefront of global climate impact. As with each year, key focus areas included finance and public engagement, critical leverage points for climate impact.The Russell Family Foundation (TRFF) and the Adrienne Arsht Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (Arsht Rock) were the Forum’s Multiplier Effect partners. Each hosted mainstage panel discussions and deep dive working sessions, with Arsht Rock leveraging gaming for resilience impact and the Russell Family Foundation advancing catalytic climate finance.
Confluence’s own Dana Lanza brought her deep expertise to moderate the mainstage Catalytic Climate Finance session, which included panelists and Confluence community members Tim Dunn of Terra Alpha Investments, Ivan Frishberg of Amalgamated Bank (and Confluence Board member), Brad Harrison of AlTi Tiedemann Global and Kathleen Simpson, CEO of TRFF (and Confluence Board member). That afternoon the working session addressed two aspects of climate finance impact: Financial Alignment and Catalytic Finance. Climate financial alignment involves aligning lending and investment decisions with long-term decarbonization targets. Catalytic climate financing uses innovative approaches and tools to de-risk and fund climate solutions. The session emphasized the importance of bridging financing gaps through catalytic capital. and achieving the breadth and depth of impact that can solve global challenges. This type of financing, which accepts disproportionate risk and concessionary return, encourages third-party investment with the potential to close the gaps left by government and mainstream capital and the ability to accelerate the most effective solutions.
Table discussion leads included Confluence community members such as Ivan Frishberg, Confluence Board member and Chief Sustainability Officer at Amalgamated Bank, who led the hard-to-abate sectors work group, and Javier Hernandez, Director, Avivar Capital, who led the just transition work group. Leveraging the Sun Valley Forum community’s expertise and reach, the session leaders and attendees worked to identify critical financing barriers to overcome and best practices that can spark new action for greater impact.
The Forum Insight and Action Reports for the Multiplier Effect sessions are available on the Forum blog, Forum partner and Confluence Board Member, Kathleen Simpson, said, “The Russell Family Foundation was elated to partner with the Sun Valley Forum to hold a ‘multiplier effect’ session at the June 2023 Forum focused on prioritizing solutions to finance decarbonization. Leveraging the deep knowledge and powerful reach of the Forum community has been instrumental in informing The Russell Family Foundation’s decarbonization strategy.“ You can see all the climate finance-related Forum sessions on this playlist.
We are grateful for the Forum community that has been built over the years and the impact that has come from the learning and action inspired by it. We hope to see our Confluence community members throughout Climate Week NYC, where our collaboration can continue to deepen and accelerate. Continuing our commitment to advancing the power of public engagement to motivate climate action, please join us for our Sun Valley Forum event on Tuesday evening, September 19, for Rising to the Challenge: How Storytelling Drives Climate Action, with an evening of shared expertise and stories. Together, we can share, learn, connect and collaborate to ever better and faster impact, all while enjoying the company of our fellow climate action champions.
Aimée Christensen, Director, Christensen Family Foundation & Confluence Board Member
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