Climate Safe Learning Lab convening: Post-COP 27 debrief

We invite members of the Climate Safe Learning Lab community to our next convening - a 2 hour virtual workshop for banking professionals to connect with peers to debrief our experience of COP 27. See below for more on the eligibility criteria to join the Climate Safe Learning Lab.

What is this event about?

This event is an opportunity for our community to

• Stock-take beyond the polished glossy brochures and 'green-hushed' press releases
• Check in with where we really are and how we feel
• Explore what we need to do next

Hosted with James Vaccaro, Executive Director of the Climate Safe Lending Network and a selected group of climate-safe banking speakers fresh from COP-27 in Egypt, we will have the space to explore the difficulties, challenges and possibilities that COP in 2022 has raised.

This is a unique space curated to foster creativity, connection, and innovation. We have designed this participatory workshop to:

• Connect you with fellow bankers on the barriers you are facing at the organisational, behavioural and cultural levels in your efforts to influence climate action within your institution.
• Facilitate a peer-learning conversation focused on how you are experiencing credibility in your climate finance work now given inflation and energy security, heightened awareness of social inequities and the economic impacts of the past few months.
• Surface collective intelligence about the opportunities and methods for advancing the climate finance agenda using systems thinking methodology.
• Leave with tangible next steps for you to take in your work.

This convening will feel very different to most online events. It is carefully designed as an intimate, honest, facilitated conversation between likeminded peers. We're interested in your human experiences more than your expertise. No corporate masks necessary.

Who is hosting the event?

The Climate Safe Learning Lab convening will be hosted by a collaborating group of climate finance practitioners and financial innovation experts who include: 

• James Vaccaro: Executive Director - Climate Safe Lending Network, Banking Committee Member - UNEP FI, Senior Advisor - Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), Senior Advisor Rethinking Finance Hub - The Club of Rome.
• Dr Adriana ​Kocornik-Mina​: M​etrics ​and R​esearch S​enior Manager​ - Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV)
• Dr Dalia Abdel Kader: Chief Sustainability Officer - Commercial International Bank (Egypt) and Banking Board Member of the UNEP FI Principles for Responsible Banking representing the MENA region.
• Rebecca Self: Founder and Managing Director of Seawolf Sustainability Consulting, former CFO of Sustainable Finance at HSBC.
• Ally Spencer: Community Manager - The Climate Safe Learning Lab, Intrapreneurship Programme Manager - The Finance Innovation Lab.

Why should I attend?

The urgent reality of our global climate crisis and the responsibility of the financial sector to rapidly act can feel like the context changes too fast, progress happens too slow and is exhausting for those at the leading edge. For some banking professionals this is their job description and for those without a sustainability mandate, they can struggle to see how to integrate this into their day job so that climate action becomes business as usual. The Climate Safe Learning Lab is designed to be a quiet harbour to put down anchor for a time in a confidential space and reflect on the current moment to gain clarity on the way forward.

Feedback on previous Climate Safe Learning Lab convenings include:

• “It has had such an impact on me, and it changed my perspective as I think about moving my work forward on this issue.”
• "Fast trust, honesty, BS free conversation."
• "I would rather do this than attend a large conference full of talking heads."
• "Honest and authentic conversations, finding strength in numbers."
• “Those kinds of opportunities to pause, consider one’s personal connection to this issue, and explore new ways to advance our work internally are so few and far between—if not totally absent. I can’t tell you how meaningful and useful it was to me.”

Who is it for?

Climate Safe Learning Lab convenings are open to members of the Climate Safe Learning Lab. If you're not already a member, then individuals who meet the following eligibility criteria can join:

1. You are employed by a bank or lending institution.
2. You are actively influencing the climate agenda within your bank either formally or side-of-desk, with or without a mandate.
3. You would value support from like-minded peers across institutions through sharing learning and building new relationships in a high trust environment.

We aim to host a diverse group of participants from varied functional areas across banking. Previous participants have come from risk, legal, corporate strategy, relationship management and sustainability teams in banks at all stages of the climate finance journey. We encourage you to attend with a colleague where possible to help integrate the conversation back within your bank.

Note: The Climate Safe Learning Lab is structured as a confidential, pre-competitive environment. You must work for a bank or lending institution to be eligible for participation.

About the Climate Safe Learning Lab

We hosted the inaugural Climate Safe Learning Lab convening in New York City on 24 September 2019 during New York Climate Week and participants asked for more. We since convened again in 2020 and in 2021, launched the Climate Safe Lending Fellowship - A six-month leadership development programme for banking professionals advancing the climate agenda within their institutions - producing an insights report on what we learned about how to catalyse bank climate action from the inside.

The Climate Safe Learning Lab is an initiative of the Climate Safe Lending Network – an international multi-stakeholder collaborative dedicated to accelerating the decarbonisation of the banking sector to secure a climate-safe world.

• Finance Innovation Lab (delivery partner)
• Multiplier (backbone organisation)

Contact

If you have any questions about the event or would like to learn more about the Climate Safe Learning Lab please contact ally@financeinnovationlab.org.