Join InfluenceMap, the We Mean Business Coalition, the Race to Zero (led by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions), and Ceres at COP 29 for an open conversation around corporate accountability and leadership on the influencing of the global and national climate policy processes

This event seeks to initiate an urgently needed discussion on what civil society, investors, and positive business can do to ensure processes for developing and implementing climate policy are free from the undue influence of fossil fuel and other vested interests.

InfluenceMap’s analysis shows that, despite a growing list of corporate climate policy leaders, climate-oppositional companies and industry associations (particularly from the fossil fuel value chain) continue to dominate climate policy discussions, pushing hard to retain a “seat at the table” at international climate discussions. Simultaneously, these organizations are opposing science-aligned climate policy and regulation all over the world. This impacts the implementation of science-aligned climate policy, which in turn threatens the continued viability of the Paris Agreement’s goals.

Stronger accountability for companies and industry associations engaging with public policy is a critical (and underused) lever for addressing this issue. Various strategies are emerging on this issue, including: campaigns to “kick polluters out” of politics; myriad emerging corporate reporting standards; investor and shareholder action; and voluntary reporting from corporate leaders. This event will explore collaborative models for leading companies and their associations to counter vested interests through their climate policy engagement.

This event will feature the following speakers:

Keynote from United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on the need for transparency and accountability on corporate climate policy engagement
Panel moderated by Dominic Gogol, Deputy Director - Policy, We Mean Business, featuring key stakeholders representing various strategies to address this crucial issue
Peter van der Werf, Head of Active Ownership, Executive Director at Robeco, on shareholder action and expectations
Julie Kjestrup, Head of Policy and Thought Leadership at the Velux Group, and Thomas Lingard, Global Head of Sustainability at Unilever, on responsible policy engagement and leadership
The event will conclude with a media Q&A session, moderated by Kitty Hatchley, Media Manager, InfluenceMap

This event will be of interest to policymakers, UN Delegates, the media, civil society groups, and positive companies and investors who are driving the agenda on corporate climate policy engagement transparency and governance. The event will also be livestreamed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/live/ETbG8bm6jnE

Corporate Accountability on Climate Policy Influencing: A COP 29 Event