USCIB Leads US Business Delegation to UN Climate Talks in Türkiye

USCIB is representing members at this year's UN Climate Summit (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye. Agnes Vinblad, Senior Director, Environment and Sustainable Development at USCIB, is leading a delegation of member companies, closely tracking the negotiations throughout the COP, which is set to conclude on November 20. Kristen Kaufman, Senior Vice President, Global Impact Initiatives at USCIB, is on the ground during parts of the first week of the conference, engaging with senior leaders and representing members at a set of high-level events.

COP31 is set to deliver key policy decisions on mitigation, just transition, and climate finance. Beyond the negotiations, the COP31 Presidency has firmly put electrification on the agenda, with the ambition to accelerate global electrification by 35% by 2035.

On the first day of COP31, USCIB co-hosted an official UNFCCC side event with partners at Ipieca: Just Energy Markets: Accelerating an Inclusive & Just Energy transition Through Economic Opportunity. The event featured a keynote speech by Ambassador Patricia Espinosa, former Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC and former Foreign Minister of Mexico. Following the opening of the session, Vinblad moderated a panel of expert speakers: Geraldine Ang, Team Lead, Clean Energy Finance & Investment Mobilization, OECD; Catherine Goldberg, Senior Fellow, the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University; and Ulas Yildiz, Senior Labor Policy Expert at the International Organisation of Employers (IOE). In her concluding remarks at the event, Vinblad summarized the discussion by emphasizing the role of the Just Transition Work Programme under the UNFCCC as the opportunity for dialogue by governments on just transition matters.

On November 12, Kristen Kaufman, Senior Vice President, Global Impact Initiatives at USCIB spoke at an official side event, Youth Access to Green Jobs: Digital Solutions for the Next Generation & Workforce Skilling in the Age of AI, co-hosted by the IOE. During the discussion, Kaufman highlighted the importance of employer-led training, apprenticeships, and public-private partnerships that connect young people to real jobs and provide needed workforce training, especially on AI.

Stay tuned for further updates on USCIB's engagements at COP31 in next week's newsletter!