Roundtable: Mobilising Financing for Climate Resilience and Decarbonisation

As climate risk becomes financial risk, financing allocation must evolve. This roundtable brings together senior banking leaders to explore how the financial system is not only responding to—but shaping—the transition to climate-resilient and low-carbon economies. Senior leaders from major financial institutions will discuss how banks and FIs are integrating climate risk and opportunity into financing decisions. Participants will explore how financial institutions are deploying financing across the climate finance spectrum—from climate mitigation and industrial decarbonisation to adaptation and resilience—especially in emerging markets. The session will examine transition finance frameworks, evaluating financing decisions, structuring innovative financing instruments and M&E of loans. A particular focus will be placed on unlocking financing for companies on decarbonisation pathways.

Roundtable: De-Risking for Impact — How Investors, DFIs & Foundations Structure Capital for Scalable Outcomes

As climate and social investments move from niche to mainstream, the ability to effectively de-risk impact-oriented capital is now central to unlocking large-scale deployment. This roundtable brings together leaders from impact investment funds, DFIs, and philanthropic foundations to explore how different actors structure catalytic instruments, guarantees, concessional layers, and hybrid models to absorb risk—while maintaining accountability to both financial and social outcomes. Building on Day 1’s exploration of innovative instruments like carbon credits, impact investing approaches and role of catalytic funding, and Day 2’s sustainable finance roundtable, this session examines how capital providers are aligning return expectations with real-world impact in challenging and underserved markets.

Storytelling & Digital Engagement — The Overlooked Engine Behind Climate & Social Impact

In an era of information overload and short attention spans, the ability to narrate compelling stories and mobilise digital communities has become essential to driving awareness, funding, and long-term engagement for climate and social projects. Yet despite its critical role, storytelling is often treated as peripheral—rather than as a strategic tool for de-risking, legitimacy-building, and scale. This dialogue reframes storytelling and digital engagement as soft infrastructure—vital for creating the enabling environment in which corporations, social enterprises, and NGOs explore how authentic, localised narratives and digital campaigns have strengthened trust, reduced prejudices, improved social cohesion, mobilised millions in funding, and empowered communities to drive social and environmental impact.

Panel: Backing Bold Builders: Venture Capital, Accelerators & AI-Driven Innovation for Inclusive Growth

In today’s fast-moving world, the solutions to our most urgent development challenges—climate, health, education, and livelihoods—are increasingly being built by visionary founders leveraging AI, data, and digital tools. But to scale these solutions, early-stage innovators need more than just capital. This session brings together venture capitalists, angel investors, and leaders of top-tier accelerators and incubators to explore how ecosystems of support—from pre-seed to Series A—are reshaping inclusive innovation. Panelists will discuss how they identify and back high-potential founders, especially in underserved regions; how AI-enabled ventures are evaluated for scalability and ethics; and why accelerators and venture studios are essential to de-risking investments and building investor-ready teams. The conversation will also unpack return expectations, blended capital strategies, and how early validation from accelerators can shorten the runway to strong financial performance and deep social impact.

Social Enterprise Pitches to a Judging Panel Featuring In5, IRENA, Shell Foundation, Boston Consulting Group & Annex Investments

Unlike conventional demo days where startups are judged by valuations, revenue, and commercial factors, this session reframes the lens entirely. Entrepreneurs will present their ventures to a panel of impact-driven investors, corporate sustainability leads, and strategic philanthropists—not to discuss commercials, but how deeply they drive impact. Each social and cliamte innovator will be evaluated on their theory of change, core impact drivers, contribution to decarbonisation and/or social equity, and its potential for operational integration or synergy with larger institutions. Panelists will probe into how impact is embedded in daily operations, how the solution adapts across geographies or sectors, and whether it meaningfully shifts systems—not just market share. This format prioritises mission integrity, execution feasibility, and collaborative potential—highlighting innovations that are built not just to scale, but to transform.

Innovation Perspective Roundtable: Introspection, Reflections, and Shared Experiences 

The roundtable is designed as a collaborative reflection space where VCs, family offices and innovation ecosystem actors come together to share reflections from the pitches and relevant experiences. Each participant contributes perspectives on what makes some of the presented innovations or segments in which these innovators operate in transformative—how it reshapes value chains, shifts equity dynamics, or embeds climate resilience. By spotlighting reflections in addition to opportunities and challenges, the roundtable transforms feedback into a dialogue that sparks action and partnerships between the stakeholders. It concludes with identified areas where family offices, venture capitalists and innovation ecosystem actors can practically collaborate—whether through pilots/PoC assistance, technical assistance to ventures, alignment with institutional incubation programmes and/or co-investments.