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Since Concordia’s founding in 2011, conversations on the creation of cross-sector solutions to advance environmental sustainability have taken center stage. Concordia continues to advocate for public-private sector cooperation in an inclusive green transition, having collaborated with organizations including the Environmental Defense Fund, Zayed Sustainability Prize, Conservation International, CrossBoundary Group, TC Energy, and BHP; working to mobilize climate finance, promote biodiversity conservation, and innovate sustainability initiatives.
Concordia is more than just a platform for partnerships in sustainability, we are active participants in our footprint. Two years ago, at the 2022 Annual Summit, former Colombian President Iván Duque officially launched the Concordia Amazonas Initiative. This new regional initiative was created to highlight the critical link between the Amazon rainforest’s health and the planet’s wellbeing and underscores the necessary commitments the private sector must make to preserve this vital ecosystem. The project has thus far focused on creating credible and replicable carbon markets, encouraging indigenous entrepreneurship, supporting conservation and research efforts, and forming partnerships around innovative and scalable ideas to protect and renew the irreplaceable ecosystem.
As part of its commitment to championing environmentally-responsible practices, Concordia partnered with Net-Hero to devise a strategy to offset the emissions generated by the inaugural Concordia Amazonas Summit in Ecuador. This strategy involved purchasing and retiring high-quality carbon credits for projects near the Amazon rainforest. By calculating the event’s aggregate Scope 3 carbon emissions, Concordia purchased 30 high-quality carbon credits, verified by BeZero, a third-party carbon ratings agency, effectively counterbalancing the 30 metric tons of CO2e produced by the Summit. Read more in the 2023 Amazonas Summit Solutions Report.
At the Annual Summit, our commitment to sustainability has evolved significantly, starting with carbon emissions accounting initiatives to better understand and address our environmental impact. For the 2023 Annual Summit, we collaborated with Winrock International, who assessed our carbon footprint, which totaled 1,004 tCO2e. The footprint was broken down into six categories: venue (22%), travel and lodging (57%), food (17%), swag (2%), and waste (2%). While some aspects, like venue and lodging-related emissions, are challenging to mitigate due to exterior laws and limitations, Concordia is focusing on reducing waste, recycling, minimizing plastic use, and optimizing material sourcing.
To address travel related emissions, we are proud to announce our traveling partner United Airlines, who have embraced the goal of reducing GHG by 100% by 2050. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which has up to 85% lower GHG emissions than regular jet fuel, plays a crucial role in this effort. While SAF currently accounts for only 0.1% of United’s overall fuel use, the airline was the first to use SAF in regular operations and the first U.S. airline to create a sustainability-focused venture fund to invest in SAF production. United aims to decrease its carbon intensity by 50% from 2019 to 2035, contributing to its net-zero goal by 2050. At Concordia, we are honored to have United Airlines as a travel partner for the 2024 Annual Summit, recognizing their significant efforts towards environmental leadership.
With our continued steadfast commitment to environmental stewardship, we are proud to partner with organizations that share our dedication to sustainability. In preparation for the 2024 Annual Summit, we’re taking the opportunity to highlight the initiatives and efforts of our Programming Sponsors at the forefront of environmental innovation and impact.
Uber: Leading the Charge Towards Zero Emissions
Uber, a Lead Programming Sponsor for the 2024 Annual Summit, has announced its commitment to becoming a zero-emission platform in U.S., Canadian cities, and major global cities by 2030, ensuring a fair transition for drivers. By 2040, Uber strives to be a zero-emission and low-packaging-waste platform. This commitment is driven by three main reasons: fuel savings, reduced emissions for healthier cities, and advancements in EV technology. In October 2023, Uber’s ‘Green Rides’ program launched, adding over 7,500 new electric vehicles to New York City’s roads. By 2025, Uber aims to have 50% of kilometers traveled in EVs in key European cities. By setting ambitious targets, Uber is paving the way for other businesses to invest in green infrastructure, ultimately transforming urban development to a low-emissions future. In the session, Livable Cities: The Cross-Sector Role in Building a Low-Emissions Future, Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber will join as we discuss the role of the business sector in transforming urban development to a low-emissions future
African Parks: The Force Preserving Africa’s Biodiversity
Africa is home to a quarter of the world’s remaining biodiversity, making conservation efforts on the continent essential for creating global climate resilience and for our overall planetary health. The effective management of Africa’s remaining natural systems not only helps mitigate climate change but also ensures that local people continue to benefit from the ecosystem services these systems provide. Conserving and mitigating pressing issues of climate change, African Parks adopts a multifaceted strategy that includes wildlife and habitat management, research, and the restoration of natural landscapes. This approach is supported by rigorous law enforcement to combat poaching and human-wildlife conflicts, ensuring harmonious coexistence between communities and wildlife. Join the conversation ‘African Conservation at Scale’ as Peter Fearnhead, African Parks Network, Rob Walton, African Parks Foundation of America and Bob Woodruff, ABC News discuss a unique public-private partnership model for managing Protected Areas and explore what conservation at scale means, how that is achieved, how we know it’s working, and the role the private sector can play in achieving conservation outcomes.
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT): Innovating for a Sustainable Food System
By 2050, the global population will reach 10 billion, posing a significant challenge to our current food system, which is responsible for one-third of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In response, EIT Food and Foodvalley, supported by the Food Collective, have launched a €30 million Regenerative Innovation Portfolio. This initiative aims to leverage regenerative agriculture’s potential in Europe by demonstrating innovative pathways and scaling existing initiatives through coalition partnerships across agrifood value chains. The Portfolio’s landscape-level approach considers collaborative approaches spanning multiple sectors, fostering successful partnerships and innovation to address soil degradation and biodiversity loss. The transition to Regenerative Agriculture can only be achieved by prioritizing systemic, regenerative approaches in a way that keeps farmers front and center and fosters collaboration between actors across the whole food system. Understanding cross-value chain collaboration work and how to scale current initiatives to Europe is crucial when revising food systems, underscoring the importance of Tuesday’s fireside with Richard Zaltzman, EIT Foods.
Drax: Promoting STEM Opportunities for Children
The latest round of funding from the Drax Foundation has announced that five U.S. non-profits will receive a total of $291,585 as of June 2024. The recipients, which are based in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, include The Boys and Girls Clubs of America, The Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME), The Houston Audubon, The Central Creativity Foundation, and The Gulf Center for Ecotourism and Sustainability. These funds are set to enhance STEM education opportunities for thousands of children across the south. Drax Group, committed to a zero-carbon and cost-effective energy future, has set an ambitious goal to achieve carbon negativity by 2030 through the use of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology. At the fireside chat ‘Leading the Charge: Technology to Scale-up Carbon Removals’ Will Gardiner, CEO, Drax Group, will discuss carbon removal technology in climate innovation, supporting communities, and the private sector.
GSMA: Advancing Net-Zero and Circulatory in the Mobile Industry
Before any G7 country had made an official net-zero commitment, in 2019 GSMA made the decision to be net-zero by 2050. Since then, the urgency to meet 2030 interim goals has only intensified and during this year’s London Climate Action Week, GSMA hosted its inaugural Climate Action Forum. The forum highlighted significant progress in the industry, with 70 operators setting targets to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and individual companies outlining robust climate plans. However, addressing Scope 3 emissions remains a challenge. With this in mind, they have launched two major initiatives. The first, GSMA Equipment Marketplace, is a global digital marketplace to source, reuse, resell, and recycle pre-owned telecommunications equipment and the second, mobile device circularity, aims to reduce operators’ environmental impact by increasing the take-back of mobile phones and ensuring they are reused or responsibly recycled. These efforts raise critical questions, including: What policies are necessary to mitigate global risks? How can digital transformation drive economic development in low- and middle-income countries? And how can technology enhance social safety nets and provide targeted support to those in need?
These Programming Partners and Sponsors exemplify Concordia’s mission to foster cross-sector collaboration and innovation in addressing the climate crisis. Through their Global Patron Membership, Concordia will continue to work on these efforts year round, noting the importance of continued commitment and scaling impactful partnerships toward the end goals put forth. As we look forward to the 2024 Annual Summit, we remain committed to advancing sustainable practices and sharing our progress transparently, empowering others to join us on this critical journey. View the agenda, and email partnerships@concordia.net to learn about organizational engagement opportunities such as these at the 2024 Annual Summit.
