Concept in brief: Riffle Ventures would love to host a workshop at SOCAP focusing on climate innovation for vulnerable geographies, with a particular focus on building the ecosystems needed to enable climate solutions for these populations. We held several sessions on COP28’s tech and innovation stage focusing on this topic, and hope to continue it with practitioners at SOCAP 2024. Riffle is a global organization that builds companies and ecosystems focusing on climate change around the world. Building off of our momentum from COP28, we hope to convene a collection of leading practitioners on the topic of climate tech in vulnerable communities, during a workshop at SOCAP. By bringing together key leaders and institutions that are well-positioned to inform the global community of how to navigate this challenge, we hope to begin a much larger movement of creating climate innovation ecosystems in countries of most need. The key goals of the workshop would be to socialize the concept of a climate innovation ecosystem and also to enable partnerships that will be critical to building them in vulnerable geographies.
Background: Climate tech investment has skyrocketed in recent years, ushering in a new wave of technologies that are critical for meeting mitigation and adaptation goals. Yet the vast majority of funding for climate innovation occurs in a select number of wealthy geographies. The US, EU, and China accounted for nearly 90% of all climate tech venture capital in 2022, and the bulk of funding in these geographies takes place in only a select group of metro areas. As a result, vulnerable countries and communities, which are already bearing the brunt of climate change’s worst impacts, are not able to access the funding and resources that are critical to building local climate tech solutions. In parallel, our team (as well as the larger climate tech community) have seen more and more climate entrepreneurs who are working at the forefront of these issues in vulnerable countries and communities.
With investment trickling into the most vulnerable geographies, local and national governments operating with few playbooks and resources, and climate risks accelerating, local climate entrepreneurs take on a heightened importance in these countries. However, we are still in the early days of figuring out how to best support climate innovators operating on the frontlines in these geographies. This session at SOCAP will be critical to elevating this conversation, uniting key experts and stakeholders in the process, and most importantly creating new partnerships and knowledge resources to accelerate this movement. We have already held similar sessions at COP28 and private events with government, private sector and non-profit entities around the world. Momentum has been growing since then as our team at Riffle has continued to build companies, advise and invest in projects that contribute to climate innovation ecosystem development. We hope to use this session at SOCAP to continue this momentum, leading to new organizations, initiatives and collaborations that further this agenda.
Potential format (total time – 3 hours): The workshop will be moderated by Jamil Wyne (investor + advisor), Suma Reddy (entrepreneur + teacher) and Ashdeep Seth (product designer + researcher), and as part of the workshop agenda we will also hold a panel comprised of 3-4 climate tech experts from across geographies, and will also invite participants from across the climate innovation ecosystem: entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers, scientists, academics, policymakers, accelerators, community-based organizations, and more.
1) Overview of workshop objectives and agenda (10 minutes)
2) Brief Demographic/Background Breakdown of Participants (5 minutes)
3) Icebreaker Activity: Introductions and Networking (15 minutes)
4) Presentation on climate innovation ecosystems (10 minutes)
5) Introductory panel setting the context for the brainstorming sessions (45 minutes)
A) What are the key components of a climate innovation ecosystem?
B) What partnerships and resources are most critical to their functioning?
C) How do we efficiently and equitably build them in vulnerable geographies?
6) Coffee break (10 minutes)
7) Breakout groups – facilitated brainstorming sessions opportunities for collaboration (45 minutes)
A) Main question: How do we build more enabling ecosystems (community, cohesion and capital) for climate innovators?
B) Sub question 1: How might we build holistic solutions – i.e. economic development, climate resilience, and social change?
C) Sub question 2: How might we improve tools for climate adaptation education, awareness, and communication?
D) Sub question 3: How could we national and regional government policymakers in the process?
E) Sub question 4: How might we strengthen relationships between ESOs and universities to increase project pipeline in the Global South?
8) Presenting key takeaways from each breakout (30 minutes):
A) Main takeaways from each breakout
B) Highlight opportunities for collaboration
9) Closing remarks and conclusion – starting the movement to build climate innovation ecosystems for the most vulnerable populations around the world (10 minutes)
A) Thank you and acknowledgment of participants, facilitators, and organizers
B) Summary of key insights and ideas generated during the brainstorming session
C) Call to action for continued collaboration and engagement
D) Invitation to stay engaged and continue working towards climate tech Innovation for vulnerable geographies
10) Follow-up: invitation to stay engaged and circulating a published report on the workshop’s main findings
