Sustainable financing, the growing importance of electrification and the proactive role of cities in tackling climate change and the need for inclusive long-term economic growth were among the main themes of this year’s Climate Week in New York.
Enel one of the leading participants of climate-related events through its active role in Global Compact and its sustainability best practices.
Top industry and policy leaders gathered in New York for the 73rd UN General Assembly and the 10th edition of Climate Week NYC. In the most important week dedicated to identify solutions on how to tackle climate change, Enel played once again a prominent role with its widely acknowledged low-carbon growth model.
At the Opening Ceremony of the Climate Week on September 24th, Enel CEO Francesco Starace emphasised how electricity can lead the way to decarbonise our economies and tackle the world’s main challenges such as limited resources, growing population and the way technology and finance can support a more sustainable and inclusive growth.
“In the past ten years, technological progress has completely changed the way we look at climate change: renewable energy development is a reality before everyone’s eyes, mostly driven by the economics and not only by our climate ambition,” said Enel CEO Francesco Starace. “Leveraging on the growing competitiveness of renewables and developments in storage, electricity can lead to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in some sectors often hard-to-decarbonise, such as heavy industry, transport, and heating and cooling. A wider penetration of electricity in end-uses will be the real step change to seriously clean up our economies.”
Thanks to its vision, Enel has been once again recognised as a LEAD company by the Global Compact, a forum of business and civil society leaders convened by the UN Secretary General to drive forward the execution of sustainable development goals. This year Global Compact discussions focused on how to finance the world’s sustainable growth, while making sure that no one is left behind. A theme Mr. Starace is bringing forward also through his Presidency of Eurelectric, the European power industry association.
Mr. Starace also attended the Private Sector Forum of the UN Leaders Summit and the UN Secretary General’s Summit on Financial Innovation. This year’s UN Private Sector Forum focuses on how the business sector can work alongside governments to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals by taking a comprehensive approach to investments, promoting peace and human rights as key pillars of sustainable development. Mr. Starace also met with the Board of the UN Global Compact, which he was reappointed to by the UN Secretary General and Global Compact Chair António Guterres this June after first joining in 2015. Mr. Guterres also participated in the event.
Within the framework of the Summit, on September 24th Antonio Cammisecra, Head of Enel’s Global Renewable Energy business line Enel Green Power, attended the UN Global Compact CEO Roundtable, which every year on the occasion of the UN General Assembly, brings together a select and diverse group of global business leaders with top decision makers from the UN, to take stock of progress towards the Global Goals. This year’s Roundtable, chaired by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and attended by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and UN Global Compact CEO and Executive Director Lise Kingo, focused on the need for businesses to double-down on efforts to advance human rights and address inequalities.
On September 26th, Mr. Starace also participated in the 2nd annual Bloomberg Global Business Forum, which gathers important leaders like heads of state and government as well as CEOs to discuss job creation opportunities, trade and economic growth. At the meeting, Mr. Starace participated with other heads of state and business leaders to the “Digitalization” workshop and the “Energy, Infrastructure, Technology, Access Roundtable”.
In parallel, Mr. Cammisecra made the opening speech at Enel’s eleventh #EnelFocusOn meeting, a series of open forum discussions on the future of innovation and technology that brings together industry experts and digital influencers from around the world to inspire change and drive progress. The New York #EnelFocusOn meeting discussed how to create shared value to tackle climate change, with special emphasis on the energy sector. The keynote speaker of the event was Professor Mark Kramer, Co-Founder and Managing Director of FSG (Foundation Strategy Group), a consulting firm that helps organisations find new ways to achieve real results against society’s toughest challenges, and a lecturer on Creating Shared Value at Harvard Business School.
