Skip to main content
Sign in

IIGCC Summit 2026

Making sense of climate in an age of rupture and competing priorities, risks and opportunities
IIGCC Summit 2026

Date and time

Monday, 22 June 2026 09:00 BST

Making sense of climate in an age of rupture and competing priorities, risks and opportunities

Location

In-person: BMA House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP 

Online: Zoom

About this event

Join us for our third IIGCC Summit on Monday 22 June 2026, sponsored by S&P Global, and kickstart your London Climate Action Week with IIGCC. 

Investors are operating in a time of heightened geopolitical turbulence, with policy uncertainty, energy security concerns and threats to global supply chains. So much has happened already in 2026 – at the Summit, we will seek to make sense of what this means for investors through the lens of mitigating climate-related risks and supporting the transition towards a climate resilient future.

Join us as we explore key issues and topics including the ‘age of implementation’, how systems stewardship can support the transition across the economy, and the latest innovation and emerging trends.

Curated to be both practical and informative, the morning programme will feature 10 workshops comprising five individual sessions, each repeated twice, exclusively for IIGCC members on the following topics: 

  • Financing nature - Policy strategies to support investment in nature markets
  • Breaking down barriers to sector decarbonisation
  • Physical risk data: an ocean of information, a desert of knowledge  
  • The investment case for a just transition in EMDEs
  • Agentic AI deep dive: Enabling applications for investor climate goals (sponsored by S&P Global)
After lunch, the plenary will feature a fireside chat and a panel discussion on aligning government policy with private investment on adaptation and resilience. Expect lively debate and thought-provoking conversations on important topics for investors. This will be followed by our keynote, who will address making sense of climate in an age of rupture and competing priorities, risks and opportunities, before we end the day with a drinks reception.
 

Join us at the IIGCC Summit as we set the scene for what’s likely to be the biggest London Climate Action Week yet. This year’s Summit will also mark a special moment for IIGCC, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Join us to celebrate this milestone, with more to be unveiled on the day!

Who can attend

Please note:

In-person

  • Part 1 - Workshops are for IIGCC members only. 
  • Part 2 - Lunch, plenary & drinks reception' is open to IIGCC members and others by invite only.

Online

  • Online attendance of the plenary (13:25 - 17:00) is available to IIGCC members, IIGCC network partners, investment industry professionals and relevant service providers only.  
  • Zoom details (Meeting ID and Passcode) will be shared in due course.

Attendee Registration

To secure your place at one of our exclusive members‑only workshops, we recommend registering by Wednesday 10 June.

Registrations will remain open beyond this date, subject to availability.

Event agenda

Part 1 – Workshops (IIGCC members only)
09:00 - 09:35
Arrivals and registrations

A light breakfast will be on offer.

09:45 - 10:00
Welcome

Speaker

  • Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO, IIGCC
10:10 - 10:55
Workshops - Session 1

  1. Financing nature - Policy strategies to support investment in nature markets: Developed countries (the UK in particular) have been leading on developing nature investment pipelines to crowd in private finance. Building on these examples, some international organisations are now supporting EMDEs in developing their own national nature investment plans. There is an important role for investors to play in helping to co-design these plans, to simultaneously address barriers and co-create nature investment opportunities that meet the specific needs of investors. This workshop will facilitate investor discussion on ensuring these plans and opportunities are "investable".

    Recommended for: All investors 

  2. Breaking down barriers to sector decarbonisation: Investors are increasingly engaging with stakeholders across sectors and value chains, including regulators and policymakers, to address systemic barriers to decarbonisation. This workshop explores how our work equips members to conduct systems stewardship with sector-specific insights, practical tools, and engagement frameworks to identify and unblock barriers to the transition.

    Recommended for: Stewardship teams

  3. The investment case for a just transition in EMDEs: The global net zero transition will not happen without a transition in EMDEs. It must also be a 'just transition' to effectively mitigate associated social and economic impacts. This is important for institutional investors as a just transition offers both investment growth opportunities as well as systemic risk mitigation. In this workshop, we will hear from investors incorporating just transition considerations into their investment strategies through NZIF, stewardship and policy advocacy.

    Recommended for: Portfolio managers, stewardship teams, data providers

  4. Physical risk data: an ocean of information, a desert of knowledge: Investors are keen to understand portfolio-wide or company and asset-level exposure and vulnerability to growing physical climate risks but encounter significant barriers: data availability and quality issues, and diverging views of risk. This makes it harder to identify engagement priorities, while also making qualitative engagement even more critical to fill data gaps. In this workshop, we will discuss and invite feedback on a new IIGCC engagement tool on A&R and give members an early preview of our investor expectations for physical climate risk data providers.

    Recommended for: Data providers, portfolio managers, stewardship teams

  5. Agentic AI deep dive: Enabling applications for investor climate goals (sponsored by S&P Global): Investors are operating in a world of escalating physical climate risks and shocks to the energy transition. The rapid evolution of AI provides an opportunity to apply new tools to these increasingly complex challenges. In this workshop, we will explore agentic AI's potential to enhance investors' overall management of climate-related risks and opportunities, including through leveraging AI for stewardship and engagement and strategic asset allocation use cases and as an enabling tool for IIGCC's Climate Resilience Investment Framework (CRIF) and the Net Zero Investment Framework (NZIF).  

    Recommended for: Stewardship teams, data providers, portfolio managers and asset owners  
11:05 - 11:25
Break
Light refreshments will be on offer. 
11:35 - 12:20
Workshops - Session 2
Workshops (repeat of above) 

12:30 - 13:10
Part 2 - Lunch

Open to approved non IIGCC members.

The event can be joined virtually from 13:25 - 17:00

13:25 - 13:35
Welcome and plenary

Speaker

  • Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO, IIGCC
13:35 - 13:45
Opening remarks from S&P Global

Speaker 

  • Francesco d'Avack, Principal Analyst, Global Power and Renewables, Climate & Sustainability, S&P Global Energy
13:45 - 14:20
Fireside chat: The status of the global net zero transition 
  • Sir Jim Skea, IPCC Chair for the Seventh Assessment Cycle & Former Professor of Sustainable Energy, Imperial College London

Sir Skea will share his perspective on the status of the global net zero transition, the importance of strong long-term investment signals from government and the how the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report (AR7) will shape the next wave of global climate policies and targets with our CEO Stephanie Pfeifer. 

14:20 - 14:50
Break
Light refreshments will be on offer. 
15:00 - 15:45
Panel - Investing in resilience: Aligning government policy and private investment to adapt to a changing climate

With global warming now expected to surpass 1.5°C a decade earlier than anticipated, the financial system faces a pressing need to adapt to escalating climate-related financial impacts.

Investors are taking steps, supported by fast evolving framework and tools, to assess their exposure to physical climate risks, invest in resilience opportunities and integrate physical climate risk into stewardship. However, they cannot build climate resilience across the economy alone; companies, policymakers and all financial actors must address the realities of a changing climate.

In this panel discussion, we will hear about the role that the public sector must play in encouraging their economies to invest in adaptation and resilience and where private investment would be most valuable.

Moderator: Trisha Taneja, Investor Strategies Programme Director, IIGCC 

Speakers:

  • Irene Heemskerk, Head of the Climate Change Centre at the European Central Bank

  • Professor Swenja Surminski, Member of UK Climate Change Committee and Adaptation Committee 

  • Claudia Kruse, Chief Sustainability & Strategy Officer, APG Asset Management
16:00 - 16:45
Keynote address: Making sense of climate in an age of rupture and competing priorities, risks and opportunities

Followed by Q&A

Speaker

  • Dr. Sarah B. Kapnick, Managing Director, Global Head of Climate Advisory Commercial & Investment Bank, J.P. Morgan

Dr. Kapnick will address the 'age of rupture' that investors are operating in, with geopolitical fragmentation, energy security concerns and global trade tensions.  

16:45 - 17:00
Closing remarks

Speaker 

  • Faith Ward, Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Brunel Pension Partnership and Chair of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)

17:00 - 18:00
Drinks reception
  • Join us and cheers to 25 years of IIGCC!

Register for this event

Register

Speakers

Dr. Sarah B. Kapnick - Keynote

Managing Director, Global Head of Climate Advisory Commercial & Investment Bank, J.P. Morgan
Dr. Sarah B. Kapnick is the Global Head of Climate Advisory in the Commercial and Investment Bank at J.P. Morgan. In this role, she advises the bank's clients on climate, energy,
Read more

Sir Jim Skea

IPCC Chair for the Seventh Assessment Cycle & Former Professor of Sustainable Energy, Imperial College London
Sir Jim Skea was elected IPCC Chair for the Seventh Assessment cycle in July 2023. From 2015 to 2023, Jim was Co-chair of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Read more

Irene Heemskerk

Head, Climate Change Centre, European Central Bank
Irene Heemskerk was appointed in June 2021 to lead the ECB's climate agenda. Representing the ECB at the Steering Committee of the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening
Read more

Professor Swenja Surminski

Member of UK Climate Change Committee and Adaptation Committee
Prof Swenja Surminski is Managing Director Climate and Sustainability at global risk management and professional services firm Marsh, responsible for thought leadership and capacity
Read more

Claudia Kruse

Managing Director Global Responsible Investment ＆ Governance, APG Asset Management
As Managing Director Global Responsible Investment & Governance Claudia Kruse is part of the management team of APG Asset Management reporting into the CIO/ Board. APG manages
Read more

Stephanie Pfeifer

CEO, IIGCC
Stephanie has led IIGCC since 2005 and overseen its expansion into a European-focused investor group. She sits on the Steering Committees for Climate Action 100+, the Net Zero Asset
Read more

Trisha Taneja

Investor Strategies Programme Director, IIGCC
Trisha leads IIGCC’s Investor Strategies team, supporting investors with practical tools to integrate climate risk into investment decision-making. She brings over a decade of
Read more

Francesco d'Avack

Principal Analyst, Global Power and Renewables, Climate & Sustainability, S&P Global Energy
Francesco coordinates global long-term outlooks for power and renewable market fundamentals including capacity and generation outlooks, and he leads the global cost analysis for
Read more

Faith Ward

Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Brunel Pension Partnership and Chair of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
Faith is currently Chief Responsible Investment Officer for Brunel Pension Partnership and Chair of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). These roles enable
Read more

Dr. Sarah B. Kapnick - Keynote

Managing Director, Global Head of Climate Advisory Commercial & Investment Bank, J.P. Morgan

Dr. Sarah B. Kapnick is the Global Head of Climate Advisory in the Commercial and Investment Bank at J.P. Morgan. In this role, she advises the bank's clients on climate, energy, biodiversity and sustainability topics. Responsible for overseeing the Firm’s climate thought leadership strategy, Dr. Kapnick leverages extensive technical and scientific expertise to drive content strategy and advise clients at the intersection of finance, climate science, and national security. She was previously with the bank’s Asset and Wealth Management division.

Prior to her current role, Dr. Kapnick was Chief Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), responsible for guiding the programmatic focus of NOAA’s science and technology priorities. She spent a decade at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) leading research and development on seasonal to decadal variability and prediction. 

Dr. Kapnick earned a Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and a Leaders in Sustainability Certificate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as an A.B. in Mathematics with a certificate in Finance from Princeton University. She presently serves on the nonprofit boards of Climate Central and the Woods Hole Oceanagraphic Institution. Additionally, she serves on the scientific advisory panels for the World Meteorological Organization and Food Security Leadership Council.

Sir Jim Skea

IPCC Chair for the Seventh Assessment Cycle & Former Professor of Sustainable Energy, Imperial College London

Sir Jim Skea was elected IPCC Chair for the Seventh Assessment cycle in July 2023. From 2015 to 2023, Jim was Co-chair of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, focusing on climate change mitigation. He was part of the scientific leadership for the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C.

Jim Skea was a Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London from 2009 to 2023.  His research interests are in energy, climate change and technological innovation. He was the Chair of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission from 2018 to 2023, and was a founding member of the UK’s Committee on Climate Change, acting as its Scottish champion.

Between 2012 and 2017 Professor Skea was Research Councils UK’s Energy Strategy Fellow and was President of the Energy Institute between 2015 and 2017. He was Research Director of the UK Energy Research Centre from 2004-2012.

Born in Scotland, Jim Skea read Mathematical Physics at Edinburgh University, followed by a PhD in energy research at Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory. In 1981, he moved to Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to work on emerging US energy and environment policy. He then worked at the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University (1983-1998), where he moved through the ranks, becoming a Professorial Fellow in 1994. He was subsequently Director of the Policy Studies Institute (1998-2004).

He was awarded an OBE in 2004 and CBE in 2013 for his work on sustainable transport and sustainable energy respectively. In 2024, Jim Skea was awarded a knighthood in the King’s Birthday Honours list for services to global leadership in climate science

Irene Heemskerk

Head, Climate Change Centre, European Central Bank

Irene Heemskerk was appointed in June 2021 to lead the ECB's climate agenda. Representing the ECB at the Steering Committee of the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial Sector (NGFS) and is an observer to the board of EFRAG. Previously at De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the IFRS Foundation.

Professor Swenja Surminski

Member of UK Climate Change Committee and Adaptation Committee

Prof Swenja Surminski is Managing Director Climate and Sustainability at global risk management and professional services firm Marsh, responsible for thought leadership and capacity building across sectors and geographies. She is also Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute, part of the London School of Economics, where she oversees cross-sectoral work on climate resilience, leads the EU-funded Naturance project and advises the Coalition of Finance Ministers on physical risks.

In 2022 Swenja was appointed by the UK Government to the UK Climate Change Committee, the UK's independent advisor on climate change, initially serving on the adaptation committee and since 2025 as member on both mitigation and adaptation committees. Since 2021 Swenja is the elected Chair of the Management Board of the not for profit MCII, the world’s longest running think tank on climate insurance and resilience solutions for most vulnerable communities, hosted by United Nations University in Bonn, Germany.  

Claudia Kruse

Managing Director Global Responsible Investment ＆ Governance, APG Asset Management

As Managing Director Global Responsible Investment & Governance Claudia Kruse is part of the management team of APG Asset Management reporting into the CIO/ Board. APG manages over EUR 400bn on behalf of Dutch pension funds. Her fifteen people strong team implements the responsible investment policy on behalf of APG and its clients across all asset classes. The focus is on active ownership, ESG integration tailored to the specific investment strategies and investing in solutions that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Before joining APG in 2009, she worked on the buy and sell-side in Responsible Investing in London for almost a decade. She has been appointed to the German Corporate Governance Code Commission in 2016 and is a member of the EU Expert Group on Sustainable Finance since January 2017. She is on the Board of Eumedion, the Dutch Corporate Governance Platform as well as the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN). In 2016 she was voted CIO Europe’s Next Generation CIO Award winner.

Claudia holds a MA in International Management and Chinese, as well as an MSc Tourism & Development (UCL, London), and has lived and worked in China in the 1990s on environmental education. She has inter alia published on the Governance of Sustainability and the integration of ESG factors into remuneration which reflects her strong belief in the connection between good governance and sustainability.

Stephanie Pfeifer

CEO, IIGCC

Stephanie has led IIGCC since 2005 and overseen its expansion into a European-focused investor group. She sits on the Steering Committees for Climate Action 100+, the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative and the Investor Agenda, as well as the Executive Committee for the Paris Aligned Asset Owners.

Prior to her role at IIGCC, Stephanie worked in investment banking for over seven years, including as a senior economist at Morgan Grenfell and a VP at Deutsche Bank in London. She holds an MSc with distinction in Environmental Studies, a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and an MA in Economics from Exeter University. Stephanie received an OBE for her services to climate finance in Her Majesty the Queen's Jubilee Birthday Honours List in 2022.

Trisha Taneja

Investor Strategies Programme Director, IIGCC

Trisha leads IIGCC’s Investor Strategies team, supporting investors with practical tools to integrate climate risk into investment decision-making. She brings over a decade of leadership experience in climate finance, with senior roles at Sustainalytics, Deutsche Bank and Arcadis, spanning growth and operations.

Throughout her career, Trisha has advised investors and corporates across sectors, asset classes, and both public and private markets on the financial materiality of climate risk. She holds a BA from the University of British Columbia, a Master’s from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and an MBA from Bayes Business School.

Francesco d'Avack

Principal Analyst, Global Power and Renewables, Climate & Sustainability, S&P Global Energy

Francesco coordinates global long-term outlooks for power and renewable market fundamentals including capacity and generation outlooks, and he leads the global cost analysis for renewables. He writes about the changing policy and market environment for renewable power generation as well as storage, emerging technology trends, business models, and the impacts for renewable supply chains. He regularly contributes to consulting engagements and multiclient studies.

Before joining S&P Global Francesco worked for Capgemini, a consultancy, and for Bloomberg New Energy Finance where he has analyzed global solar markets since 2007.

Francesco holds a Bsc in Economics and Environmental Policy from the London School of Economics and a Master's degree from Sciences Po Paris in Economic Governance. He speaks English, French, and German.

Faith Ward

Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Brunel Pension Partnership and Chair of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)

Faith is currently Chief Responsible Investment Officer for Brunel Pension Partnership and Chair of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). These roles enable her to advocate for better appreciation of systemic risk as well as design solutions that embed such risks, like climate change, into the operations of finance and investment, an industry she has served for over 25 years.

Faith’s other roles include member of the Ethics Investment Advisory Group for the Church of England National Investing Bodies; member of Investor Advisory Group for ISSB (formerly SASBIAG); Member of the UK Green Taxonomy Advisory Group; and Climate Ambassador for the National Federation of Women's Institutes.

Faith is a founder and formerly its co-chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative and currently NED. She was also the chair of the Reporting and Assessment Advisory Committee for the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI).

BMA House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP View in Google Maps