Justin Belleme:
We are very excited to have you here for this Shift Conversation curated and co-hosted by Veris Wealth Partners. Today we are going to be talking about how to effectively mobilize capital for climate action and climate justice. Today's session will be moderated by Nicole Davis, a Partner and Senior Wealth Manager at Veris.
Nicole Davis:
Thank you, Justin. Before I introduce all the panelists, I want to very briefly set the stage. I imagine many folks in our audience have read or heard the sobering conclusions of the recent climate change report from the UN IPCC. One of the key takeaways, which is the good news, is that there is a path to avoid catastrophic climate change. The big problem is that we are not currently on that path. But we really don't want this session to be one of doom and gloom. I think even the climate scientists who wrote that report agree it's not time for despair; it’s time to get to work.
Today we're going to hear from panelists who have been hard at work on climate solutions. They represent organizations that focus on many global problems beyond climate, but climate action is a key part of their work. And they spend a significant amount of time and energy determining how to allocate capital efficiently. We want to know, whether it is investment capital or grant capital, how do they allocate that capital in a way that's most impactful for these issues?
We really hope that hearing of their work today inspires action, whether that action is around how you allocate your capital or philanthropic dollars, how you turn your entrepreneurial ideas into action, or simply how you use your voice and votes.
So with that, I want to introduce our panelists: Alex Amouyel, the Executive Director of MIT Solve; Christian Okoye, a Partner in Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners; Geoff Eisenberg, a Partner at Ecosystem Integrity Fund; and Melissa Weigel, a Senior Director of Investment at NatureVest.