Implementing climate transformation together: the Climate Transformation Summit 2021 in review

July 14, 2021

An analysis of the #CTS2021 by Theresa Wenning from The Climate Choice.

Being the first 100% online conference dedicated to transforming the climate, the 2nd CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit, held on June 10th and 11th, drew over 600 participants and featured 50 experts in their respective fields along with 50 solution providers. To highlight this year’s theme, “From Climate Goals to Implementation”, both specialists from the business world and attendees focused on sharing their best practice methods for climate proactive management.

During the eventful two-day Summit we took an enlightening look into corporate climate transformation and information exchange in the CLIMATE community, plus best practices for CO2 reduction. Concentrated know-how was delivered through 3 keynote addresses, 6 fireside chats and 11 workshops – as well as in one-on-one talks during the online trade fair. Below, we’d like to share with you the most important insights and takeaways from the Summit.

Our three key takeaways:

1. Solid best practices for implementing climate goals

Companies are looking for tried-and-true climate transformation best practices which they can implement themselves. Particularly of interest is seeing the approaches of other companies and how they mastered taking their first steps towards climate transformation. For companies to integrate climate protection and sustainability into their own operations, they need solid advice from companies who’ve already begun to do so and are willing to share their initial experiences. Therefore, sharing struggles and failures and the newly gained knowledge in the process is just as valuable as sharing success stories. Consequently, this is resulting in policy shifts regarding climate transformation within the business world and new ways for companies to view their own position on these issues.

2. The foundation of climate transformation: networking

It’s obvious that climate change advisors want to network! A vast number of companies are ready to implement climate transformation measures, but all too often they are lacking resources, information about specific solutions or contacts to specialists in the field. Here’s the good news: solution providers already exist! Essentially, networking among climate change consultants and solution providers sets the stage for reaching climate goals as quickly as possible.

3. A multidisciplinary, cross-industry information exchange platform

Why limit the exchange of information to just your own ‘climate bubble’? Exchanges that are cross-functional and involve several different industries can be very valuable. Climate transformation requires a platform which fosters multifaceted communication and enables collaborations across all industries.

10 vital aspects of climate transformation

Together with the CLIMATE Community, we recognized and explored the significance of these compelling aspects at the Summit:

1. The will to change exists!

2. Using science-based targets for setting your own goals

3. Being knowledgeable about the current state of climate transformation

4. Understanding your own climate performance

5. Detecting and recording direct and indirect emissions produced

6. Working together with suppliers throughout the entire supply chain

7. Creating transparency

8. Tracking developments and successes

9. Involving all stakeholders

10. And last but not least: Inspiring everyone to achieve climate transformation together!

Noteworthy figures from the #CTS2021!

The majority of the 600 participants who attended came from the DACH region.
60% of the attendees were associated with start-ups, NGOs and small businesses, 22% came from mid-sized German companies and 18% were involved with large companies or corporations.
On average, 200 participants took part in the live Zoom Summit on both days. Peak attendance was at 300, with the lowest number of attendees at 120.
Participants exchanged 2,561 messages via Slack while the Summit was being held.
Noticing that last year 34% of the speakers were female, we aimed for 50% this year, and managed to feature 48% female speakers.
Considerably less C02 emissions were generated in comparison to an offline event. Together with our partner Fokus Zukunft GmbH & Co. KG, we calculated an output of 4t, generated by the use of Zoom, Slack, Gather.town and the live streaming on YouTube, as well as rail travel for two team members. We have more than doubly compensated for our emissions by contributing to the Gold Standard Foundation’s Wind Energy Project in Turkey.
Satisfaction: The feedback from Summit participants resulted in a highly favorable Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 46.

Overall, we can say: we’ve enhanced our knowledge by learning many new things at the Summit. We were able to benefit from the experience of others and lay out the groundwork for long-term collaborations. In closing, we’d like to sincerely thank Unicorn Workspaces for providing us with their facilities during the Summit and having us in their Climate Hub for the event.