What You Missed At The Chatham House Climate And Energy Summit 2025

Forbes

27-03-2025

At Chatham House in London/UK- March 10th, 2022- This image has been provided by Chatham House and ... More Suzanne Plunkett (photographer).
Last week, I attended the Climate and Energy Summit at Chatham House—an event that brought together policymakers, business leaders, scientists, and non-governmental organizations to talk about the future of our planet.
For context, Chatham House is a think tank focused on international affairs that helps shape discussions on global security, sustainability, and environmental issues.
The two-day summit, held on March 18 and 19, was structured around one big theme: how to build a resilient future in a world where climate change is accelerating. With extreme weather intensifying, conflicts growing, and global climate targets looming, the conversations felt especially urgent.
The summit kicked off with a keynote address from Rachel Kyte, the United Kingdom's Special Envoy on Climate, and Ana Toni, the Chief Executive Officer of COP30—the next major United Nations climate summit, set for this November in Belém.
Belém, a port city in northern Brazil near the Amazon River, is a symbolic host due to the Amazon's crucial role in absorbing carbon and supporting biodiversity—while also drawing attention to the critical issue of deforestation in Brazil.
Kyte and Toni reflected on the Paris Agreement, signed almost a decade ago when world leaders committed to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Kyte called it 'a remarkable achievement' but acknowledged it hasn't worked for everyone. 'Now the challenge,' she said, 'is to make it work faster, more fairly, and at the scale and speed we need.' Toni echoed that point, saying climate change is no longer just an 'environmental issue'—it's now an 'economic and financial one, too,' she told the room filled with attendees.
Some sessions at the summit took place under the Chatham House Rule, which allows participants to use the information shared but not identify the speakers. The rule is meant to encourage more honest and open dialogue, and in the sessions I attended, discussions felt candid and often moved beyond headlines into the details of what's working and what isn't.
One of the first topics on the table was the impact of ongoing conflicts—like the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza—on global cooperation. These crises, speakers noted, are not only pulling attention away from climate but also exposing just how fragile international systems are.
What I kept hearing was the need for adaptation. People spoke about how droughts, floods, and food insecurity are no longer distant threats—they're already affecting lives. The shift, they said, is from reacting in emergencies to planning ahead. Local officials and community leaders talked about needing practical tools, reliable funding, and policies that actually help them prepare for what's no longer a future problem, but a present one.
Food and water security were also front and center. As rainfall patterns shift and populations rise, experts talked about ways to keep essential systems running and ensure fair access to resources. Some of the most promising ideas involved new technologies that could improve supply chains and make resource use more efficient.
Energy was the big focus on day two. There was broad agreement that the world needs to significantly scale up renewable energy and improve energy efficiency over the next several years. Artificial intelligence (AI) came up in quite a few sessions. Yes, there's serious worry about how much energy and water it uses—but experts also talked about its potential to help tackle the climate crisis by forecasting extreme weather events more accurately and effectivly.
And then there's the money. How can lower-income countries get the financing they need to adapt to climate impacts and build clean energy systems was the question? Several speakers called on development banks and governments to do more to lower investment risk and unlock private capital to address some of the shortfall.
Toward the end of the summit, a session called the TeX Factor brought a burst of energy, with climate tech startups pitching their solutions to the audinece and the panel. From carbon removal to off-grid solar, the innovations were forwardthinking —but so were the questions. Fiona Harvey, environment editor at The Guardian, was also on the panel, asking how these ideas would work in practice and whether they could solve some of the challenges faces by vulnerable communities.
With COP30 just months away, the summit made one thing clear: climate change is already shaping how we grow food, generate power, and use water resources. The question now is whether leaders—and industries—will respond with the urgency this moment calls for.