From the 20th – 22nd October in a three-day meeting thirty visionary intellectuals, policy makers, entrepreneurs, managers, journalists, political and natural scientists met to discuss the matter of climate change and find innovative solutions. The whole conference has been articulated by problems to be solved into working groups and plenary discussions, whose conclusions were then reported by the chairs and introducers of various sessions.
Prof. Phoebe Koundouri participated at the Plenary Session 1 – October 20th – ARE WE GOING INTO THE GENTLE NIGHT?
Where can we find the energy, that tipping point which normally makes humans react when everything seems lost (as it increasingly appears to be when we consider the trajectory of climate change)?
Introduction: Francesco Grillo (Director at Vision and Fellow at the European University Institute).
Discussants: Kapoor Sony (CEO of the Nordic Institute for Finance, Technology & Sustainability, Professor of Climate, Geoeconomics & Finance at the European University Institute) ; Phoebe Koundouri (President EAERE, co-Chair of United Nations Sustainable Development Network (SDSN- Europe); Enrico Giovannini (Italy’s Minister for sustainable infrastructures and mobility); Marco Morelli (Executive Chairman – AXA Investment Managers); Maria Joao Rodrigues (President of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies and former Portugal’s Minister of Employment).
Chair: Bill Emmott (Chairman of the Trustees of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and Former Editor of The Economist).
In this panel discussion prof. Koundouri noted:
“…we need to measure, we need to quantify and even monetize the impact per sgd. The sgds are about the economy, the society and the environment. The quantification, not only of the financial footprint of the implementation of the SDGs but also the social and the environmental footprint is crucial for prioritizing the investments and the policies that we want to implement in order to achieve the SDGs..”
The major distinctiveness of the project was that it was meant to be a proper problem-solving place: the objective was to work as a lab where radical and yet pragmatic ideas may emerge. This is also why Vision convened a very pluri-disciplinary group of participants: we are convinced that the nature of the question of climate change requires us to go beyond the logic of purely relying on experts, and we believe in the added value of different backgrounds and points of view.
The Dolomite Conference was organised by VISION with the scientific partnership of Bocconi University, Politecnico of Milano, Ca’Foscari University in Venice. The main corporate partner was AXA ; Autostrada del Brennero, Provincia Autonoma di Trento and Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano.
Chairs of the conference are Stefania Giannini (UNESCO Vice Director and former Italian Minister of Education), Enrico Giovannini (Italian Minister for sustainable infrastructures and mobility), Bill Emmott (Chairman of the Trustees of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and Former Editor of The Economist) and Alexandra Borchardt (Head of Journalism Innovators Program Hamburg Media School).
The innovative solutions emerged from the Dolomite Conference were conveyed into the DOLOMITE MANIFESTO and will be brought to the United Nations COP27, which will be held in Sharm El Sheikh from 6 – 18 November 2022.