Efficiency in Action: The Silent Driver of Competitiveness

Energy efficiency has long been called the “first fuel” of the transition - but in practice, it remains the most undervalued. While efficiency could deliver over 40% of the emissions reductions needed to reach net zero, investments are still falling short, even though they offer the highest return per euro spent.

At COP30, where attention will focus on implementation and industrial decarbonisation, this session will bring efficiency to the forefront - not as an abstract policy goal, but as a proven engine of competitiveness. The event, co-hosted with the Energy Efficiency Movement, will highlight concrete examples from leading companies and financiers showing how efficiency cuts costs, creates jobs, strengthens supply-chain resilience, and can be a bankable investment, while driving measurable emission reductions.

Through two linked dialogues - one on deployment and one on finance - the session will show that the solutions already exist, and that scaling them is a question of structure, not technology.

Confirmed speakers:

• Ambroise Fayolle, European Investment Bank
• Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse Foundation
• Mike Umiker, Energy Efficiency Movement 
• Esther Finidori, Schneider Electric 
• Shanta Barley, Fortescue
• Linda Pålsson, Afry 
• Anna Celsing, Alfa Laval
• Mario Giordano, Signify                        
• Dana Barsky, Standard Chartered Bank 
• Dominic Waughray, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
• Zoisa North-Bond, Octopus Energy Generation

Leader’s Lunch: The Efficiency First Dividend

An invitation-only dialogue hosted by Climate Action, where Bertrand Piccard joins business and finance leaders to explore how putting efficiency first can deliver the fastest and most profitable path to net zero.

Organiser: Climate Action

Live broadcast with We Don't Have Time

Kicking off the We Don’t Have Time COP30 broadcast COP30 series, this opening session will spotlight energy efficiency as a cornerstone of climate action. The discussion will explore how smarter energy use can boost prosperity, resilience, and emissions reductions across sectors worldwide.

Confirmed speakers:

• Ambroise Fayolle, European Investment Bank
• Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse Foundation
• Thomas Brose, Climate Alliance 
• Mike Umiker, Energy Efficiency Movement
• Ditte Juul Jørgensen, European Commission
• Teresa Ribera, European Commission

Mission Efficiency PAS Implementation Roundtable

This interactive session will convene governments, financiers and Mission Efficiency partners to co-design pathways for financing and accelerating the implementation of the global goal to double energy efficiency improvement by 2030. As part of the COP30 Activation Group process, the workshop will focus on translating the Mission Efficiency Plan to Accelerate Solutions (PAS) into concrete actions and partnerships that unlock investment and deliver measurable impact by 2030.

The Solar Impulse Foundation has played a key role in Mission Efficiency and is invited to contribute, particularly by sharing insights on the EIB initiative supporting over 350,000 European companies in boosting energy efficiency.

Confirmed speakers:

• Dan Ioshpe, COP30 Climate Champion
• Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse Foundation
• Heike Henn, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
• Luke Menzel, Energy Efficiency Council
• Rana Ghoneim, UNIDO
• Daniel Alexander Schroth, African Development Bank
• Jon Creyts, RMI
• Alex Perera, WRI
• Steve Kukoda, International Copper Association
• Mario Giordano, Signify

Driving Global Uptake of Established Climate Technologies and Solutions for Buildings

This session, co-organised with UNEP’s Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, will explore how proven technologies and practical solutions can accelerate the decarbonisation of buildings worldwide, unlocking massive energy and cost savings.

Confirmed speakers:

• Ariesta Ningrum, UNEP
• Dietram Oppelt, UNFCCC
• Bertrand Piccard, President, Solar Impulse Foundation
• Bethany Patten, MIT Climate Policy Center
• El Hadji Diop, National Designated Entity, Senegal
• Zoe Norgate, UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
• Roberto Rossi, Schneider Electric Brazil

Closing Keynotes: Delivering Justice, Resilience and Hope

These closing reflections spotlight how inclusive climate finance and catalytic philanthropy can drive resilience and equity from the local to the global level. As Brazil leads the way toward an Implementation COP, the message is clear: justice and hope must be delivered through action, not intention.
 
Keynote speakers:  

• Bertrand Piccard, Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation
• Maria Netto, Executive Director, Institute for Climate and Society (iCS)
• Sir Andrew Steer, KCMG,  PhD, Professor of Practice, Global School of Sustainability, and International Growth Centre, London School of Economics
• Flora Bitancourt, Brazil Director, World Climate Foundation     

WBCSD COP30 Transport & Mobility Investment Dialogue

The session will convene leading voices from business, government, and finance to share practical insights and solutions – being policy, standards, technology and finance - that can facilitate scaling private sector investments and required policies and ensure the global transport transition is not only timely and climate-aligned, but also economically resilient and socially inclusive - delivering benefits for people, nature, and business alike.

Organiser: WBCSD

Optimising Demand, Decarbonising Supply: Driving the Energy Transition Forward

This two-part high-level session, co-organised with Schneider Electric, ENGIE, and ClimateSAN, will explore how optimising energy demand and decarbonising energy supply, supported by financial innovation and enhanced by artificial intelligence, can jointly accelerate the global energy transition by scaling efficiency, electrification, renewables, and green molecules across sectors to deliver measurable impact.

Confirmed speakers:

• Tony Agotha, European External Action Service
• Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse Foundation
• Jon Creyts, Rocky Mountain Institute
• Lord Adair Turner, Energy Transitions Commission
• Gilles Vermot-Desroches, Schneider Electric
• Florence Colombo-Fouquet, ENGIE
• Sonia Thimmiah, the Heineken Group
• Nathalie Jaubert, BNP Paribas 
• Renaud Bettin, Sweep
• Paul Stevers, Climate Solutions Advancement Network
• Esther Finidori, Schneider Electric
• Pr. David Rolnick, Climate Change AI