London Climate Action Week 2025: Focused on Finance

Jane Goodland from LSEG, Rhian-Mari Thomas from the Green Finance Institute, Nick Mabey from E3G and LCAW, and Rachel Kyte from FCDO

As the climate conversation enters a new chapter, shaped by real-world delivery, technological progress and market mobilisation, this year’s London Climate Action Week (LCAW) showed that the transition to a sustainable economy is not stalling. It’s moving forward, steadily and globally, even as political cycles fluctuate.

Throughout the week, the Green Finance Institute’s (GFI) daily live broadcast, LCAW: Finance Live, presented in partnership with LSEG and Reuters, brought together experts from across the world to discuss how capital is flowing into clean energy, nature, and infrastructure. From energy markets in Asia to nature investment in the UK, global experts from across finance, philanthropy, policy and business shared concrete steps being taken to accelerate action in the real economy, particularly in emerging and developing markets.

Over 700 events, 50,000 participants gathered across London to share practical solutions and catalyse new partnerships. While political headwinds remain, businesses and financial institutions are staying the course, and in many cases, stepping up their efforts. From city halls to boardrooms, the message was consistent: the climate economy is here, and it’s growing.

As Christiana Figueres put it when asked how we can bring back the spirit of collaboration from 10 years ago when the Paris Agreement was adopted at COP21, “that was climate politics at its key maximum point, since then, the locus of where the action is and where the difference can be made has shifted away from politics to economics, to the market forces, to technology.”

Axel Threlfall from Reuters, Nick Mabey from E3G and LCAW, Rhian-Mari Thomas from the Green Finance Institute and Jane Goodland from LSEG

Two major announcements highlighted GFI’s focus on delivery at LCAW this year:

At the Climate Innovation Forum, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced a new Climate Finance Taskforce, chaired by the GFI’s CEO Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE. The taskforce will unlock new routes for private capital to fund London’s net zero transition, beginning with housing and expanding into transport and nature. This is about getting finance to the sectors that need it most, in a city committed to delivering net zero by 2030.

Meanwhile, the UK and Brazilian governments announced the GFI will be co-leading the Global Clean Power Alliance (GCPA) Finance Mission, in partnership with the World Bank. The aim of the mission is to create an actionable blueprint for how to mobilise private investment into clean power, particularly in fast-growing economies, and deliver it ahead of COP30.

These announcements reflect the focus of the GFI’s work in the run-up to COP30: turning global ambition into investable plans, bringing new products and de-risking mechanisms to market to unlock private capital at scale

Investors stay the course

Many speakers acknowledged recent political uncertainty, but the tone was consistently focused on solutions and progress underway despite policy setbacks.

On LCAW: Finance Live, Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered, addressed challenges in the political discourse, “I’ve seen absolutely no diminishing of focus in climate related investment almost everywhere I go,” adding the private sector in the US remains as focused as it’s ever been driven in large part by the low cost of renewables and investment into research and technology.

As Rachel Kyte noted, the question now is how to deploy capital with speed, scale and credibility. Investors are responding to both risk and opportunity signals, and the most successful initiatives are those that pair strong policy frameworks with investable pipelines.

From projects to asset classes

Leslie Maasdorp, CEO of British International Investment, highlighted the importance of shifting from one-off transactions to building full investment ecosystems. This includes risk-sharing tools, local currency solutions, and robust legal frameworks. Dr Adi Budiarso, a senior official in Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance, confirmed the demand for institutional capital to meet the country’s climate goals and building the frameworks that allow it to flow. The GFI’s work with governments and markets around the world is focused on this challenge, not just connecting capital to projects, but helping to create investable markets in clean energy, nature, and infrastructure. Read more about our work in Indonesia here.

Nature, resilience and long-term value

A major shift at this year’s LCAW was the growing emphasis on nature and resilience as core to the transition. Leaders like Marisa Drew, Dr Harvey Locke, Shuen Chan, and Tanya Steele all made clear that protecting ecosystems isn’t just about safeguarding biodiversity, it’s fundamental to economic stability, supply chains, and long-term growth. From debt-for-nature swaps unlocking finance in the Global South, to urgent calls to invest in standing forests and local stewardship, the message was clear: nature and climate are inseparable, and both are now central to how we build a resilient, prosperous future.

Scaling up resilience and insurance

Axel Threlfall from Reuters, Ekhosuehi Iyahen from the Insurance Development Forum, and Rowan Douglas from Howden

A vital but often overlooked part of the climate economy is insurance. Rowan Douglas of Howden reminded viewers that assets which are uninsurable quickly become uninvestable. He described insurance as a form of climate resilience infrastructure, one that allows capital to remain active in the face of shocks. Ekhosuehi Iyahen, Secretary General of the Insurance Development Forum, called on the sector to move from responding to shaping outcomes noting that with $40 trillion in assets, the insurance industry is a crucial part of this puzzle, and its role in emerging markets is just beginning.

Energy transition: steady progress, global momentum

Tim Gould of the International Energy Agency pointed out that global investment in clean energy has more than doubled in just five years, now passing $2 trillion annually. Echoing this, Dr Ma Jun pointed to China’s success in building a green finance ecosystem, with taxonomies, disclosures and incentives, and called for a global “green mega” guarantee facility to crowd in private capital for climate and nature alike. Even in a time of geopolitical strain, global momentum on renewables, electrification and energy efficiency continues to grow. The direction is clear.

Looking ahead to COP30

This year’s LCAW made clear that, even amid political change, businesses, financial institutions, and city leaders remain focused on a green future. It is this commitment, grounded in investment, innovation and implementation, that defines the new climate economy.

As Ana Toni, CEO of COP30, made clear that COP30 will be a platform for solutions, not just negotiations. “Success at COP will mean mainstreaming the climate perspective into economic plans, growth plans, prosperity plans — they are no longer separate.”

The challenge now is to scale what works and align around delivery. As we approach COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the GFI is working across public and private sectors to help turn plans into investment-ready solutions.

Catch up on Finance Live

LCAW: Finance Live presented in collaboration with the Green Finance Institute, LSEG and Reuters ran throughout LCAW 2025, featuring leading voices from finance, policy and industry, including Christiana Figueres, Bill Winters, Ana Toni, Rachel Kyte, Tim Gould, Shaun Kingsbury, Nili Gilbert, and many others.

Catch up below and join the conversation as we move toward COP30.

View all episodes here [no registration required].

Watch Taking the lead in green growth on the global stage, featuring:

• Rachel Kyte, UK Senior Representative for Climate
• Ruth Davis, UK Special Representative for Nature
• Rhian-Mari Thomas, CEO, GFI
• Nick Mabey, Founder, E3G
• Jane Goodland, Group Head of Sustainability, LSE
• David Atkin, CEO, PRI
• Helen Avery, Programme Director – Nature, GFI
• David Craig, Co-Chair, TNFD
• Nili Gilbert, Vice Chairwoman, Carbon Direct
• Mafalda Duarte, Executive Director, Green Climate Fund
• Yawen Chen, EMEA Columnist, Reuters Breakingviews

Watch Finance in action, featuring:

• Julia Baddeley, Chair, Chapter Zero
• Ingrid Holmes, Deputy CEO, GFI
• Tim Gould, Chief Energy Economist, International Energy Agency
• Jaakko Kooroshy, Head of SI Research, LSEG
• Chris Sood-Nicholls, Managing Director, Regional Development, Sustainable Finance, Lloyds
• Ekhosuehi Iyahen, Secretary General, Insurance Development Forum
• Rowan Douglas, CEO, Climate Risk & Resilience, Howden
• Leslie Maasdorp, CEO, British International Invesment
• Shaun Kingsbury, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Just Climate
• Dr. Adi Budiarso, Head of Climate Change and Multilateral Policy Center of the Fiscal Policy Agency in the Ministry of Finance of Indonesia
• Tatiana Rosito, Secretary for International Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Brazil
• Ravi Menon, Ambassador for Climate Action, Singapore
• Adrian Rimmer, Director, Sustainable Finance & Investment, LSEG

Watch global action on climate transition plans, featuring:

• Ana Toni, CEO, COP30
• David Schwimmer, CEO, London Stock Exchange Group
• Jane Goodland, Group Head of Sustainability, LSE
• Sue Lloyd, Vice Chair, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)
• Peter Bakker, President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
• Liz Fernando, CIO NEST
• Professor Simon Dietz, Research Director, TPI Centre at LSE
• Carmen Nuzzo, Executive Director, TPI Centre at LSE
• David Russell, Chair, TPI
• Michela Bariletti, CCO, Phoenix Group
• Stephanie Maier, Global Head of Sustainable, FTSE
• Bill Winters, CEO, Standard Chartered

Watch investing in nature: turning finance into action, featuring:

• Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary UN Climate Change
• Julia Hoggett, CEO, London Stock Exchange
• Anthony Miller, Head of UNSSE
• David Harris, Head of Sustainable Finance Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships, LSEG
• Dr Ma Jun, Former Chief Economist, People’s Bank of China, Chairman of Green Finance Committee of China Society for Finance and Banking and Co-Chair of G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group
• Tanya Steele, CEO, WWF UK
• Marisa Drew, CSO, Standard Chartered
• Dr Harvey Locke, Author, environmentalist and former Chair on the IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas
• Shuen Chan, Head of Responsible Investment & Sustainability, Private Markets at L&G
• Sarah Gordon, LSE Visiting Professor in Practice, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment
• Andy Griffiths, Global Head of Transformational Partnerships, Diageo
• Adam Matthews, Chief Responsibility Officer, Church of England
• Dr Chantal Naidoo, CEO, Rabia Transitions
• Ng Yao Loong, Senior Managing Director, Head of Equities, SGX Group
• André Schneider, Chairman, World Climate Foundation