San Francisco GLTE highlights
Top executives, government officials, scientists, scholars and lawyers met on 2-3 November under the auspices of the Global Leadership & Technology Exchange (GLTE) to discuss smart solutions for our changing times. Twice a year, the GLTE meets at inspiring venues to share views and experiences of low-carbon growth. This time the conference was held in San Francisco.
“This is an amazing city and a global home for innovation and optimism. Those two things are exactly what we need in many ways today,” Dr Osvald Bjelland, Chairman and CEO of Xyntéo, said during his welcoming remarks.
He spoke at the Merchant’s Exchange, which survived the 1906 earthquake when buildings around it crumbled because it was the first building in California with a steel structure. Dr Gabrielle Walker, Xyntéo’s Chief Scientist, pointed out that this is an important metaphor for what the GLTE is trying to do: to build and grow, not for now, but for the future, to be ready for the crises and the earthquakes that are to come and to seize opportunities still standing.
Michael Eckhart, Managing Director of Global Head of Environmental Finance and Sustainability at Citigroup, and Dr Rick Duke, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, were among the speakers who addressed our changing times and their effect on low-carbon growth on the first day of the conference.
Participants agreed that many different solutions are needed, rather than one single technology or blueprint, and that most of the technologies are basically within our reach today. Speakers addressed everything from lower-carbon solutions from traditional energy sources to potential game-changing technologies and innovative business models.
Other speakers included Harry Brekelmans, Executive Vice President Russia and Caspian, Shell Upstream International; Leo Hindery, a member of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and former CEO of AT&T Broadband; and Amory Lovins, Cofounder, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute.
The second day of the conference was held at the AT&T ballpark, the world’s most energy efficient sports arena. Amongst the 15 world-leading companies that make-up the GLTE partnership there was a clear consensus that the time was now to carry out collaborative practical actions that demonstrate the pathway to a low-carbon economy. In the coming months, Xyntéo will continue to work closely with partners to define and design projects that achieve this.
To view the programme click here.
The next GLTE will be held in Berlin on 18-19 April 2012.
If you would like to read more about the GLTE, please click here.
