Program Highlights

‍

October 29

21:15 CET / 4:15 pm EDT — Organizer’s Welcome: Day One

VERGE Executive Director, Sarah Golden, welcomes participants to VERGE 24.

Speaker:

• Sarah Golden, VP, Climate Tech & Executive Director, VERGE, Trellis Group
• Stuart Goldsmith, Climate Comedian, Comedy Insights

21:25 CET / 4:25 pm EDT — Scaling Innovation – What It Takes to Meet the Climate Crisis

In this fireside chat, Vanessa Chan, Director of the Office of Technology Transition at the DOE, and renowned journalist Molly Wood address the critical steps needed to scale new technologies to effectively address the climate crisis. The two will explore the practical and policy challenges of bringing breakthrough innovations to market — and what it will take to put them into action — at the speed needed to meet the urgency of the moment.

Speakers:

• Molly Wood, Founder and Chief Storyteller, Molly Wood Media
• Vanessa Chan, Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions, Molly Wood

21:50 CET / 4:50 pm EDT — Afrofuturism and Industrial Decarbonization

What can Afrofuturism and Black feminist ecological thought teach us about industrial decarbonization? In this keynote, Dominique Thomas examines the historical and contemporary connections between industry and systemic oppression, intertwining the framework of transformative movements to reshape our approach to industrial decarbonization. This talk calls for a reimagining of corporate sustainability practices to ensure they genuinely benefit those most impacted, advocating for a shift from mere rhetoric to meaningful action and systemic change.

Speaker:

• Dominique Thomas, Partner and Field Building Director, Industrious Labs

22:00 CET / 5:00 pm EDT — Pop Culture for Climate Progress

How can we leverage culture to accelerate a clean energy future? The opportunity for co-creation between brands and culture drivers to spur adoption of clean practices could begin in a club.

Speakers:

• Katie Ryan, Vice President, Sustainability, Trellis Group
• Michael Hawthorne Jr., Co-Founder, Klean Energy Kulture

22:15 CET / 5:15 pm EDT — Fueling the Future: California’s Wildfire Crisis and the Path to Energy Resilience

Extreme weather is now commonplace across the country. In the west, wildfires are getting more common and more extreme, posing new challenges to communities, businesses and our decarbonization goals. In this fireside chat, Pulitzer Prize finalist Katherine Blunt and Chief Sustainability Office of PG&E Carla Peterman will speak candidly about the role of California’s largest utility in wildfires and how to increase resilience while staying on track for the state’s ambitious clean energy goals. Together, they will explore the complexities of balancing immediate needs with long-term goals, offering a multi-faceted view on one of the most pressing issues facing the American West.

Speakers:

• Katherine Blunt, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
• Carla Peterman, EVP of Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)

22:30 CET / 5:30 pm EDT — How to Craft a Resilient Future

The future doesn’t just happen; it’s created. In this talk, futurist and best selling author Jane McGonigal will share how we can move from reacting to global crises to actively shaping a future we want. Drawing on her deep expertise, Jane will outline how to shift our focus from short-term survival to long-term vision, leveraging foresight to craft resilient, sustainable systems.

Speaker:

• Jane McGonigal, Director of Game Research and Development, Institute for the Future

‍

October 30

21:20 CET / 4:20 pm EDT — The Electricity Demand Opportunity

Significant electricity demand growth in the U.S. poses a challenge for the grid utilities and companies. Utilities and companies have an opportunity to innovate and to meet this challenge with clean firm energy. CEO of CEBA Rich Powell explains.

Speaker:

• Rich Powell, CEO, CEBA

21:25 CET / 4:25 pm EDT — Navigating Electricity Growth and AI Innovations in the Utility Sector

Escalating electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and other technological advancements is creating a new challenge to reach decarbonization goals. As every company increasingly needs to think about energy in a new way, the pressure on utilities and the grid is immense. This conversation unpacks the complexities for utilities, regulatory bodies, and technology leaders to manage and respond to this burgeoning load and how we leverage this moment to accelerate deployment of clean energy technologies.

Speakers:

• Brian Janous, Chief Strategy Officer, Cloverleaf Infrastructure
• Maria Pope, CEO, PGE

21:40 CET / 4:40 pm EDT — Accelerating Carbon Capture from Lab to Landscape

Novel carbon removal and sequestration technologies promise to capture carbon and store it on geologic time scales, long enough to restore our atmosphere. But most technologies are not ready to operate at gigatonne-scale. Meanwhile, nature’s mechanism for carbon capture —photosynthesis — has been field tested for millennia, but lacks durability.

How do we balance investment in carbon removal solutions ready to scale today with technologies we need to develop for the future?

Speakers:

• Annie Guo, Origination and Nature-based Solutions Lead, Carbon Removal, Microsoft
• Etosha Cave, Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer, Twelve
• Margaret Morales, Director, Carbon, Trellis Group

21:55 CEST / 4:55 pm EDT — Finalists: Startups to Watch

Twenty-five early stage startups were chosen to pitch at VERGE 24. Today, the winners from each track — representing buildings, energy, drawdown, transport and industrial decarbonization – will pitch on the main stage, where you, the audience, will determine one with the most game-changing potential.

Speakers:

• Jake Mitchell, Senior Startup Programs Manager, Trellis Group
• Kim-Mai Cutler, Partner, Initialized Capital
• Mike Schroepfer, Founder & Partner, Gigascale Capital

22:20 CEST / 5:20 pm EDT — The IRA Isn't Enough. We Need a Global Industrial Revolution

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was a first step, but it’s only a fraction of what is needed to address the global climate crisis. It covers just 25 percent of what’s required for the U.S., which represents 15 percent of the world’s emissions — meaning it will get us only 5 percent closer to our goal.

To truly change course, we must ignite an industrial revolution on a global scale. This requires bold, unprecedented actions: stimulus over austerity, collaboration over tariffs, a tax system overhaul, and elimination of harmful subsidies. We need new models of global finance and reform of institutions. We need regulatory changes that align with sustainability. Most importantly, we need leaders who embrace empathy, honesty, and a love for humanity. Our future demands courage and fire. Stand up and throw a chair, because sitting there passively is what got us into this mess.

Speaker:

• Saul Griffith, Founder, Rewiring America and Otherlab

22:30 CEST / 5:30 pm EDT — End of Broadcast