WSGS 2025 Schedule
March 18 and 19, 2025
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Day One
March 18th, 2025
Day Two
March 19th, 2025
7:30 - 8:30 AM: Registration and Breakfast
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Session One: ClimateTech Today
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Moderator: David Garrison, Founder & CEO, Climate and Capital Connect
8:30 - 8:50 AM: Setting the Stage for Sustainable Investing 2025
Peter Fusaro, Founder, The Wall Street Green Summit
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8:50- 9:10 AM: Update on Climatetech Startup Universe
Matt Hooper, Managing Partner, Kaplak Ventures
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9:10 - 9:30 AM: Where are Climate Investments Flowing Today?
Richard Walker, Partner and Chief Information Officer,
X Machina Capital Strategies
9:30 - 9:50 AM: How AI is Transforming ClimateTech
Tee Ganbold, Founder & CEO, Improvability AI
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9:50 - 10:10 AM State of ClimateTech Today: A Data Driven Analysis of the Latest Trends
Andrea Canepa, Managing Director
Net Zero Insights
10:10 - 10:40 AM: Sponsor Break
Session Two: ESG Investing Now & Carbon Mitigation
Moderator: Paul Ellis, Sustainable Finance Podcast​
10:40 - 11:00 AM: Implementing the SDGs for SMEs
Michelle Bongiovanni, CEO/Founder at HealRWorld LLC
11:00 - 11:20 AM: Pricing Climate Risk into Financial Markets
Jeff Gitterman, CEO, Gitterman Asset Management
11:20 - 11:40 PM: Trump Regime Impact on Climate and ESG for 2025 and Beyond
Shea Jameel, Senior Director, Sustainability for Marsh McLennan
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​11:40 - 12:00 PM: Evolving Sustainability Reporting Standards
Phuong Gomard, Financial Services Consulting Principal, Forvis Mazars
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12:00- 12:20 PM Reducing Risk for Renewable Projects in the Global South
TBA
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12:20 - 1:15 PM: Lunch
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1:15 -1:30 PM Stretchit
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Session Three: Carbon Markets Today
Moderator: Paul Ellis, Sustainable Finance Podcast
1:30 - 1:50 PM: Exchange Clearing for Metals and Batteries
Joe Raia, Chief Commercial Officer, Abaxx Exchange
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1:50 - 2:10 PM: What's New in Biochar?
Ryan LeTourneau, CEO & Co-Founder, GRAIN Ecosystem
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2:10 - 2:30 PM: The Climate Change Crisis in the Himalayas, and How to Solve it
Tim Gocher, CEO, Dolma Impact Fund
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​2:30 - 2:50 PM: Achieving Net Zero Emissions Using Methane Capture
Luke Plants, CEO, Plants and Goodwin for Zefiro Methane Corp
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2:50 - 3:10 PM: Generating Nature Positive Biodiversity Credits in the Companies' Supply Chain
Martin Beaudou-Nadeau, Founder & CEO, Viridis Terra
3:10 - 3:40 PM: Sponsor Break​
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Session Four: The Energy Transition Today
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Moderator: Scott Krady, Founder & CEO, Magnitude Inc.
3:40 - 4:00 PM: Accelerating Geothermal Deployment
Jeremy Linzee, Chief Development Officer, Gradient Geothermal
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4:00 - 4:20 PM: The Latest on CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage)
Michael Moore, Managing Parter, East-West Strategic Advisors
4:20 - 4:40 PM: Decarbonizing Financial Assets
4:40 - 5:00 PM: What Can We Do About Plastics?
Trent Romer, Sustainability Operations Partner, LongueVue Capital
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5:00 - 5:20 PM: How Data Empowers Decarbonization at Scale
Cierra Valor, Co-Founder and COO, IN BOLD PRINT
5:30 to 7:30 PM:
Cocktail Party Sponsored by X Machine Capital Strategies, Zefiro Methane and Gradient Geothermal
8:00 AM: Coffee Service
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Session Five: Clean Energy Solutions
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Moderator: Rob Parker, Deputy Director of Finance and Innovation Investment, Maryland Clean Energy Center
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8:30 - 8:50 AM: What's the Role of Insurance for ClimateTech?
Joseph Dutton, Energy Innovation Lead, AXIS Capital​
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8:50 - 9:10 AM: Achieving Zero Waste
Aviv Dekel, CEO, Co-Energy Ltd.
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9:10 - 9:30 AM: ​Decarbonizing the Built Environment
John Oppermann - Executive Director, Earth Day Initiative & Real Estate Broker and Sustainable Home Specialist, Archpoint Advisory
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9:30-9:50 AM AI and LLM Opportunities for MicroGrids
Nick Davis, CEO & Founder, GridMarket
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9:50 - 10:10 Rise of Electric Vehicles and Recharging
Desmond Wheatley, President, CEO & Chairman, Beam Global
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10:10 - 10:50 AM: Using AI for Electric Power Grid Innovation
Max Melnick, US Dept of Energy Clean Energy Innovator Fellow
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10:30 - 11:00 AM: Sponsor Break
Session Six: New Ideas in Energy and Carbon Markets
Moderator: Rob Parker, Deputy Director of Finance and Innovation Investment, Maryland Clean Energy Center
11:00 - 11:20 AM: New Ideas to Monetize Storage
Douglas Sherman, Chief Commercial Officer, Perfect Power LLC
11:20 - 11:40 AM: Using AI to Measure Emissions
Antoine Halff, Chief Analyst and Co-Founder, Kayrros
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11:40 - 12:00 PM: Growing Convergence of Voluntary and Compliance Carbon Markets
Stephen Donofrio, Head of Carbon Markets Intelligence,
OPIS, a Dow Jones Company
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​12:00 - 12:20 PM: Addressing the Operational Challenges of the Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM)
Junji Katto, Head of Risk and InfoSec, Carbonplace
12:30 - 1:30 PM: Lunch
Session Seven: Solving New Problems in Sustainability
Moderator: Richard Zimmerman,
Executive Director, Foundation House
1:30 - 1:50 PM: Sustainable Fashion Outlook
Marci Zaroff, Founder/CEO, ECOfashion Corp
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1:50 - 2:10 PM: Financial Performance and Innovative Financing Strategies in Zero-Emissions Transportation​
Kabir Nadkarni, EV Industry Assessment Specialist
CALSTART
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2:10 - 2:30 PM: Powering Rural Economies with Electric Aviation
Lisa Wright, Founder & CEO, Landings​​
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2:30 - 2:50 PM: Circular Supply Chains: The New Frontier for Climate Investment
Krista Tukiainen, Co-Founder and CEO, Climate Aligned
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2:50 - 3:10 PM: Why Homeowners are Embracing Electrification
Jarell Mason, Strategic Partnerships Manager, Aurora Solar
3:10 - 3:40 PM: Break​
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Session Eight: ClimateTech Fund Strategies
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Moderator: Tim Hoffman, Program Director, Climate Initiatives at Columbia Tech Ventures
3:40 - 4:00 PM: Exploring the Climate Fund Landscape
Todd Khozein, CEO, SecondMuse
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4:00 - 4:20 PM: Private Equity's Role in Sustainability
Lorraine Wilson, member Novata Sustainability Advisory Board
Founder & Principal, Blue Horizon Economy
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4:20 - 4:40 PM: Bridging the Missing Middle with Development Capital
Zhenny Gong, Head of IR and Operations, Khasm Capital
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4:40 - 5:00 PM: New Metrics for Green Investing
Wal Van Lierop, Founding Partner, Chrysalix Venture Capital
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5:00 - 5:20 PM: Investing with Purpose and Impact
Kelly McNamara, Senior Research & Policy Analyst
Friends of the Earth
5:30: Conference Ends
