London Climate Action Week (LCAW) 2025 took place at a critical inflection point in the global climate agenda. With over 45,000 participants and more than 700 events across London, the week served as a strategic milestone ahead of COP30 in Brazil. This year’s LCAW stood apart in tone and substance—marked by a shift away from abstract ambition toward implementation, integration, and pragmatic delivery.
Throughout the week, forums such as the Climate Innovation Forum, the World Climate Investment Summit, and the Climate Transition Plans - Navigating the Pathway Ahead event, various roundtables and an Ecosperity Conversations session titled Overcoming Headwinds: Bright Spots for Sustainability, participants collectively reinforced the same sense of optimism from Ecosperity Week 2025 which took place a few weeks ago- that most countries and many corporates are staying the course, if not doubling down on climate action.
Here are five key takeaways from LCAW 2025:
For years, mitigation efforts took centre stage when it came to climate discussions. At LCAW 2025, participants agreed that ‘for the first time ever, the issue of resilience and adaptation would be addressed as a priority area at COP 30’.
The London Climate Resilience Finance Summit, held just days before LCAW commenced, announced an ambitious goal to mobilise over US$1.3 trillion in resilience finance by 2030. This target is not only bold but also necessary. Policy conversations focused on integrating National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) into national budgets and employing climate expenditure tagging to ensure transparency and efficiency. City-level leaders advocated for expanded mandates and funding to implement urban adaptation projects, while insurance providers called for regulatory flexibility to unlock innovative climate risk products. At the Climate Innovation Forum, insurance leaders joined sustainability executives to highlight that “climate risk is financial risk”—a sentiment that now sits at the heart of investment decisions.
These developments point to a critical insight: effective mitigation is only possible when systems are resilient enough to support long-term transformation. Mitigation and adaptation are no longer sequential; they must proceed in parallel.
Asia’s pivotal role in the global energy transition was a recurring theme throughout LCAW.
Progress on Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) in countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines was a central discussion point. Experts called for faster disbursement of pledged funds, ideally through concessional structures that avoid debt accumulation. Without clearer coal phase-out roadmaps, transition finance is likely to stall. Discussions also explored local currency financing and foreign exchange hedging tools to help derisk clean energy projects in emerging Asia.
Asia’s transition requires not only capital, but capital that fits local economic and regulatory contexts.
If finance is the fuel of climate action, policy is the pipeline. Discussions at the Climate Investment Forum and LSEG World Climate Investment Summit consistently returned to the importance of regulatory coherence, risk reduction, and mobilisation of private capital.
Blended finance was a recurring theme, especially in enabling investments in clean technology, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and early-stage innovators in developing markets. Examples included debt-for-climate swaps, climate-resilient bond clauses, and public-private partnerships (PPPs) that de-risk long-term investment.
The launch of the Mayor of London’s Climate Finance Taskforce and the expansion of the £500 million Green Finance Fund demonstrated how local governments can lead with action-ready capital programs, even in the absence of national direction.
Speakers also reminded participants that climate finance must reach the last mile—supporting community-scale infrastructure and indigenous-led solutions. Climate-smart finance needs to be not only big, but also accessible and accountable.
Investors noted that green technologies face a “missing middle” financing gap—too capital-intensive for seed rounds, yet too early-stage for commercial banks. Blended finance, patient capital, and catalytic funding were identified as essential to de-risk and scale transformative technologies.
Public policy also has a role to play. Several speakers called for:
Carbon credits and markets continued to feature widely at LCAW discussions with attention turned toward integrity. Experts from the private and public sectors called for alignment between ICVCM, VCMI, and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, particularly in relation to bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
The UK–Singapore–Kenya initiative on jurisdictional REDD+ was announced as a high-integrity pilot designed to protect against double counting and provide host country benefit-sharing.
Importantly, discussions included the tax treatment of carbon credits, which remains a grey area for many multinational firms. Without policy clarity, businesses remain reluctant to fully integrate credits into their decarbonisation plans.
Artificial Intelligence emerged as one of the most dynamic themes of LCAW 2025. From energy optimisation to ESG analytics, AI is quickly becoming indispensable in the climate transition. At the Climate Innovation Forum, stakeholders explored real-world AI applications—from wildfire prediction to supply chain transparency—demonstrating the potential of AI to both mitigate emissions and reduce loss.
However, optimism was tempered by calls for governance, transparency, and inclusion. Participants noted the need for climate data interoperability standards to ensure that AI systems are fed with reliable, verified information. Others raised the alarm over the use of AI in automated greenwashing and selective ESG reporting—warning that without strong oversight, AI could undermine trust in climate disclosures.
One of the most energising themes of LCAW 2025 was the renewed confidence in green technologies as core drivers of climate action—both in mitigation and adaptation. The focus this year shifted from ideation to commercial deployment and scalability. Several discussions showcased how innovation ecosystems are maturing, especially in sectors like energy storage, regenerative agriculture, carbon capture, and industrial decarbonisation.
Next-generation batteries: Solid-state storage, grid-level flexibility systems, and lithium-alternative chemistries were highlighted as investment-ready, particularly for energy-poor regions seeking stable renewables integration.
Carbontech and CO₂ utilisation: Startups and corporates alike are exploring how captured CO₂ can be converted into building materials, fuels, and polymers—linking decarbonisation with circular economy principles.
Low-carbon materials: Alternatives to cement and steel—including green hydrogen-based steel and carbon-negative concrete—were presented as key to tackling the “last 30%” of industrial emissions.
Digital MRV platforms: Measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) tools using blockchain and AI are emerging to verify emissions reductions in real time, opening new channels for carbon finance and ESG compliance.
Notably, these innovations were no longer confined to Silicon Valley or Europe. Innovators from Kenya, India, Indonesia, and Colombia showcased affordable and context-relevant tech—from solar-powered cold chains to nature-based water management systems.
Speakers called out that ‘We should not let perfect be the enemy of good. We can’t wait for perfect solutions—we need better solutions today that scale tomorrow.”
As the global community turns its attention to COP30 in Brazil, the focus must shift decisively from ambition to action. The path to a decarbonised world does not require perfect solutions—it requires pragmatic, scalable, and inclusive systems that work today and evolve tomorrow.