<ul>
<li>The 1st Business &amp; Climate Summit marked a turning point for business engagement on climate policy. The second Summit will harness this engagement to make an unequivocal shift from words to action.</li>
<li>The 2016 Business and Climate Summit will be held London, the heart of global finance and a leading business and technology hub. The summit is being designed by business for business, with a convening network of partners that represent over 6 million businesses worldwide.</li>
<li>Forward thinking companies with climate change at the heart of their business strategies will reap the benefits of high return investments, while those that don&rsquo;t will face greater risks &ndash; from policy, investors and climate change itself.</li>
<li>Investors are increasingly directing their money toward the clean technologies of the future. A rapidly developing innovation and technology frontier is emerging, unlocking trillions of dollars of investment.</li>
<li>It&rsquo;s no longer just about commitments, it&rsquo;s about real action. This year&rsquo;s Business &amp; Climate Summit will set out how business, in the short, medium and long term, can take advantage of a swift transition to a resilient low carbon economy.</li>
</ul>

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<p><strong>Connect4Climate</strong>&nbsp;will also be at the Business &amp; Climate Summit preparing discussion about <a href="http://connect4climate.org/event/business-climate-summit-2016&quot; target="_blank"><strong>&quot;The Role and Responsibility of Creative Industries on Climate Action&quot;</strong></a> on<strong>&nbsp;June 29 - 10:45 to 12:45 BST</strong>. Find out who <a href="http://connect4climate.org/event/business-climate-summit-2016&quot; target="_blank">the panelists are and see the run of show here</a>.</p>

<p>During a public interview with&nbsp;Al Gore&nbsp;at the&nbsp;2015 Annual Cannes Lions Advertising Festival,&nbsp;Sir Martin Sorrell, Chairman of WPP Group of advertising agencies offered to stand arm-in-arm with heads of rival advertising networks at Cannes Lions 2016 if all will pledge solidarity with the climate change movement.</p>

<p>The World Bank&rsquo;s Connect4Climate&nbsp;Campaign in partnership with the Business Climate Summit and Maitland Green/Havas is staging a thematic discussion on&nbsp;&ldquo;The Role of Creative Industries in Sustainability and Climate Change&rdquo;&nbsp;with the objective of perpetuating the engagement of media, entertainment and advertising sectors on climate action.</p>

<p>Join us online with&nbsp;<a data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BusinessClimate?src=hash">#BusinessClimate<… href="https://twitter.com/Connect4Climate">#Innovation4Climate</a>.</p&gt;

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<p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/Resilience-Africa-crop.jpg" style="width: 1000px; height: 563px;" /></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Oyo State Officials, Project Implementing Unit, and World Bank team visit project sites and effected communities. Photo Credit: Ivan Bruce</em></p>

<p>Ibadan is the third largest metropolitan area in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano,&nbsp;with a population of 3.1 million. The population of the city has been rapidly grown from around 60,000 in the early 1800s and is projected to reach 5.6 million by 2033. In this regards, the city&rsquo;s urban footprint has also increased considerably to its current extent. This sprawl is primarily due to weak land use planning, leading to low population densities especially when <a href="http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/largest-cities-density-125.html">c… to other large cities</a>. &nbsp;This sprawl increases contributes to the unsustainable costs of infrastructure development and maintenance, which reduce the urban efficiency.</p>

<p>Ibadan is also highly exposed to frequent flooding events. The latest flood event on <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14774793">August 26, 2011</a> caused the death of more than 120 people and serious damage to key infrastructure. Many bridges collapsed, roads washed away, and the Eleyele dam and the waterworks were severely impacted, which has not been functional since then.</p>

<p>The previous responses to the flooding events have been piecemeal. It was primarily focused on alleviating immediate and short-term needs, using traditional methods and materials such as concrete. However, there is a greater shift in policy emerging from the Federal and State levels; the paradigm has changed from &ldquo;reactive disaster response&rdquo; to &ldquo;preventive flood risk management.&rdquo; Recognizing the need for an integrated and long-term solution to flooding in Ibadan, the Oyo State Government requested the World Bank&#39;s support. <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/06/17/nigeria-world… Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project</a> (IUFMP) a $200 million IDA credit aims to repair and improve several of the critically damaged infrastructure affected by the floods of 2011, strengthen community-based resilience capacity, and provide support for risk assessment and early warning systems to mitigate any future flood occurrences.</p>

<p>The adoption of a framework design approach for the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP) effectively sets the &ldquo;rules of the game&rdquo; and allows infrastructure investments to be selected on a dynamic basis following the adoption of strategic city Masterplans &ndash; drainage, solid waste, urban. The masterplan studies will provide the opportunity to create a balance of investments in structural and non-structural.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/Resilience-Africa-3-crop.jpg" style="width: 1000px; height: 563px;" /></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Discarded waste of plastics fills the dry&nbsp;river bed until the&nbsp;rainy seasons begins. Photo Credit: Farouk Banna</em></p>

<p>The clear connection between solid waste and flood is alarmingly evident in Ibadan, a disconnected solid waste management has become an enormous challenge, which is severally contributing to the cities capacity to cope with flood scenarios, and contributes to the poor environmental conditions, as much of the waste is being burnt releasing harmful pollutants effecting the cities air quality.</p>

<p>During our mission we discovered that <a href="http://www.atlas.d-waste.com/Documents/Waste-Atlas-report-2014-webEditi… of the world largest dumpsites</a> were in Nigeria, and in fact two of those dumpsites are in Ibadan considering the relatively low population is particularly alarming. It is program within the project to assist in creating a solid Waste Masterplan, although to ensure sustainability a major focus is needed to change behavior and to educate communities on the effects of discarding trash.</p>

<p>Which reminded me a rap video created by a young Hip-Hop group from Kenya, which features members of TS1, winners of Connect4Climate&rsquo;s Voices competition, and using music to raise awareness of the issue of trash and the potential opportunities. This approach alone will not solve issues of solid waste in Nairobi, but certainly highlights the necessity of engaging in youth and creative industries in tackling complex issues.&nbsp;</p>

<p>[video:https://vimeo.com/7183252]</p&gt;

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<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/M4E2.jpg" style="font-size: 13.008px; line-height: 20.0063px; text-align: center; width: 1000px; height: 277px;" /></p>

<p>The March4Earth VR video&nbsp;is available on&nbsp;<a href="http://littlstar.com/videos/f2760f4a&quot; target="_blank">LittlStar</a>&nbsp;via iOS or Android App, Samsung Gear VR, Apple TV or via Web (Chrome or Firefox browser).</p>
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<p>Enjoy it on Virtual Reality with a Google Cardboard or a Samsung Gear VR headset.<br />
For a direct link click&nbsp;<a href="http://littlstar.com/videos/f2760f4a&quot; target="_blank">HERE</a></p>

<p><strong>For more information, go to:</strong><br />
March4Earth:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.march4earth.org/index-eng.php">http://www.march4earth.org/in… />
RYOT:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ryot.org/">http://www.ryot.org/</a><br />
NARRATED BY: Greta Scacchi<br />
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Connect4Climate &ndash; World Bank Group, Earth Day Italy, Earth Day Network, RYOT.<br />
<br />
With sincere thanks to our Partners: Earth Day Italy &ndash; Pierluigi Sassi, Earth Day Network, Vicariate of Rome, The Most. Rev. Matteo Zuppi.<br />
<br />
SPECIAL THANKS: Paolo Dieci, Giuseppe Fiorello, Rosario Fiorello, Claudia Gerini, Lucia Grenna, Italian Association of Professional Advertising Agents TP, Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea &ndash; Minister Gian Luca Galletti, LINK 2007, Roberto Pagnotta, Rosario Pellecchia, Eleonora Pratelli, Radio 105 Network, Camila Raznovic, Carolina Rey, Kathleen Rogers, Tony Severo, Suite19 PR, Francesco Totti, Biagio Vanacore.</p>

<p>A workshop bringing together industry, government and academic leaders was organized on 28 January to present the results three years of research on collaboration between governments, international organizations and corporates for a more sustainable economy.<br />
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The participants debated key questions related to the organizational change and learning challenges that companies face when they attempt to make sense of, and manage, sustainability issues as well as rapidly evolving stakeholder expectations in corporate behavior.</p>

<p>The main focus of the discussion addressed: How do firms learn to integrate and manage sustainability and climate change issues in their business model?</p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/legacy/La_Camera-Opening-2.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 450px;" /></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Francesco La Camera addresses the workshop. Photo Credit: Max Falcone</em></p>

<p>Francesco La Camera, Director General of the Italian Ministry of the Environment, Land and Sea, opened the workshop explaining the strategic role of governments in the future. He emphasized that sustainability and climate change issues will be the focal point of every country in the future:&ldquo;In 2016 a Nation cannot play any international role without a clear sustainability strategy.&rdquo;</p>

<p>He stressed that both financial tools and education in support of advancing climate and sustainability solutions were necessary requirements to help address the future challenges.&nbsp;&ldquo;We need specific financial tools based on sustainability issues: two days ago China and UK agreed on a common investment find for sustainability projects,&rdquo;&nbsp;said Mr. La Camera</p>

<p>Mr. La Camera&rsquo;s speech was followed by interventions from universities, corporates and international organizations.</p>

<p>From academia the main take away messages included that we have to act as think-tanks to provide operational tools to the management through dedicated observatories and indicators. Stefano Gardi, Director of Sustainable Development Department at Italcementi said:&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;It&#39;s impossible to be really sustainable if the human resources managers don&#39;t reorganize incentives and career patterns considering sustainability achievements.&rdquo;</strong></p>

<p>Companies that are takings sustainability and climate targets seriously are also considered great places to work:&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;Carbon neutral companies have always a higher ranking for internal climate and employees satisfaction. Being sustainable means being more effective and profitable.&rdquo;</strong></p>

<p>Maria Cristina Papetti, Head of Sustainability Projects and Practice Sharing at Enel emphasized that&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;we don&#39;t distinguish anymore between sustainability goals and profit goals; Creating Shared Values and innovating through sustainability is our mission.&rdquo;</strong></p>

<p>Similarly, laudio Puliti, Head of CSR and Sustainability at ACEA noted:&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;public companies can be sustainable if they engage territories and citizens in strategic decisions. As the main Italian public company providing water; we are a B Corporation.&rdquo;</strong></p>

<p>Speaking about Unicoop, Massimo Favilli, Director of political relations, emphasized the need for sustainability to continue operations,&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;we were born in 1945 for mutualistic collaboration: our participatory business strategy must be based on sustainability.&rdquo;</strong></p>

<p>Maurizio Zollo, Sustainability and Strategy Professor of Università Bocconi, concluded:&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;Delivering on the UN Agenda 2030 will require the business sector to complete its transition from sustainability as a stakeholder engagement exercise to redesigning the firm in all its core functions to integrate the contributions of all stakeholders. None of the Sustainable Development Goals and the COP21 targets will be reached without a profound innovation and change effort by the private sector. The question is how to facilitate and reduce the risks connected to the effort. The collaboration of institutions, civil society and academia will be necessary and, hopefully, well appreciated in this respect.&rdquo;</strong></p>