🟢 London Climate Action Week 2026

Jun 26, 2026

What’s in this week’s newsletter:

75,000 attendees, 1,000 events, 39 C (102 F) - London Climate Action Week 2026 was ‘on fire”
ISO Launches Draft Net Zero Standard
California delays emissions reporting rule by 3 months
Climate scientists race to preserve US climate data
Climate tech IPO boom

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In the midst of a rare red heat warning with London sweltering under 39°C heat, 75,000 climate advocates, policy makers, and professionals descended on London’s Climate Action Week.

This year’s event was the biggest I have experienced, with more than 1,000 events across the city, some of which were, ironically, canceled due to the climate. Nevertheless, among the many events that did go ahead, there were some that stood out:

At his keynote speech, UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez said, “London isn’t just calling – it’s cooking. Around the world, climate disasters are becoming more frequent, more destructive, and more costly. And the World Meteorological Organization has warned we ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged almost $300mn to clean energy lobbyists to counter well-financed oil and gas lobbies. He said, “Clean energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels in virtually every part of the world . . . fixable obstacles are still slowing down deployment”
The EU Commission was also there to announce a new global initiative, ‘Electrify Now.’ The group, which includes 11 countries and international NGOs, will facilitate practical help to mobilize investment, particularly in emerging economies. Europe’s Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, said, “Our Electrify Now initiative can be a real driver of progress and change, bringing us closer to a future where our energy security and prices are no longer at the mercy of unstable geopolitics.”
The UK announced its own deforestation rule, similar to Europe’s, which will require importers of certain high-risk products (soy, coffee, palm oil, rubber) to ensure they are not linked to illegal logging.

At the events I attended, there was a shared feeling that climate action has moved from ambition to implementation. I spoke at the Science-based Target Initiative’s (SBTi) flagship event (off the back of their Net Zero Standard 2.0 release), where, with David Kennedy, we discussed the importance of collaboration and coherence. The sentiment among the sweltering crowd was “let’s get on with it.” They cheered when I implored them to put aside petty disagreements and focus on progress.

I closed out our conversation saying, “There’s enough passion and energy and knowledge that we can work together. We can collaborate, and when we collaborate, we can do something wonderful.” That was my message for all of my events. Once we cool off, let’s get to work!

2. ISO Net Zero Standard

On the eve of London’s Climate Action Week, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released a first draft of its Net Zero Standard. The Net Zero Aligned Organizations Standard (ISO 14060) is now open for a 12-week public consultation to shape the next draft of the standard.

The standard is not a target-setting standard, like SBTi’s Net Zero Standard 2.0. Instead, it is meant to complement SBTi’s standards and aims to help companies create credible and comprehensive transition plans toward net zero, tailored to their maturity, sector, and specific company makeup. It requires companies to provide verified annual GHG reports and a detailed transition plan 2 years after setting their target. It also offers simpler approaches for small to medium-sized businesses.

ISO’s Head of Sustainability, Noelia Garcia Nebra, said, “ISO 14060 has been developed to provide a globally agreed framework that helps organizations build credible transition plans while supporting resilience, innovation, and long-term growth.”

3. California Delays Climate Disclosure

While a court case continues to hang over California’s Climate laws, companies were still expected to report their Scope 1 and 2 emissions on August 10th. However, on Wednesday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) - the body responsible for the implementing rules - released an update that they will be making changes and pushing back the compliance deadline by 3 months to November 10th.

The delay will allow companies to internalize the changes and will provide a 15-day comment period after the updates are announced in the coming weeks.

4. US Climate Science Website Re-Emerges

Last year, as part of President Trump’s “Restoring Gold Standard Science,” the climate.gov website, which hosted climate data, reports, articles, and the Congressionally mandated national climate assessments, was blocked. This week, the team behind the climate.gov site brought it back to life under climate.us.

The site is a clone of the blocked climate.gov and aims to inform the American public on climate science. The cloned site was funded via a crowdsourcing campaign that raised $280,000 after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) team behind the original site was laid off. Rebecca Lindsey, the managing director of the new site and a former NOAA staffer, said, “The best solutions to our climate challenges are going to come from a climate-literate public.”

5. Surge in Climate IPOs

After last month’s biggest-ever clean tech Initial Public Offering (IPO), from geothermal company Fervo Energy, there has been a surge in new climate IPOs. Driven by AI power demand, there have also been IPOs from Solv Energy, X-Energy, and Legence earlier in the year. Joining them is a growing group of nuclear fusion companies.

In China, the largest IPO on mainland markets in more than four years was just launched by a state-owned renewables company, China Resources New Energy Holdings. The public offering was oversubscribed by more than 600 times, and is expected to help the company raise $3.6 billion.

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