From redtape to sustainability as a strategic lever
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From October 16 to 18, 2025, the Island of San Servolo in Venice will host the Fourth Edition of the Dolomite Conference on Global Governance of Climate Change and Sustainability, organized by Vision Think Tank in collaboration with the Fondazione Venezia per la Sostenibilità, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Fondazione Cini, Camera di Commercio Italo-Germanica AHK Italien, Bocconi University, LUISS Guido Carli, Ca’ Foscari University, and Politecnico di Milano.
The conference aims to provide a concrete contribution to the global debate on climate change, moving beyond abstract and ideological approaches to pave the way for pragmatic, inclusive, and innovative solutions. In an international context increasingly marked by geopolitical tensions and systemic challenges, the Venice Conference seeks to serve as a laboratory for ideas and proposals to bring to the COP30 table in Belém, Brazil.
Compared to previous editions, the Venice Conference on Global Governance of Climate Change introduces five significant changes:
The venue – After three editions in the Dolomites, the conference moves to the Venetian lagoon, on the Island of San Servolo. Venice, a symbolic city in the climate challenge, already hosts the largest climate change adaptation infrastructure project: MOSE.
The format – The role of businesses increases: four sessions will be co-organized with companies that have chosen sustainability as a strategic lever, in sectors such as agrifood, fashion, AI, energy, mobility, and construction.
The link with COP30 – In collaboration with CEBRI, the conference will host four experimental Climate Negotiation Workshops. The results will feed directly into the work of COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
Europe’s role – Beyond reducing its own emissions, the EU must contribute to global negotiations among macro-regions and stakeholders (governments, businesses, cities, local communities, households). Delegates from China, India, South America, the Middle East, Africa, North America, and the United Kingdom will participate in the conference.
Working groups (PSSG) – There will be six groups, including students and tutors from Italian and international universities. Three groups will address urban challenges, and three will tackle global issues (loss & damage, energy transition, food systems). Their results will feed into the Venice Manifesto, addressed to European and international institutions.
The program spans three days of activities:
Thursday, October 16: Opening with institutional greetings and presentation of the Vision Concept Paper, followed by the first round of the Problem-Setting/Solving Groups (PSSGs). The evening will feature a panel on geoengineering and new technologies.
Friday, October 17: Plenary sessions on key topics such as sustainability measurement, global trade security, the future of insurance, artificial intelligence, and the role of the European automotive industry. In the afternoon, the second round of PSSGs, followed by the presentation of the book Le grandi ipocrisie sul clima. Contro i burocrati della sostenibilità e i nuovi negazionisti del clima by Roger Abravanel and Luca D’Agnese.
Saturday, October 18: Keynote on Venice as the world capital oyf sustainability, presentation of the working groups’ proposals, discussion of the Dolomite Manifesto, and concluding session dedicated to the roadmap toward COP30 in Belém. Click here to register your partecipation at the last day.
The conference takes place with the support of institutional, corporate, and academic partners.
Main partners: AXA, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Euronext, Istituto per il Credito Sportivo, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, and Venice Sustainability Foundation (VSF).
Academic and scientific partners: Bocconi, Politecnico di Milano, LUISS, Ca’ Foscari, IUAV, Venice International University, CEBRI, and CMCC.
Media partners: The Conversation, Illuminem, GEDI Group (La Repubblica / La Stampa), RAI, and Al Jazeera.
The Vision Conference is a platform for problem solving that brings together people from all major regions of the world and from diverse professional backgrounds. Expected participants include Martin Powell (Head of Sustainability at AXA); Antonella Baldino (Board Member - European Fund for Energy, Climate Change & Infrastructure; Managing Director at Istituto per il Credito Sportivo e Culturale); Rohinton P. Medhora (Professor of Practice at McGill University, Founder of the Digital Transformations for Health Lab, and Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation); Rafaela Guedes (Senior Fellow at CEBRI, International Advisor APCO); Cliff Prior (Chief Executive Officer of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment); Mônica Sodré (Executive Director of Meridiana, Senior Fellow at CEBRI); Monica Poggio (President of the Italian-German Chamber of Commerce AHK Italien); Julia Paletta (Head of Ocean Energy Pathway); Josh Parker (Head of Sustainability at NVIDIA); Piero Gancia (Co-Leader, Global P&C Insurance Practice, McKinsey & Company); Giuseppe Collino (Managing Director and Leader, Automotive Industry Practice, Boston Consulting Group); Dario Mangilli (Head of Sustainability at IMPact SGR SpA); MariaGrazia Davino (BYD Europe Regional Managing Director); Antonella Bruno (Managing Director, Stellantis Italy); Antonio Volpin (Independent Director, SP Group Singapore; Former Partner at McKinsey & Company); Luca D’Agnese (Head of Policy, Advisory and Evaluation at Cassa Depositi e Prestiti; Former CEO at TERNA); Massimo Monacelli (Director General at Generali); Daniela D’Andrea (Managing Director at Swiss Re); Marcello Milani (Chief Executive Officer, AMSA); Carolina Nizza (Head of Sustainability, Statkraft); Paolo Cuccia (President, Gambero Rosso); Riccardo Ricci Curbastro (President, Equalitas); Savinien Caracostea (Co-founder and Creative Director, META Foundation); Nicola Maione (President, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena; Vice President, Italian Banking Association – ABI); Letizia D’Abbondanza (Chief Customer & External Communication Officer, AXA Italia; Founding Partner of the Conference); Izabella Teixeira (Member, International Advisory Board at CEBRI; Former Minister of Environment of Brazil); André Corrêa do Lago (President of COP30); Ibrahima Cheikh Diong (Executive Director, UN Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage); Daniele Franco (Scientific Director, Fondazione Giorgio Cini; Former Minister for Economy and Finance of Italy); Enrico Giovannini (Full Professor of Economic Statistics, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”; Director of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development; Former Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility); Fabrizia Lapecorella (Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD); Giorgio Gori (Former Mayor of Bergamo and Member of the European Parliament); Renato Brunetta (President, Venice Sustainability Foundation – VSF; Former Minister for Public Administration of Italy); Giovanna Melandri (President, Human Foundation; Former Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities); Miriam Allena (Director, Master in Transformative Sustainability at Bocconi and Politecnico di Milano); Giovanni Dotelli (Full Professor of Materials Science and Technology, Politecnico di Milano); Paolo Silva (Full Professor in Technologies for the Energy Transition towards Sustainability, Politecnico di Milano); Enrica De Cian (Professor at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; Senior Scientist at CMCC and IUAV); Matteo Di Castelnuovo (Associate Dean for Sustainability, SDA Bocconi; Scientific Director of the Master in Sustainability Management at Bocconi); Vitaliano Fiorillo (Director, Invernizzi AGRI Lab, SDA Bocconi); Carmelo Mirabello (Dean, Venice International University); Tiziana Lippiello (Rector, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice); Umberto Vattani (President, Venice International University); Benno Albrecht (Rector, IUAV University of Venice); Francesco Grillo (Director, Vision Think Tank; Professor at Bocconi University; Senior Fellow, European University Institute); Carlo Carraro (Professor and Former Rector, Ca’ Foscari University; Former Vice-Chair, Working Group III of the IPCC); Oliver Morton (Briefing Editor, The Economist); Laura Hood (Assistant Editor, The Conversation UK); Alexandra Borchardt (Co-Director, Climate Research Explorer Program at the Constructive Institute; Senior Research Associate, Reuters Institute, University of Oxford); Andrea Gori (Chief Executive Officer, Illuminem); Joseph Hammond (Journalist, The Washington Times); Vibeke Hjortlund (Editor-in-Chief, Videnskab, Copenhagen); Abdul Kareem Aouir (Senior Journalist, Al Jazeera Media Network); Giancarlo Loquenzi (Journalist and Host of “Zapping”, RAI Radio 1); Turi Munthe (Journalist and Board Member, GEDI Group – La Repubblica, La Stampa); Giacomo Talignani (GEDI Group)
