About the summit

DATES
October 12-13, 2026

LOCATION
Reykjavík, Iceland

REGISTRATION FEE
$100

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The Global Risk and Stabilization Summit 2026 convenes leaders across domains and disciplines who are working to better predict, prepare for, and prevent catastrophic climate risks that threaten to drive large-scale disruption across both Earth’s physical systems and many downstream economic and societal systems.

Accelerating sea level rise, disruptions to major atmospheric and oceanic currents, melting glaciers and sea ice, ecosystem destabilization, and other climate system tipping points are not isolated hazards. They are potential catalysts for cascading shocks across complex, coupled climate systems, markets, supply chains, infrastructure, agriculture, and more. As the likelihood of the risks rises, driven by accelerating global warming and climate change, the question of how to better address them, i.e., how to “stabilize” at-risk Earth systems to buy more time for mitigation and adaptation, is both critically important and rapidly evolving, with significant implications both for the Earth’s climate and from economic and national security perspectives. The Summit will convene a diverse set of practitioners and stakeholders to advance understanding of catastrophic climate risks, enhance greater visibility across the field and establish the priorities for near-term field building, and promote collaboration and coordination in the coming years as the field grows.

The Global Risk and Stabilization Summit 2026

Earth systems stabilization, which concerns efforts to better understand catastrophic climate risks and to advance efforts to address them, is dynamically emergent, as non-profit organizations, private sector companies, and governments are increasingly dedicating resources to understanding the risks, assessing and developing response options, as well as to deliberating on policy and governance questions. Still, the field remains critically underfunded relative to mitigation, adaptation, and carbon removal, as well as to what it needs to achieve its objectives; currently, it receives less than 0.1% of all climate philanthropy. The field also lacks the institutional architecture needed for it to grow and mature in a sound, well-coordinated fashion. Whether with respect to scientific efforts, programs focused on research and development of response options, or governance and policy, gaps are readily discernible and key capabilities are imaginable—what comes next is building them.

Organized by the Climate Emergencies Forum, the Global Risk and Stabilization Summit 2026 is a global working convening designed to chart the course for stabilization for the rest of this decade and beyond. It will bring together the operators across domains and disciplines who are working on stabilization to align on the field’s near-term goals and development priorities, work through important debates and disagreements, and build the networks needed to grow the field by orders of magnitude in both financial and human capital terms by 2035. The range of participants will include scientists, philanthropic funders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, Indigenous leaders, youth networks, and Global South organizations, all of whom are actors who rarely share the same room but whose engagement is critical for legitimacy and who will bring vital, unique perspectives to the table. The current moment is an important inflection point for the field, and this Summit exists to set it up for success.

Renaissance Philanthropy and ARC will host the summit on October 12–13, 2026 in Reykjavík, Iceland.

The summit’s core objectives

1. Synthesise knowledge on catastrophic climate risks. Develop a coherent, high-resolution understanding of catastrophic climate risks and the many other systems, whether economic, social, or otherwise, they will impact, integrating the latest climate science, active research and development of potential response options, as well as ongoing conversations and debates on governance and policymaking and participants’ lived experiences.

2. Enhance cross-field visibility. There’s more active research, development, discussion, debate, and activity in the emergent stabilization field than many likely realize. The Summit will create more visibility across domains, disciplines, and geographies and provide participants with a more comprehensive appreciation and understanding of the current field.

3. Identify decision-relevant pathways. Clarify what decisions need to be made, what the most critical near-term field development needs and objectives are across science, research, governance, and policy, identify who's responsible for them, and establish concrete goals.

4. Surface key debates and work through them. Rather than smooth over the difficult debates and disagreements, the Summit will encourage working through them head-on, both to illuminate the many areas in which participants likely already agree and to identify which questions and issues are solvable by direct, dedicated communication and discussion.

5. Promote enduring coordination across institutions. Promote collaboration by engaging a diverse array of practitioners in active, hands-on working sessions and create actionable interfaces and takeaways for how to continue working together after the Summit.

The Summit also directly follows the Arctic Circle Assembly, allowing us collectively to continue momentum and to learn from many of the leaders already gathered to discuss the implications of catastrophic risks on the region's future, which is a useful case study in the urgency and cross-sector implications posed by these risks, as well as for the need for accelerated action. Nordic governments are among the most actively engaged in addressing catastrophic risks and tipping points, making this a natural setting for the conversation. Reykjavík is also a relatively convenient meeting point for a truly global convening, bridging North America, Europe, and beyond.

Program

The Global Risk and Stabilization Summit 2026 is designed to create greater visibility across the emerging “climate stabilization” field which subsumes a variety of disciplines and domains focused on better predicting, preparing for, and preventing catastrophic climate risks. Across a variety of session formats hosted over two days, it will promote greater, shared understanding of the risks facing Earth’s climate systems and alignment and agreements on what’s needed to address them.

-> Day One will focus on the climate and physical Earth systems that are at risk of destabilizing across four key risk clusters: (1) Arctic Destabilization; (2) Sea Level Rise & Ice Sheets; (3) Biosphere/Ecosystems/Weather; (4) Earth’s Declining Reflectivity.

-> Day Two will then explore the emergent field of climate stabilization, i.e., efforts to better predict, prepare for, and prevent these risks, across disciplines spanning science, research and development, and governance and policy.

Rather than presenting a slew of panels, the Summit will also promote session designs that intentionally foster discussion and deliberation on critical open questions and debates and to engage perspectives from as diverse and wide a range of stakeholders as possible — ranging from scientists, policymakers, governance and legal experts, community and Indigenous representatives, and more.

Speakers include

Dr. Sarah Kapnick
Global Head of Climate Advisory, J.P. Morgan

Oliver Morton
Senior & Briefings Editor, The Economist

Dr. Joshua Elliott
Chief Scientist, Renaissance Philanthropy

Kristinn Hróbjartsson
Co-Founder & Director, Varða

Melissa Barnes
Executive Director, Arête Glacier Initiative

Dr. Brent Minchew
Chief Scientist, Arête Glacier Initiative

Dr. Charlotte DeWald
Founder & Director, Arctic Stabilization Initiative

Apply to attend

Attendance is by invitation only, but those without an invitation can submit an application. We are accepting applications until September 13, 2026.

Travel support

To support diverse participation, travel funding and compensation are available for Indigenous, youth, and Global South leaders, as well as others who may face barriers to covering travel costs to attend the CEF Summit. Apply here (applications are accepted on a rolling basis; the last day to apply is September 13, 2026).

Supporters

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© Advanced Research for Climate Emergencies (ARC)

ARC funds cutting-edge research and strategic partnerships to predict, prevent, and prepare for catastrophic climate risks.

arc@renphil.org

ARC
Renaissance Philanthropy