ORF America hosted a group of young professionals for an after hours discussion with Paola Ridolfi and Vinay Chawla. Paola Ridolfi is currently a climate change advisor with the Climate Change Group at the World Bank, and a lead for the Bank's COP28 engagement this year. Vinay Chawla is currently senior advisor to U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, and advisor to at the White House on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.

This fourth edition of the series, on COP28 and Climate, panelists covered several topics relevant for global climate talks at COP28 in Dubai in November 2023. Chief among these topics was the need to lower the cost of financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. Panelists highlighted greater private sector investment in climate for emerging markets as a potential solution to address this need. Incentives to increase private sector involvement must align fiduciary responsibilities for returns to private investors with adequate management of investment risk in these low and middle income countries.

This was the fourth convening of the series hosted by ORF America for young professionals in Washington, DC. The series offers participants the opportunity to informally engage with distinguished foreign policy experts, as well as a platform to network with peers. Participants include Washington, DC’s best and brightest from the U.S. Government, Congressional Staff, think tanks, graduate programs, and the private sector.