Recap: Top Tier Impact during the London Climate Action Week 2025
Global finance drives planetary regeneration.
📍London, UK | June 2025
Top Tier Impact | Nature, Climate & AI Gathering
During London Climate Action Week, Top Tier Impact convened a high-signal, invite-only series of sessions bringing together investors, founders, corporates, technologists, and policymakers working at the intersection of nature markets, climate finance, energy transition, and AI.
These were not awareness panels.
They were working conversations for people actively deploying capital, building platforms, and shaping policy.
The goal was clear: pressure-test strategies, align incentives, and surface what actually moves the system in the next decade.
“The TTI nature event for LCAW was a great congregation of really informed sustainability and investments professionals. Even as a panelist, I was taking notes, which speaks to the quality of the discussion.” - Peter Bachmann, Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure at Gresham House
The Sessions
1. Energy Transition & Geopolitics
Moderator:
Seth Elliott, Global Head of Partnerships at Top Tier Impact and COO at Virtus Solis
Speakers:
Zac Padgett, Tech Company Partner at Orrick
Kirsten Gogal, Board Member at Nuclear Innovation Research Advisory Board
Chris Smith, Founder & CEO at Meld Energy
Michael Langguth, Founding Partner at Carbon13
A candid discussion on how geopolitics, capital flows, and infrastructure realities are reshaping the energy transition. The focus was practical: what scales, what breaks, and where capital can move faster.
“I was fortunate to participate in the TTI event during London Climate Action Week for discussions on AI, energy security, and transition, exploring how these forces are reshaping the power sector and the role legal and investment leaders play in accelerating the shift to clean energy.” - Zac Padgett, Partner & Co-Lead, Energy Tech Team at Orrick
2. Nature-Based Solutions & Natural Assets
Moderator:
Alessa Berg, Founder and CEO at Top Tier Impact
Speakers:
Eric Wilburn, Program Officer, Nature Finance at Bezos Earth Fund
John Lotspeich, Vice President of Global Restoration at Conservation International
Pavan Sukhdev, Chief Executive Officer at GIST Impact
Peter Bachmann, Managing Director at Gresham House
This session made one thing clear: nature is moving from narrative to balance sheet.
The conversation focused on how natural assets are being structured, valued, and integrated into institutional investment strategies, and why delay now creates systemic risk later.
“Bringing together representatives of all the sectors needed to make that happen is one of the great things Top Tier Impact does, it was a highlight of LCAW.” - John Lotspeich, Vice President, Restoration at Conservation International
3. AI & the Planet
Moderator:
Seth Elliott, Global Head of Partnerships at Top Tier Impact and COO at Virtus Solis
Speakers:
Lorenzo Saa, Chief Sustainability Officer at Clarity AI
Sarah Mackintosh, Director at Cleantech for UK
Gan Zhang, Data Product Manager at National Grid
Iggy Bassi, Founder & CEO at earthena.ai
De Kai, Board Member at The Future Society
A forward-looking session on AI as both a climate accelerant and a climate risk. The panel explored how to reconcile AI’s rapid growth with energy demand, infrastructure constraints, and governance — and why responsible deployment must be designed now, not later.
“AI in climate is still in its infancy, but its potential to augment human decision-making is profound. We need to actively shape how it’s deployed for planetary resilience.” - Iggy Bassi, Co-founder & CEO at earthena.ai
Key Takeaways
1. Nature is no longer optional — it’s becoming a core asset class
Markets are rapidly converging on the reality that long-term economic stability depends on functioning natural systems. Capital allocation is starting to follow.
2. AI in climate is at an inflection point
The technology is powerful, immature, and consequential. The next phase will be defined by governance, intent, and execution, not hype.
3. Cross-sector rooms create better decisions
The diversity in the room — infrastructure, finance, policy, AI, conservation — consistently produced sharper insights than siloed discussions ever could.
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