Tessa Nooteboom
November 6, 2026
Turning climate ambition into practical delivery: Ramboll at COP31
COP31 brings together governments, businesses and civil society to advance global climate action and accelerate the shift from commitments to implementation. It is a key moment to strengthen international cooperation, share practical solutions and build the partnerships needed to deliver progress across mitigation and adaptation targets.
For Ramboll, COP31 provides an opportunity to bring engineering and sustainability expertise into these discussions and demonstrate how climate ambition can be translated into solutions that work in practice. Our programme centres on the role of business as a solution provider, with a focus on urban resilience and adaptation, electrification, sustainable transport and infrastructure, corporate climate action, and public-private partnerships. Across roundtables, launches and partner events, we will share practical solutions, strengthen collaboration and help move the climate agenda from ambition to implementation.
Want to know more?
Tessa Nooteboom
Global Public Affairs Lead
+45 60 36 51 59
Meet the experts
Meet the Ramboll experts contributing to the discussions at COP31. Drawing on expertise across resilient cities, power systems and sustainable infrastructure and transport, they will share practical perspectives on how climate commitments can be translated into deliverable solutions.
Signe Kongebro
Global Director, Future Resilient Design
Phil Hodges
Global Service Line Director, Power Systems, Energy
+44 7812 687874
Chris Landsburgh
Head of Sustainability (Transport UK&I)
David Schofield
Senior Managing Consultant
+44 7885 999051
Our Flagship Events
How do we keep cities liveable in a hotter world while using 25% less energy?
When: Wednesday, 11 November 2026 | 10:00–11:00
Where: Denmark Pavilion, Blue Zone
Hosted by: State of Green
About: As temperatures rise and cities continue to grow, the energy needed to keep buildings and communities comfortable is increasing. This creates a fundamental challenge: how can cities respond to growing demand while at the same time reducing energy consumption and pressure on power systems?
This roundtable will explore the relationship between urban growth, rising cooling demand and the energy transition. It will consider how cities can reduce energy demand through better buildings, urban planning and infrastructure, rather than relying primarily on additional energy supply to meet growing needs.
The discussion will look at where the greatest opportunities for energy savings can be found across the built environment, and how cities can make energy efficiency and demand reduction a more central part of their approach to resilience. It will also consider what is needed from policy, investment and the private sector to accelerate implementation at scale.
At its core, the session will ask how cities can maintain quality of life in a hotter world while doing more with less energy, and how reducing demand can support both urban resilience and the wider energy transition.
Passive First for Cooler Cities
When: Thursday, 12 November 2026 | 12:30–13:30
Where: UNEP Cooling and Buildings Pavilion, Blue Zone
Hosted by: UNEP
About: As temperatures rise and cities face more frequent and intense heat, sustainable cooling is becoming increasingly important for public health, productivity and urban resilience. Growing reliance on mechanical cooling can increase electricity demand, place additional pressure on power systems and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, passive measures alone may not always be sufficient to protect people during periods of extreme heat.
The session will explore a passive-first approach to cooling, starting with how building design, materials, orientation, shading and natural ventilation can reduce heat gain and cooling demand before additional cooling is required. Drawing on practical examples and local experiences, the discussion will consider how these approaches can be applied not only to individual buildings, but also across neighbourhoods, public spaces and cities.
As part of the session, Ramboll will launch the Cooling Catalogue, which brings together a range of sustainable cooling approaches and demonstrates how different solutions can respond to different urban contexts. The catalogue provides a practical perspective on how passive and active measures can complement one another, helping cities move from understanding the challenge of rising heat to identifying solutions that can be implemented and scaled.
Where housing meets climate: from integration to delivery
When: Thursday, 12 November 2026 | 16:30–17:30
Where: Denmark Pavilion, Blue Zone
Hosted by: Ramboll and C40 Cities
About: Cities are facing two urgent challenges at the same time: delivering more affordable housing and accelerating climate action. Addressing these agendas together can create significant wider benefits, with housing investment providing an opportunity to reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience and support more sustainable urban development.
This COP31 session will explore how housing can become a driver of climate action. Where and how homes are built can influence energy demand, transport patterns, land use and exposure to climate risks. Well-planned, energy-efficient and climate-resilient housing can therefore contribute not only to addressing housing needs, but also to delivering cities’ wider climate ambitions.
The discussion will look at how cities can capture these climate co-benefits through more integrated approaches to housing, transport, energy, infrastructure and urban planning. It will also examine what is needed from policy, governance, financing and private-sector collaboration to turn integrated approaches into investable projects that can be delivered at scale.
At its core, the session will ask how investment in housing can deliver multiple outcomes at once: more homes, lower emissions, greater resilience and better-connected, more liveable cities.