Evening Highlights
Guests arrived to a low-carbon menu and live local music, followed by a concise welcome that thanked volunteers, sponsors, and scientific committees. A short film captured conference milestones—policy dialogues, technical workshops, and youth-led roundtables—setting the tone for the awards ceremony.
Awardees: Recognizing Impact
- Policy Innovation Award: Honoured a cross-ministry team for a revenue-recycling carbon-pricing design that protects low-income households.
- Research Excellence Award: Celebrated a multi-country study quantifying co-benefits of clean cooking and grid decarbonization.
- Emerging Leader Award: Recognized a doctoral fellow for an open-source tool that models ecosystem services at municipal scale.
- Community Partnership Award: Highlighted a civil-society coalition advancing nature-based jobs and skills training.
Pledges Announced at the Gala
From the main stage, partners pledged support across four tracks: capacity building (municipal training on fiscal tools), data transparency (open environmental accounts), finance (seed grants for demonstration projects), and youth engagement (travel bursaries and mentorship). Organisers also committed to publishing practical playbooks that help cities implement pricing and incentive reforms.
Next-Year Goals
- Implementation Labs: Regional labs pairing cities with expert coaches to pilot clean-air and adaptation measures.
- Metrics That Matter: A unified dashboard tracking equity, jobs, and emissions outcomes of fiscal reforms.
- Open Knowledge: Toolkits, slide decks, and briefings released under permissive licenses for reuse.
- Stronger Networks: Expanded fellowship and practitioner exchanges across the Global South and North.
How to Get Involved
Speakers encouraged attendees to submit case studies, join implementation labs, and co-host city clinics before the next conference cycle. Bookmark gcet25.co.za for publication calls, workshop dates, and the full awardee list.
Final Word
The Gala Dinner didn’t just mark the end of a conference—it launched a year of delivery. With clear pledges, measurable goals, and a collaborative roadmap, the community left energised to turn climate ambition into tangible results.
