On April 16, hundreds gathered at the Grand Quay in Montréal for the 2026 Montréal Climate Summit, the annual gathering of the city’s community for the climate transition. The Summit brought together leaders across government, finance, and civil society to discuss climate action in a complex and evolving landscape. Lawson Scholar Adele Furman was selected to attend as part of the Lawson Climate Institute delegation.
The Summit opened with a keynote featuring Catherine McKenna, former federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change and now CEO of Climate & Nature Solutions, in conversation with Montréal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Former White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, and former Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti. Together, they set the tone for the summit by reaffirming the leadership of cities and civil society in advancing ambitious climate action. McKenna stressed that increasing gas and oil production year after year is not the direction the rest of the world is taking: “From an environmental perspective it makes no sense – and economically, even less,” she said. “Energy shocks are moving countries everywhere even faster toward renewable energy which is cheaper, cleaner.”
The Summit also included interactive workshops and panels on topics including mobilizing citizens and business, regional flood resilience, local food systems, and decarbonization through climate-proof buildings – a topic closely related to Adele’s LCI funded research, which involves integrating circular waste materials into green roof systems, with goals of developing scalable strategies for urban heat-island mitigation and sustainable rooftop design.
For the first time this year, the Women Leading on Climate (WLOC) Canada Summit ran alongside the Montréal Climate Summit 2026. This collaboration reflected a shared ambition: to advance climate action in Canada and demonstrate that cities, including Montréal, play a decisive role in accelerating the transition. By bringing together business leaders, public decision-makers, and civil society, the event moved climate efforts forward, strengthening the resilience of communities, fostering innovation, and contributing to the development of a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous metropolis. The concurrent Summits came together throughout the day, including during keynote remarks and closing cocktails, enriching exchanges, and connections across communities engaged in the transition.
Reflecting on her experience, Adele writes:
“What stood out to me most was the feeling in the room–people from different disciplines, generations, and backgrounds coming together, with women leading the conversations that were shaping how climate action is approached. As someone trained in ecology and anthropology, I am constantly reminded that the climate crisis cannot be solved within the boundaries of any single discipline, and being in a setting where policy, finance, science, and lived experience were all in conversation made that reality feel especially clear. The intimacy of the summit allowed for meaningful dialogue within and beyond the panels, and I found myself in conversations with people I would not have otherwise encountered, each offering different but complementary ways of thinking about what actionable climate justice can look like. I left with a renewed sense that change does not only happen at the level of large-scale interventions, but through how we communicate, collaborate, and bring diverse perspectives into our fields. This experience has made it clear that the kind of work I want to pursue is the kind that bridges disciplines and turns ideas into practical solutions, and I am incredibly grateful to have participated in an event that so clearly reflects this. “
The Lawson Climate Institute was delighted to enable Lawson Scholar participation in this important dialogue and look forward to future opportunities to advance youth engagement in climate action.