Symposium on Climate Innovation and Finance
Abstract of Climate and Finance
Jess Adkins is the Smits Family Professor of Geochemistry and Global Environmental Science at Caltech. He is a chemical oceanographer focused on using trace metals as tracers of environmental processes. His research centers on the geochemical investigation of past climates, particularly across the last few glacial–interglacial cycles spanning several hundred thousand years. This interval is especially valuable because it combines relatively accurate and precise age models—though continually improving—with large climatic shifts that require mechanistic explanation. Prof. Adkins draws on high-resolution climate records, especially from polar ice cores, which reveal both the rapidity and magnitude of past climate change. For instance, oxygen isotope variations from the Greenland Summit over the past 110,000 years serve as a proxy for air temperature. Within this record, the last 10,000 years—the Holocene—stand out for their relative climatic stability compared to the preceding glacial period, which was marked by large and abrupt transitions between cold and warm conditions. As an oceanographer, Adkins aims to understand the coupled ocean–atmosphere system during these shifts, with a particular focus on deep ocean behavior. Much of his work has involved developing deep-sea corals as a novel climate archive, with the potential to significantly expand the types of information available about oceanographic climate change. Adkins currently leads several projects in his lab that are aimed at uncovering the mechanisms behind rapid climate change and long-term climate evolution.
Silvia Del Castillo is a sustainability professional with over 10 years of experience and a Master's degree in Sustainability Management from the University of Toronto. She serves as Sustainability Manager at Nefab, a global industrial packaging and logistics services company supporting industries such as Telecom, Datacom, Semicon, Energy, Healthcare Equipment, Mining & Construction, and LiB & E-mobility. In her role, Del Castillo leads corporate sustainability initiatives across the Americas, overseeing carbon reduction, circularity, and sustainability reporting to drive environmental impact. She acts as the primary point of contact for customers on sustainability topics and conducts internal corporate training on Nefab’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool and climate change. Aligned with Nefab’s purpose to save resources in supply chains, she supports customers in achieving their sustainability targets and is committed to developing and implementing strategies that create measurable impact.
Her talk is titled "Decarbonizing Supply Chains Through Packaging Innovation."
Jeff Simonetti '05 is the CEO & Founder of the Aqua Exchange, a firm that specializes in water transaction consulting and execution. His firm assists clients in buying and selling water including master planned communities, large agricultural operators, and groundwater sustainability agencies. Simonetti has more than two decades of experience developing public policy and governments affairs strategies, particularly in the land-use, environmental, and water arenas. Prior to founding the Aqua Exchange, Simonetti was the Director of Government Affairs for the Building Industry Association Baldy View Chapter, a residential real estate trade association in Southern California, where he provided advocacy and consulting on a variety of issues including water, greenhouse gas emissions regulations, and state and local regulatory fees associated with homebuilding. He is currently a senior vice president at the Capitol Core Group, an advocacy firm that provides clients advocacy services at the federal, state and local levels. Capitol Core’s areas of expertise include water, infrastructure, renewable energy, and land use. Simonetti earned a bachelor’s degree in PPE from Claremont McKenna College and a master’s degree in finance and entrepreneurship from Boston University.
His talk is titled "From Lettuce to AI: How the Water Crisis is Affecting Everything in the Western US."
Daniel G. Weiss is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Angeleno Group LLC (“AG”), a Los Angeles-based venture capital and growth equity firm focused on global investments in next-generation clean energy and climate solutions companies. In addition to his firm management responsibilities, Weiss leads investments and serves on boards of multiple AG portfolio companies. Before the formation of AG in 2001, Weiss was an attorney at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles, working in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions and international and high technology practice groups. He represented multiple Global 1000 clients, including utilities and energy-related companies, in a wide array of private equity and corporate finance transactions. Currently, he serves on boards for several non-profit and educational institutions, including the California Community Foundation, World Resources Institute (where he serves as Vice Chair), Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability Advisory Board (where he serves as co-chair). Previously, Weiss served on the Federal Reserve Bank’s 12th District Economic Advisory Council, Stanford Law School Board of Visitors, and City of Los Angeles Redistricting Commission (appointed by the Honorable Eric Garcetti). Weiss was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2015 to serve as a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council in Washington, DC. He is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition, he has taught, lectured, and published articles on topics of climate finance, sustainability, and the low carbon economy. Weiss holds a JD from Stanford Law School, an MA from Stanford University, and a BA with High Honors from UC Berkeley.
His talk is titled "Peril or Promise: Climate Finance and CleanTech Investment in a New Era of Change."
Please note a SPECIAL SCHEDULE for this program, which is co-organized by the Financial Economics Institute (FEI) and Roberts Environmental Center (REC):
10:30-10:40 AM | Opening Remarks
10:40-11:20 AM | Keynote: Daniel Weiss, "Peril or Promise: Climate Finance and CleanTech Investment in a New Era of Change," followed by Q & A
11:20-11:30 AM | Short Break
11:30-12:00 PM | Presentation: Silvia del Castillo on "Decarbonizing Supply Chains"
12:00-12:30 PM | Presentation: Jeff Simonetti '05 on "Water Rights"
12:30-1:20 PM | Lunch
1:20-2:00 PM | Keynote: Jess Adkins on Climate Innovation, followed by Q & A