Emerging markets are at the frontlines of both climate challenges and climate opportunities. In Rwanda, a rapidly growing hub for innovation in East Africa, startups are tackling energy access, sustainable development, and climate resilience, while navigating the realities of scaling in underserved markets.

Join Adedotun “Dotun” Odewale, Founder & CEO of Ade Solar Energy and climate tech Go-To-Market strategist, as he shares insights from his work bridging Silicon Valley expertise with the entrepreneurial drive of Rwanda’s climate innovation ecosystem.

Drawing on a decade of enterprise sales leadership in high-growth tech companies and his experience building clean energy solutions in Africa, Dotun will explore:

• How Rwandan startups are addressing energy access and climate challenges
• What global climate tech companies can learn from emerging market innovation
• Strategies for connecting local solutions to international markets and capital

Whether you’re a climate entrepreneur, investor, or policy advocate, this session offers a unique perspective on how climate solutions can scale in emerging markets and why lessons from Rwanda matter for the global climate fight.

Join Sharon Reishus for a unique inside look at how USA's first multi-state carbon credit trading market was born and why those hard-won lessons are crucial for navigating today's unprecedented electricity demand surge. 

As a founding board member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and former Chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission, Sharon will share the story of creating the nation's first mandatory regional carbon market, from the political negotiations to the pushback from stakeholders, to set up a carbon regime that delivered millions in consumer savings over two decades and helped cut regional power plant emissions in half.

But this isn't just a history lesson. With electricity demand growing at rates not seen in decades, driven by AI data centers and rapid electrification of the economy, Sharon will decode what this means for climate goals, energy costs, and grid reliability. Drawing from her 35 years of power sector expertise, she'll connect the strategic thinking that made RGGI successful to the market dynamics reshaping America's energy landscape today.