On 3 October, Bangkok Climate Action Week (BKKCAW) 2026 begins with a packed program bringing together policymakers, researchers, financiers, students, artists, community leaders, the media, and the general public.

Lasting until 11 October, the events range from high-level dialogues, expert panels and interactive art to film workshops, community conversations and networking receptions, all spread across multiple venues in the city. BKKCAW 2026 has grown compared to the inaugural event in 2025, with a greater number and scale of sessions, events, activities and venues to discuss and address climate issues. 

Billed as the largest climate gathering in the Asia-Pacific to date, BKKCAW aims to provide “a platform for citizens, creatives, communities, and institutions to come together in new ways, celebrating local leadership and collective imagination to shape a climate-safe, inclusive future for Southeast Asia”.

Financing the climate transition 

SEI’s engagement during BKKCAW includes a series of sessions focusing on climate finance, a key challenge for climate action. The Inclusive Climate Finance for Vulnerable Communities in the Asia-Pacific  (ICCAP) project leads the session on “Mobilizing Climate Finance for Climate-Resilient Development”. This event translates ICCAP’s country-level evidence from six countries into a coherent regional policy narrative, and senior experts will explore where barriers and solutions converge.

SEI also leads the ICCAP/Rockefeller Foundation session “Bridging Capability and Capital” which launches capacity-building tools and a regional adaptation investment facility. SEI Asia Centre Director Marie Jürisoo and SEI Engagement and Impact Director Annika Markovic will be participating alongside the Swedish Ambassador, bringing together high-level actors while maintaining focus on vulnerable communities. 

In the “Unlocking Her Climate Capital” session, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers come together to confront a critical question: how do we de-risk women-led climate solutions and unlock catalytic capital? The session underscores the importance of gender-responsive finance and blended finance mechanisms.

Centering communities in climate adaptation  

Financing is not the only theme under climate, as SEI’s adaptation research presented at BKKCAW also emphasizes locally led adaptation approaches.  

The dialogue on “Trust That Shifts Power” by Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) creates space for community representatives, philanthropic funders, and intermediaries to explore what trust-based funding looks like in practice.  

The “Connecting Climate Adaptation and Food Systems” session presents key insights expanding Thailand’s research and action network across food value chains. By facilitating dialogue between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, this session works to build the collaborative infrastructure necessary for systemic change.

Urban transformations: governance, mobility, and heat 

SEI’s integrated approach to cities as climate actors is highlighted in three urban sessions. “Low-Carbon Mobility for All” tackles Bangkok’s transport challenge through an equity lens by examining how congestion pricing can be designed to avoid worsening socio-economic inequities. The research presented has been conducted with partners including Urban Design and Development Centre, Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University (UDDC) and Mahidol University. The session aims to understand what a credible social contract for urban sustainability looks like by exploring practical pathways towards low-carbon mobility that are accessible, affordable and responsive to the needs of all city residents. 

Complementing this, a participative roundtable on the “Public Sector Capacity for Climate Action in Asia” addresses institutional architecture: the human, knowledge, and financial layers that convert policy commitments into delivery.  

Working beyond formal conference programming, the “Urban Living Labs” session at Lumphini Park brings the People’s Urban Living Lab (PULL) approach to heat resilience, using interactive exercises to co-create cooling interventions grounded in lived experience. SEI will also be attending a parallel engagement in Bangkok alongside BKKCAW, the Global Heat Forum, that positions SEI’s research within the global discourse on heat, health and climate resilience.

Investing in the energy transition with youth 

Intergenerational equity is at the forefront in the “Workforce Development for Young Talents Under Energy Transition” session, reinforcing that young people must shape the climate agendas that will define their futures. This half-day session focuses on young people’s perspectives, with a keynote on university strategy, an expert panel on regional experiences, and a student-driven panel addressing questions using a pre-event survey.  

Linking science to policy 

In the face of complex environmental and climate challenges, SEI at BKKCAW offers both knowledge and pathways to societal solutions. Across all the BKKCAW sessions, SEI’s research provides a substantive foundation for policy action, from topics like gender-responsive finance and heat resilience to urban governance and food systems adaptation. SEI aims to not only present scientific findings but create the conditions where evidence informs dialogue and dialogue generates policy action, bringing a balanced mix of science, policy solutions, and outreach and engagement with a commitment to inclusivity.

BKKCAW 2026 has built on the success of its inaugural 2025 edition, expanding into more sessions, activities and venues across the city. It has brought about a broader range of participation, drawing in students, policymakers, businesses, researchers, community groups, and Bangkok residents, creating a richer and more inclusive dialogue, making its outreach both impressive and encouraging.

The key question now is whether this growing interest and momentum will translate into urgent and effective climate policy action.