Venice, 22 April, 2026—Venice Climate Week today announces the first keynote speakers confirmed for its 2026 edition, returning to Venice from June 3 to 8 with an expanded international scope and a strengthened strategic vision.
Titled Planet Aqua, Planet Peace, the second edition puts forward a clear and ambitious statement: rethinking the future of cities and the planet through water. No longer framed solely as a symbol of crisis, water is positioned as a defining infrastructure of the 21st century—a generative force to design with, and a critical lens through which to rethink urban systems, economies, governance models, and planetary resilience.
From coastal cities to food systems, from global governance to technological innovation, water emerges as the key to understanding the transformations shaping our time.
Following a 2025 edition that marked a turning point in climate diplomacy—with the launch of the Venice Water Declaration and the creation of the Blue Communities Task Force—Venice Climate Week evolves into a platform connecting leadership across science, policy, finance, and culture, with the goal of translating dialogue into coordinated action.
Cardinal Fabio Baggio, Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, Sylvia Eerle, Enrico Giovannini, Hunter Lovins, Kaveh Madani, Giovanna Melandri, Gunter Pauli, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Paul Polman, Kilaparti Ramakrishna, Jeremy Rifkin, Andrea Rinaldo, and Jessika Roswall: this first group of confirmed keynote speakers reflects this cross-sectoral approach, bringing together globally recognized voices to address the systemic challenges facing water-based societies.
This edition also introduces, for the first time, a Guest Artist, with Emiliano Ponzi creating the key visual for Venice Climate Week 2026.
Full program details, partners, and institutional participation will be announced during the official press conference in Rome, at Marevivo Headquarters—CNR Biodiversity Gateway—on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.
