Bucharest Hosts Fifth Climate Change Summit at the Palace of Parliament on October 14

The fifth Climate Change Summit opens at Bucharest’s Palace of Parliament on 14 October 2026, bringing together more than 1,000 experts, business leaders, international institutions and policymakers for one of Central and Eastern Europe’s largest climate events, organisers say.

Who is coming to the climate change summit in Bucharest

According to Romania Observer, representatives of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Food Banks Federation will be among the speakers. The summit’s own programme names Gianpiero Nacci, managing director for climate strategy and delivery at the EBRD; Juliette Lassman, a policy analyst in water governance and circular economy at the OECD; and Esteban Arriaga Miranda, chief executive of the European Food Banks Federation.

Other confirmed speakers include Magdalena Jablonska, co-founder of Cleantech for CEE; Alexandra Davidsson, co-founder and global lead of Circular Monday; Amelia López Huix, a United Nations adviser; and Gareth Stapleton, a research associate and climate ambassador at the University of Reading.

Two stages and a summit week

The 2026 edition runs across two stages. Selected applicants can join the Blue Stage sessions for free, while the Green Stage offers roundtables, workshops and live discussions throughout CCS Week — a wider programme of community events organised around the summit. Applications for both are open, according to the official summit site.

The summit also publishes its own carbon footprint: footprint reports for the 2024 and 2025 editions, prepared with Carbon Expert, are featured on the programme — a transparency step unusual among events of this size.

Why Bucharest matters for climate diplomacy

The summit positions Bucharest as a meeting point between Western European climate finance and the green transition needs of Central and Eastern Europe — a region working to cut coal dependence and modernise its energy systems while attracting clean-tech investment.

The event takes place as delegations prepare for COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, making it one of the last major regional climate gatherings before the UN climate conference. For more climate news from Watan News, follow our ongoing coverage of international climate events.