Frequently Asked Questions

Bloom is the leading event for business professionals advancing strategies to protect and regenerate nature.

Bloom launched in San Jose, California, in 2023, by convening more than 500 biodiversity leaders from 19 countries representing corporations, conservation organizations, Indigenous communities, financial institutions, and startups. The program included 114 speakers, 60 sessions, field trips, a fast-pitch startup competition, immersive art experiences and performances, networking opportunities, VIP events and a half-day invite-only water forum.

This annual event will continue to evolve as biodiversity is further integrated into business and finance strategies. Bloom is a space where innovation meets traditional knowledge and practices, where art meets science and where companies come to find inspiring solutions to the most pressing conservation and restoration challenges. We welcome partners to co-locate mission-aligned meetings, announcements, and workshops at the event.

The Blue Zone is an area within the main conference venue specifically designated for negotiations and dialogues between member countries and accredited observers. See Business For Nature’s COP 16 landing page for more information on how companies can participate in COP 16.

All speaker nominations have been reviewed and status updates were sent from events@greenbiz.com on or before July 15th. Please check your spam folder.

Requests are being reviewed on a rolling basis. Please add support-team@greenbiz.com to your approved contacts to ensure you receive our email response.

No, this event is open for anyone accepted to attend.

InterContinental Cali
Avenida Colombia # 2-72 Cali 760044 Colombia

The InterContinental Cali hotel is located in the vibrant EL Peñon neighborhood and is walking distance from many dining options, salsa bars, and parks. Explore nearby neighborhoods, such as San Antonio, San Cayetano, and Granada to experience the local cuisine, shopping, and history.

COP16 will occur at Centro de Eventos Valle del Pacífico, which is approximately 25 min away (by car) from the InterContinental Hotel.

For a list of nearby accommodations, please refer to the official COP16 hotel catalog.

The local taxi service and rideshare apps, such as Uber and EasyTaxi, are recommended for commuting around Cali.

Visit Cultural Sites

• Calima Gold Museum
• Tertulia Museum
• Sugar Cane Museum
• Ermita Church
• Cristo Rey monument
• Cerro de las Tres Cruces
• La Linterna

Salsa Dancing

• Delirio (A unique salsa show)
• La Topa Tolondra
• Zorro Azul
• Zaperoco

Nature and Hikes

• Pance River
• Farallones de Cali
• San Cipriano River

Restaurants at the Intercontinental

• Origen Restaurante
• La Terraza Steakhouse
• Acento Restaurante & Bar
• La Pizzeria Estelar
• Maki Bar

Restaurants near the Intercontinental

• Citadino
• Platillos Voladores
• Rayuela
• Domingo Restaurante
• Baraka Peñon
• Faró El Peñón
• Zaguan de San Antonio

Cali’s food blends Spanish, indigenous, and African influences. Must-try dishes include:

Savory

• Arroz atollado: a type of seasoned rice with meat .
• Empanadas vallunas: empanadas made with potatoes and shredded beef.
• Aborrajado valluno: fritters made with plantains and cheese.
• Tostadas de plátano verde con hogao: green plantain fritters with salsa.
• Tamales: meat, beans, or other fillings wrapped in corn dough and steamed.
• Pandebono: cassava and cheese bread.

Sweet

• Manjar blanco: similar to dulce de leche
• Cocadas: coconut macaroons
• Cholado: a fruit-based dessert
• Champús: a drink made with corn, naranjilla, pineapple, cinnamon, and melado syrup.
• Chontaduro: Cali’s most famous fruit.

Be sure to login to the app with the same email address you used to register for Bloom 24 – no code is needed! Need to change your email? Reach out to support@trellis.net.

• Accenture
• Airbnb
• Allbirds
• Amazon
• American Forest Foundation
• Anheuser-Busch InBev
• Apple
• BASF
• Best Buy
• Clean Energy Buyers Association
• Clif Bar
• ClimateWorks
• Etsy
• Ford
• Google
• HP
• Inlandsis Fund
• International Living Future Institute
• LinkedIn
• McKinsey & Company
• Meta
• Nature for Justice
• Neste
• Nextera Energy
• Nike
• Salesforce
• Science Based Targets Network
• Staples
• Target
• Tesla
• The Nature Conservancy
• UC San Diego
• UPS
• Valo Ventures
• Visa
• Walmart
• Walt Disney Company
• Wells Fargo
• Wildlife Habitat Council
• Workday
• World Wildlife Fund

Subject to Change

Thursday, October 24, 2024

Friday, October 25, 2024

*Workshop is a closed-door session for a select group of multinational corporations and financial institutions, partners, and sponsors. Capped at 200 attendees.

It’s our priority to ensure that our event operations reflect the same values we promote at our conferences – from minimizing and diverting our waste to strategically planning our menus to partnering with innovative organizations who share our goals, we put sustainability at the forefront of the conference planning process. Explore some of our programs and partnerships below to learn more about what exactly we’re doing to live by our values.

If you’re interested in sustainability partnership opportunities, reach out to jessica@trellis.net.

Mitigating our Carbon Footprint with CNaught

Trellis is exclusively partnering with CNaught to mitigate the carbon footprint of Trellis’s four largest conferences and to enable every attendee to mitigate the carbon emissions associated with travel to the conferences using a diversified portfolio of high-integrity carbon credits designed in partnership with Calyx Global. The portfolio includes Calyx Global A-rated avoided emissions credits and B+-rated nature-based removal credits, from at least three projects. Each project produces credits in the top 10% of Calyx-Global-rated credits for greenhouse gas integrity and has been subject to an Environmental and Social Risk screening designed to surface non-carbon risks.

Calculating our Carbon Footprint with Sustain.Life

Sustain.Life is the SaaS platform—and Certified B Corporation™—that helps future-proof companies by decarbonizing and taking climate action. Launched in 2021, Sustain.Life provides ESG and carbon accounting tools that empower organizations to meet compliance requirements, manage and mitigate carbon emissions, reduce costs, and stand out to customers, investors, and other stakeholders.

Trellis Food Policy

We envision meals at Trellis events to be plant-rich, inclusive, delicious, abundant and waste-free. We engage the food service teams at all venues we collaborate with on creating low-carbon menus that respect diverse dietary preferences and nourish our guests — balancing our sustainability goals with the needs of our community and the venue’s capabilities. We also work with the venue team to address food waste every step of the way, continuing our learnings from our 2023 Astrapto Food Waste Training.

Menu Planning with Greener by Default

We’ve partnered with Greener by Default, which consults with events and institutions to apply behavioral science to food policy, nudging diners towards sustainable plant-based options while preserving freedom of choice.

Sustainable Printing with YBC

We have partnered with YBC Production to prioritize sustainability when it comes to all of our signage. YBC Production is dedicated to extending your brand presence, without extending your carbon footprint. By recycling all eligible consumables, exclusively utilizing eco-friendly inks, and prioritizing the offset of our own carbon footprint, we print with a purpose. Learn more about YBC’s commitment to sustainability here.

Reducing Printed Materials with our Conference App

In the place of printed programs, the Whova app offers the best option for accessing the program on-site, connecting with fellow attendees and keeping up with all that Bloom has to offer. Be sure to download the app or access it on your desktop to view the most up-to-date event program. By using the conference app, you are helping to reduce paper use at Bloom. Stay tuned for details on when the Bloom app will be live!

Bloom registrations are non-refundable. If you are unable to attend we can provide a credit memo for you to apply the amount you paid to a future Trellis event within one year.

You are no longer required to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test upon arriving on-site at the event.

Free COVID tests will be available at registration for anyone who has cold or flu symptoms or believes they may have been exposed to COVID.

If you do test positive please follow the CDC isolation guidelines.

Trellis Group expects that all Trellis Group events, activities and digital forums:

1. Are a safe, professional and respectful environment for all participants.
2. Are a place where people are free to express their identities and ideas.
3. Presume that everyone’s ideas, skills, and contributions have value.
4. Don’t assume that everyone has the same knowledge or context, and encourage questions.
5. Ensure that the relationships, conduct and conversations among event attendees, digital users, speakers, journalists, exhibitors and sponsors remain respectful, participatory, and productive.
6. Provide an environment where individuals are free from discrimination or harassment of all kinds.

Trellis Group reserves the right to ask anyone in violation of any of these policies not to participate in Trellis Group events, activities and digital forums.

Trellis Group Anti-Harassment Policy
Trellis Group is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone. Harassment includes but is not limited to: offensive verbal or written comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion; sexual language or images in public spaces; deliberate intimidation; stalking; following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; inappropriate physical contact; unwelcome sexual attention; unwarranted exclusion; and patronizing language or action.

If any participant at a Trellis event engages in harassing behavior, Trellis Group may take any action it deems appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the events, activities and digital forums.

If you are harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the staff immediately by emailing support@trellis.net or visiting the on-site registration desk. Staff will be happy to help participants contact hotel/venue security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the event.

If you cannot reach a Trellis Group staff member and/or it is an emergency, please call 911 and/or remove yourself from the situation.

We value your attendance and hope that by communicating these expectations widely we can all enjoy a safe, inclusive environment.

Special thanks to our friends at Code for America whose Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policies informed our own.

Photography, Audio and Video Recording Policy

Sponsors/Partners/Speakers:

Registered sponsors, partners and speakers are welcome to take photos and record content of their prospective breakout sessions and side events. As a courtesy to speakers, please first receive approval from those recorded on a panel if planning to distribute the original content. Any photography or filming should not be disruptive to the event experience. Credit must be given to the event and event organizers, Trellis Group.

• No photos/video recording of keynotes for commercial purposes or with professional equipment (whether or not audio is used)
• No photos/video recording of sessions unless you have a speaker participating in the session, you’ve received written approval from all speakers involved AND have notified your Trellis customer success manager (applicable to sponsors)
• No photos/video recording of general event areas such as the Expo for commercial purposes or with professional equipment
• Photos/video recording of your booth is okay as long as all of your equipment fits within your allotted booth space

Press:

Registered press are welcome to record program content for journalistic purposes. Credit must be given to the event and event organizers, Trellis Group.

• No photos/video recording of keynotes for commercial purposes or with professional equipment (whether or not audio is used)

Trellis purchases carbon credits through Carbon Direct. Effective January 1, 2024, California Assembly Bill 1305 on Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures requires companies that make climate claims related to carbon offset credits to disclose information about those claims and credits.

The law requires a company that (1) makes claims of achieving “net zero emissions,” (2) sells a product it claims is “carbon neutral,” or (3) makes other similar claims related to the purchase or use of voluntary carbon offsets to:

• Disclose how those claims were verified;
• Share progress toward how that goal is being measured;
• Disclose whether there is independent third-party verification of the company data and claims listed.

As we have previously purchased carbon credits, we’ve provided information relevant to the disclosure requirements. Review this PDF for more information pertaining to our purchase.

Trellis Group (formerly GreenBiz) is a media and events company that accelerates the just transition to a clean economy. Through events that galvanize, stories that amplify, peer networks that bond and industry-leading analysis, we define markets and advance opportunities at the intersection of business, technology and sustainability. We are a passionate team of people that builds and empowers communities to confront the threats of climate change and solve the thorniest challenges of our time. Learn more about what we do here.

With only six years remaining to meet global biodiversity goals, COP16 is a pivotal event for businesses. This conference is key for companies to showcase their progress and collaborate on implementing the Biodiversity Plan, also known as the Global Biodiversity Framework. COP16 will bring together governments, NGOs, and businesses to address challenges, strategize solutions, and advocate for stronger action. The active participation of leading businesses at COP16 is crucial for achieving the objective of halting and reversing nature loss by 2030.

Attending COP16 offers businesses a unique chance to demonstrate leadership, influence policies affecting their operations, and connect with industry leaders. Additionally, Bloom 24, held alongside COP16, provides a platform for companies to explore actionable strategies for reversing nature loss within their operations and supply chains.