Faster, Together.
Recover, Better

Krishnan Guru-Murthy is a broadcast journalist and a specialist news presenter. He also presents the foreign documentary series Unreported World travelling to some of the planet’s most far flung and dangerous places including Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon. He has covered six British general elections, interviewed many Prime Ministers around the world and presented a host of special political programmes, live television debates as well as popular and controversial science programmes.

Krishnan has chaired a number of high level conferences including The UN International Development Summit in Mexico and the UK climate change summit for Gordon Brown and Al Gore.

In 2010 and 2014 he was nominated as Presenter of the Year in the Royal Television Society Journalism Awards.

Krishnan's first foray into television came presenting the BBC2 youth discussion programme, 'Open to Question', at the age of 18 before he set off for Oxford University to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Krishnan went on to present the children's programme Newsround, then was a reporter on the current affairs programme Newsnight before helping to launch the BBC News channel. He also presented a Sunday morning politics show on the radio station LBC and for some years wrote a column for the Metro newspaper. He has appeared on a range of entertainment programmes from “Eight out of Ten Cats” to 'Have I Got News for You', played himself in the hit British movie “Shaun of the Dead” and with his family in tow led a cooking team for an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s 'The F Word'. Krishnan recently took on the Sport Relief ‘Heat is On’ Challenge – 100 miles desert expedition in Namibia.

James Murray is Editor-in-Chief of BusinessGreen, having launched the site in October 2007. He is responsible for BusinessGreen's leading news, opinion and analysis, and also contributes to the brand's expanding events' programme James is one of the UK's leading commentators on the low carbon economy.

He writes occasionally for The Guardian newspaper and has also reported for BBC Radio on a number of green technology stories. James reports daily on a wide range of green business issues, with a particular focus on low carbon policy, economics and technology.

In March 2011, James was voted number eight in the Press Gazette's list of the top 50 environmental journalists in the UK. Prior to launching BusinessGreen, James spent five years as a technology journalist working on a variety of IT titles.

Robert Llewellyn is a British actor, presenter and writer, famous for his thirty-year stretch as the rubber-masked mechanoid Kryten in the much-loved science fiction comedy, ‘Red Dwarf’. With his interest in engineering, Robert then turned his hand to presenting the long-running TV show, ‘Scrapheap Challenge’ and also ‘How Do They Do It?’ and ‘Carpool’.

In 2010, after being blown away by early Electric Cars, Robert launched Fully Charged, a YouTube channel focusing on the future of electric vehicles, of all shapes and sizes, and clean energy. Fully Charged has exceeded 55 million views around the world and Robert was recently acknowledged as ‘Tech Legend’ at the T3 Awards.

Lucy Siegle is a writer, broadcaster and public speaker on environmental issues and sustainability. She is an authority on the environmental and social footprint of the global fashion industry through her book To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing out the World? and as producer of Netflix feature documentary The True Cost. She also co-founded the Green Carpet Challenge with Livia Firth.

Over 14 years she has honed her expertise as the Observer and Guardian’s eco agony aunt and is well known on British TV for bringing the problem of single use plastic to widespread attention. Her book, Turning the Tide on Plastic: How Humanity (and you) Can Make Our Globe Clean Again is published by Orion.

She is known as an expert, funny and lively chair of difficult discussions. She recently chaired a panel with George Monbiot and others on climate and media at the Frontline Club in London, toured with popstar and environmental campaigner Dougie Poynter, and appeared at the Cheltenham and Henley literary festivals, while wrangling experts and policy makers on the subject of Air Pollution in UK cities on stage in London.

Lucy’s on screen work includes regular spots on the One Show where she focuses on consumer issues. These have previously included live discussions with expectant mothers in a busy maternity ward, investigating the issuing of gun licences to children, and the impact of charging for plastic bags. On 24th October 2019 she presented a special edition of ITV Tonight on microplastics and human health where she and her home were tested for tiny fragments of plastic and chemicals. She is The Reuse/Refill Queen and a vociferous campaigner against fugitive plastic that she fishes out of the river Thames on her daily kayak-commute.

Paul Polman is co-founder of IMAGINE, a new organisation which mobilises business leaders around tackling climate change and global inequality. Paul is Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce, The B Team, Saïd Business School and Vice-Chair of the UN Global Compact. A leading proponent that business should be a force for good, he has been described by the Financial Times as "a standout CEO of the past decade”. As CEO of Unilever (2009-2019), he demonstrated that a long-term, multi-stakeholder model goes hand-in-hand with excellent financial performance. Paul was a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel which developed the Sustainable Development Goals, and as an active SDG Advocate he continues to work with global organisations and across industry to push the 2030 development agenda.

Tom Rivett-Carnac co-founded Global Optimism together with Christiana Figueres in 2017, when the pair departed the UN, having successfully secured the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change. During his tenure at the UN, Tom ran political strategy, prior to which he was President of CDP North America. Tom co-authored the bestselling book, ​The Future We Choose​ with Christiana Figueres and co-hosts a lively weekly podcast ​Outrage + Optimism​. He serves as an advisor on delivering climate ambition to some of the world’s most influential corporations and philanthropic leaders.

Kara Hurst leads Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon, covering multiple areas across the environmental and social sectors: renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, customer packaging experience, product sustainability, circular economy and waste reduction initiatives, social responsibility and responsible sourcing, sustainability science and innovation, and environmental compliance. Prior to joining Amazon, Kara was CEO of The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), a multi-sector group across academia, the retail industry and the public sector. TSC was named one of Scientific American's "Top Ten World Changing Ideas" of 2012. For eleven years before that, Hurst worked as Vice President of BSR, where she built several global industry practices and lead BSR's NY and DC offices, as well as the global partnership practice with governments, multi-laterals and foundations. Hurst also co-founded of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC, now the Responsible Business Alliance) and worked in Silicon Valley as Executive Director of the public-private venture OpenVoice, building out early teen channel content for AOL and others. In her early career, she held roles at the Children’s Health Council, leading interdisciplinary educational and development programs, at the Urban Institute as a Research lead in the public finance and housing division, and worked in the offices of two elected officials – Mayor Willie Brown of San Francisco and in New York for the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). Kara holds a BA from Barnard College of Columbia University and an MPP from the University of California, Berkeley.

The Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park was appointed as Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 13 February 2020.

He was previously Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and at the Department for International Development from 10 September 2019 to 13 February 2020 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and at the Department for International Development on 27 July 2019 and 10 September 2019.

The Minister’s responsibilities include:

• climate change, environment and conservation, biodiversity
• oceans
• Oceania
• Blue Belt
  

Chris Stark is the Chief Executive of the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the public body tasked by the Climate Change Act to be the independent authority on tackling climate change. Chris leads a team of analysts and specialists, offering expert insight into the challenges of reducing UK emissions and adapting to the changing climate.

Chris led the CCC’s work in 2019 to recommend a new ‘Net Zero’ target for the UK – now brought into law. He speaks regularly on the transition to a zero carbon economy and the need to confront climate change with urgency.

Chris has wide experience in government. He has designed economic policy in Whitehall, including in HM Treasury and the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. He was previously Director of Energy and Climate Change in the Scottish Government, leading the development of the Scottish energy and climate strategies.

Mr. Nigel Topping was the CEO of We Mean Business until December 2019, where he drove radical collaboration for climate action among NGOs working with the world's most influential businesses. This coalition played a key role in bringing the constructive voice of business in support of the Paris Agreement and, under Nigel's leadership has continued to drive ambition and action to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy.

Previously, Nigel was Executive Director of CDP, launching new programs and partnerships including supply chain, water, forests and cities. Nigel has 18 years’ experience in the private sector, including as a member of the management board of the world's largest manufacturer of brake pads, TMD Friction.

Nigel is a commissioner on the Energy Transitions Commission and has been instrumental in the launch of many collaborative initiatives such as Science Based Targets, Business for Nature and the Global Commons Alliance.

He holds an MA in Mathematics from Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK and an MSc in Holistic Science from Schumacher College, Devon, UK

Dr Emily Shuckburgh is Director of Cambridge Zero at the University of Cambridge and Reader in Environmental Data Science at the Department of Computer Science and Technology. She is a mathematician and climate scientist and a Fellow of Darwin College, a Fellow of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Science and Policy and a Fellow of the British Antarctic Survey.

Dr Shuckburgh leads the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training on the Application of AI to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER). Until April 2019 she led a UK national research programme on the Southern Ocean and its role in climate (ORCHESTRA), and was deputy head of the Polar Oceans Team and head of the Data Science Group at British Antarctic Survey.

In the past she has worked at École Normale Supérieure in Paris and at MIT. She is a fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society and co-chair of their Climate Science Communications Group. She has also acted as an advisor to the UK Government on behalf of the Natural Environment Research Council.

In 2016 she was awarded an OBE for services to science and the public communication of science. She is co-author with HRH The Prince of Wales and Tony Juniper of the Ladybird Book on Climate Change.

Jeremy joined Sky plc as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2004 and was appointed CEO in December 2007.

Jeremy became Group CEO following the acquisition of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland in 2014. He has extensive experience in the retailing and fast-moving consumer goods sectors.

Prior to joining Sky, Jeremy was Group Finance Director of DSG International plc (DSG), formerly Dixons Group plc and prior to DSG, he spent 12 years at Procter & Gamble in a variety of roles in the UK and Europe.

Jeremy is the Chairman for Business in the Community and an Ambassador of WWF.

Abyd Karmali is a Managing Director, Sustainable Finance at Bank of America based in London. He is part of the team supporting the bank’s capital deployment efforts, in particular its commitment to mobilise $300 billion for low-carbon investment opportunities by 2030. He has worked for twenty-eight years on climate change and sustainable finance and was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for these efforts in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for 2019. Before joining the financial sector in 2007, he was a partner in a management consulting firm in Washington DC where he advised companies on their climate strategy and also spent two years with the United Nations Environment Programme in Paris where he served as Energy and Climate Change Programme Officer. In 2013, Mr. Karmali served as one of two inaugural private sector representatives to the Board of the Green Climate Fund. His advisory roles include the Judging Panel for the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, and co-chair of the Sustainable Finance Working Group for the International Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Board of Directors for The Climate Group and on the National Committee for the Aga Khan Foundation (UK). He holds an MS in Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Emma Pinchbeck is Deputy CEO and sits on the Board of RenewableUK. She is an expert in decarbonisation and a regular commentator on climate change and renewables. Emma strongly supports efforts to improve diversity in the energy sector. She holds several advisory positions, including with Imperial College and Innovate-UK.

Previously, Emma was Head of the Climate Change team at WWF-UK and worked in private consulting. She has an MA from the University of Oxford.

Outside of work, she ran her first Marathon in 2018 to raise money for WWF’s climate change work, is otherwise a keen competitive rower, and is passionate about sustainable living – even her wedding dress was from Oxfam!

Julie joined UKGBC as CEO in 2015, and has since been credited with transforming its strategy into a more member-focused, holistic sustainability agenda with a strong focus on impact measurement. At the helm of a fantastic team, Julie and UKGBC have some important achievements to celebrate – including galvanizing industry support for a net zero carbon legislative target in 2019, convening industry consensus around definitions of net zero carbon buildings and circular construction, and influencing government policy at both national and local levels on a range of impact areas including net zero carbon, biodiversity net gain, climate resilience, and waste and resources strategy amongst others. Julie’s own purpose is to support and empower her team to drive effective change, and to act as UKGBC’s spokesperson with the media, members, regulators, and wider stakeholders, as well as forging links with other GBCs across the world.

Julie is also a Commissioner on the London Sustainable Development Commission - a body that advises the London Mayor on sustainable development matters across London. She also Chairs the Igloo Footprint Advisory Board, and sits on both the Green Construction Board and Grimshaw’s Stewardship Group. In December 2019, she was named one of three best persons of the decade by Property Week.

Julie was previously UK Head of Sustainability and an International Director at JLL, having come into JLL as a result of an acquisition. JLL acquired Upstream, a leading sustainability consultancy which Julie was co-founder and Joint MD of, in 2007. Having led the Upstream team through the integration into JLL, Julie oversaw further development of cutting-edge sustainability services to property investors and occupiers across the UK and EMEA.

Tanya joined WWF-UK in January 2017 as the organisation’s first female Chief Executive, and its sixth overall since its establishment in 1961. She has led the reorientation of WWF’s strategy to focus on tackling the major drivers of nature’s decline – including climate change and the global food system – and to raise ambition to build a movement to restore nature.

Tanya’s career began in the tech industry, working in product development, marketing and communications in senior roles for Siemens and BT. After more than 10 years in the private sector, and inspired by a voluntary stint with the Red Cross, Tanya brought her corporate experience to the charity sector, joining Save the Children in 2004. Here she drove supporter growth and income as Executive Director of Marketing, Fundraising and Communications, and later led the organisation as interim Chief Executive. During her time at Save the Children, Tanya saw first-hand the impact that degradation of the environment has on people’s daily lives, particularly in communities which are less resilient to environmental pressures.

Stuart farms 400 hectares in Hertfordshire and Kent in partnership with his wife Emma and father Howard. A third generation arable and livestock farmer at Hammonds End Farm, Harpenden Stuart has also worked for Defra and the Food Standards Agency and held senior management roles within the meat supply chain.

The farm incorporates around 300 hectares of combinable crops supplying grain to more than 50 artisan mills and bakers throughout the UK. The remaining land is predominately permanent pasture and a small amount of woodland. The farm includes two cattle herds, a commercial Simmental / Hereford herd producing 14 month old store cattle and a small but growing pedigree herd of Hereford cattle. The business also includes a small flock of laying hens.

Stuart was elected to the post of NFU Deputy President after serving two years as Vice President. He previously chaired the NFU Hertfordshire branch and served on both the East Anglian livestock and combinable crops board. Stuart has also previously served on the boards of Red Tractor and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

Prior to returning to the family farm Stuart had a career in the civil service with the Food Standards Agency and Defra and has held a number of positions within the red meat supply chain with both the British Meat Processors Association and the ABP Food Group.

Stuart has a daughter and three sons and enjoys cycling and running (slowly).

Cassie Flynn is the Strategic Advisor on Climate Change in the Executive Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Cassie is an internationally recognised expert on the international treaty negotiations on climate change and provides advice to countries on how to develop and fulfil their pledges under the Paris Agreement. In 2017 – 2018, she served as a senior advisor to the Prime Minister of Fiji in his role as COP23 President.

In 2017, she was named the 13th most influential person on climate change by Onalytica.

Prior to UNDP, Cassie provided strategic advisory services on climate change and sustainability to national, state and local governments, international organizations, multi-billion dollar companies, and civil society groups. Cassie also co-founded ioby.org, a non-profit to help build stronger, more sustainable neighbourhoods. She, along with her co-founders, won a Jane Jacobs medal for her work with ioby.org.

Cassie has also advised numerous creative media projects such as the film Angry Birds, television show Incorporated, and music project Happy Sounds Like.

Cassie earned her Master’s degree from Yale University and undergraduate degrees from Bowdoin College. In 2011, Cassie published “Blending Climate Finance through National Climate Funds,” a guidebook on designing and establishing national funds. In 2013, Cassie published "South-Originating Green Finance: Exploring the Potential.

Shane Tomlinson is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of E3G. His role focuses on leading E3Gs work on political economy and governance, including the development of its political economy mapping methodology (PEMM), scenarios and the response to Brexit. Shane also oversees the development of E3Gs network of offices, its communication team and processes for learning and integration. Shane holds a number of external appointments and currently serves as a board member of Greener UK and the advisory group for the All-Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group. Prior to joining E3G Shane was a Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House where he published research on the future of the European Energy Union, Brexit, stranded assets and the future of the international climate regime. He also worked as a Policy Adviser in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit working on energy policy, sustainable consumption and production issues and the design and launch of the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Shane holds an MPA from Princeton University, an MSc in Economic History from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Economics and Economic History from the University of Bristol.

Viki Cooke is a co-founder of BritainThinks. She has more than 20 years’ experience in strategic insight. Viki also has overall responsibility for a great deal of our work for government and works closely with a number of departments including DHSC, Home Office and Department for Transport.

Viki has a track record for innovation having pioneered deliberative research methods in the UK – she has been involved in delivering the UK’s first Citizens’ Jury, first Citizens’ Forum and first Citizens’ Summit. She personally led a number of high-profile programmes including Your Health, Your Care, Your Say for the NHS and The Prince of Wales’s Business Summit on Climate Change. Viki is passionate about involving citizens in informed, influential and inspiring debates about the issues that impact on their lives and is well known for her work in this area.

Colin McKerracher manages coverage of the transport sector at BloombergNEF. Colin’s team covers the technology, policy and economic factors shaping the transport sector. This includes electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, batteries, shared mobility, autonomous driving and other new vehicle technologies. Colin’s team advises the world’s top automakers, electric utilities, oil and gas companies, governments and financiers.

Colin previously managed BNEF’s coverage of the global smart grid industry. He has over 10 years of experience in the clean energy and transport sectors and presents regularly at industry events. Colin’s past roles include Director of Sales and Marketing for Neurio, a smart grid technology company, and Business Development Manager for a Canadian biofuel company. Colin holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the Sauder School of Business at UBC. He is based in London, UK.

Rebecca Willis is a Professor in Practice at Lancaster Environment Centre, and an Expert Lead for Climate Assembly UK, the Citizens’ Assembly established by the UK Parliament. She is the author of Too Hot to Handle? The democratic challenge of climate change, published by Bristol University Press in 2020. Rebecca founded, and now advisers, Green Alliance’s Climate Leadership Programme, an initiative to support Members of the UK Parliament. Rebecca is a Trustee of the New Economics Foundation and an adviser to the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund. From 2015-2019 she was a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of UKRI’s Energy Programme, and from 2011-15 she was a Council Member of the Natural Environment Research Council. Previously she was Vice-Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, advising the Prime Minister and First Ministers of the devolved administrations. From 2001-4 she was Director of the think tank Green Alliance.

Prof. Ioannou is a strategy scholar whose research focuses on Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). More specifically, he seeks to understand whether, how, and the extent to which the modern business organization contributes towards building a sustainable future. His academic work evolves around two main themes: a) understanding how the broader investment community perceives, evaluates and reacts to corporate engagement with, and integration of, environmental and social issues into strategy and b) understanding the multiple and multilevel factors that may affect the corporate decision to adopt environmentally and socially responsible strategies.

Prof. Ioannou regularly publishes in top-tier peer-reviewed academic journals including the Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Management Science, Organization Science, The Accounting Review and the Journal of International Business Studies. To date, his work is widely cited and he consistently ranks in the top 10% authors on the social science research network (SSRN).

Prof. Ioannou has presented his research at many academic conferences, and universities around the world and also, he is very often invited to deliver keynote speeches on issues of responsible management and sustainability at numerous high-profile events and conferences globally. Recent keynotes include Moody’s Annual EMEA convention (2020), the inaugural Malta Sustainability Forum (2019), 2019 Strategica Conference (Romania), BlackRock Goldman Sachs Factor Symposium (2019), the Global Islamic Finance Forum (2018), and UBS Quantitative Investment Conference (2017), among others.

He is also very active on social media and a frequent contributor to articles in the popular and managerial press including outlets such as the Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, BBC, Le Monde, and Forbes. In further recognition of his impactful work, Prof. Ioannou has been recognized by various rankings as one of the top social media influencers around the world for issues of responsible business and sustainability.

He is currently an Associate Editor of the Strategic Management Journal and in 2015 and 2019 received an Outstanding Editorial Board Member Award for his service. He also served a Senior Editor for Organization & Environment (2016-2020)

Moreover, he is a member of the Advisory Board of Ethical Corporation, the Advisory Board of Solve.Earth, the Advisory Board of the Sustainable Risk Assessment Framework (SRAF), the Board of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS). Prof. Ioannou is also a member of the World Economic Forum Expert Network with expertise in the area of Sustainable Development and a member of the experts’ network of KKS Advisors, a leading sustainability advisory firm.

In 2016, Prof. Ioannou was awarded the 2016 ARCS Emerging Sustainability Scholar Award; an award that recognises a scholar in the area of corporate sustainability who is likely to make significant contributions to the advancement of corporate sustainability scholarship. At the same event, Prof. Ioannou’s work with R. Durand and O. Hawn received the 2016 ARCS Outstanding Paper Award.

A key contribution of his work is to theorize about and provide empirical evidence for the emergence of the “responsible organization” (in a recent study published in Management Science, with G. Serafeim and B. Eccles). In this piece of work, Ioannou and co-authors provide solid evidence regarding significant long-term outperformance of this type of organization compared to the traditional corporate form, both in terms of operating as well as stock market performance.

In a more recent study with C. Flammer, Prof. Ioannou explores the impact of the Great Recession on long-term corporate strategies, revealing the critical role of investments in innovation and stakeholder relations during times of crisis. Specifically, the findings show that during the Great Recession, companies significantly reduced their workforce and capital expenditures. Yet, they maintained the same level of investments in R&D and CSR in an attempt to remain competitive during (and after) turbulent times.

His work on CSR and Access to Finance, with G. Serafeim and B. Cheng, has received the Best Paper Award at the Annual Academic Conference of the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment as well as the Emerald Citations of Excellence 2017 Award. His work with O.Hawn received the Best Paper Award from the Social Issues in Management division of the Academy of Management and was published in the Best Paper Proceedings of the 2012 Academy of Management (AOM) meeting. Recently, his paper with O. Hawn and R. Durand presenting a general model of corporate responses to normative pressures as they relate to socio-environmental issues was published in the 2016 AOM Best Paper Proceedings. Previously Prof. Ioannou had two more papers published in the AOM Best Paper Proceedings: his dissertation work on the impact of spinoffs on their parent companies in the US automobile industry (2009), and a paper with G. Serafeim on the Impact of CSR on Investment Recommendations (2010).

Prof. Ioannou graduated magna cum laude from Yale University, majoring in Economics and Mathematics and holds a Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University and the Harvard Business School. He joined LBS in 2009 as an Assistant Professor and he is currently an Associate Professor with tenure. He has taught on the MBA and EMBA Core Strategy courses at LBS, and several other degree programs such as the Masters in Finance degree, the Emerging Leaders Program and other senior executive programs, including the Senior Executive Programme (SEP). He is a regular contributor to multiple LBS executive education programmes including modules on Responsible Business and Sustainability and has recently launched a pioneering, 5-week online course on Sustainability Leadership and Corporate Reponsibility (www.london.edu/SLCR).

Sarah has led work on many of the UK's most high-profile citizens' assemblies, including Climate Assembly UK (UK Parliament, 2019-2020), National Assembly for Wales Citizens' Assembly (2019) and the Citizens' Assembly on Social Care (UK Parliament, 2018). Beyond citizens' assemblies, Sarah has worked with the Houses of Parliament and National Assembly for Wales to author guidance and training on how parliamentary committees can better engage the public in their work. She also develops and leads projects that focus on giving people with particular lived experience a say in decisions that affect their lives.

Sarah is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Constitution Unit, University College London, and an Associate Member of the University of Leeds' Centre for Democratic Engagement.

Stephen Fitzpatrick is an entrepreneur who believes business has a crucial role to play in creating a zero carbon world. In 2009, he founded OVO Energy, which is committed to eliminating its own carbon emissions and helping its customers to reach net zero emissions at home by 2030. Since its founding, OVO has held a vision of clean, affordable energy for everyone. OVO’s intelligent technology division, Kaluza, is driving the global transition to a distributed and secure, zero-carbon grid. In 2018, Kaluza developed the world’s first domestic electric vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charger, enabling drivers to store renewable energy in their cars, use that to power their homes and also to sell energy back to the grid at peak times. He’s also the founder of Vertical Aerospace, an electric aircraft company whose latest prototypes are reimagining the way we fly. Vertical’s aircraft combines aerospace engineering and F1 technology, with the intention to make flying on-demand, personal and carbon-free. The company flew the UK’s first full-scale electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in June 2018. Stephen recently launched the Zero Carbon Campaign to determine how carbon pricing can help drive the UK's transition to net zero. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.

Jan has been Chairman of BT Group plc since November 2017, having joined the board as Chairman-elect earlier that year.

Jan was Chairman of Rio Tinto from 2009 to March 2018. He also served as Chairman of SABMiller plc until its takeover in 2016 by AB Inbev. Prior to this he was Chairman of British American Tobacco, from 2004 to 2009.

He has also held non-executive directorships at Marks & Spencer Group and Lloyds Banking Group, and served as Chairman of RHM plc.

In his earlier career from 1988 to 2004, Jan was Group Finance Director of Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group. Raised near Cape Town, South Africa, Jan obtained degrees in Commerce and Law from the University of Stellenbosch before going on to qualify as a South African Chartered Accountant.

Jan moved to the UK in 1990 and calls England home. 

Dr Bevis Watts – Chief Executive of Triodos Bank UK Dubbed by some media as ‘the first environmentalist to run a UK bank’, Bevis has lead Triodos Bank UK since April 2016, having previously been head of business banking for almost five years (2008-12). He has spent over 20 years working in sustainability in public, private and voluntary sectors, including ten years in the recycling industry, where he created WRAP’s Financial Mechanisms Programme which leveraged tens of millions of private sector investment into recycling in the early 2000s. During his time leading Triodos Bank UK, the bank has delivered strong growth, launched a personal current account and a crowdfunding platform, as well as transitioned to a new legal identity as a subsidiary in preparation for Brexit. Triodos Bank UK Ltd was established in May 2019.

Bevis has always worked for values-led organisations and was previously chief executive of Avon Wildlife Trust. He has held numerous Directorships and Trusteeships and was a Board member of Bristol 2015, the delivery company for Bristol European Green Capital 2015, inaugural Chair of the West of England Nature Partnership, and elected to represent Local Nature Partnerships at a national level on the ESI Funds National Growth Board (2013-2015). Advisory roles have included the steering committees for the Banking Futures project and the UK government’s taskforce on Impact Investing, the forerunner to the Impact Investing Institute.

He has a first-class business degree, a PhD in Management Science, is a Chartered Environmentalist (MCIWM, CEnv) and a Fellow of the RSA. He has been the author of papers published in academic journals, conference proceedings, as well as opinion pieces published in national and international press including the Huffington Post and Reuters.

National Grid’s UK Executive Director, Nicola is positioned firmly at the heart of meeting the energy challenges of the future. She joined National Grid in July 2016 after holding the CEO role at HS1 for five years.

She is highly regarded in the UK transport industry and in July 2015 was asked to report to the UK Government on the future structure and financing of Network Rail. The subsequently named Shaw report was published in March 2016.

Nicola holds a BA in Modern History and Economics from Oxford University and an MSc in Transport from MIT. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2015.

Lord Barker is Executive Chairman of En+, the world’s largest producer of low carbon aluminium and independent hydropower. Lord Barker was previously a member of the British House of Commons from 2001 to 2015. From 2010 to 2014, he served as UK Minister of State for Energy & Climate Change, under Prime Minister David Cameron, becoming the longest serving British energy minister for a generation.

Peter has been Chief Executive of Anglian Water Group since October 2013; his previous roles include Managing Director of Anglian Water from January 2010 and Chief Operating Officer from 2004.

He is a founding member, and now co-chair, of the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group in the UK, run by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, which provides a strong voice to support UK leadership nationally and internationally on the transition to a climate neutral, resource efficient, socially inclusive economy by 2050. He also works with Business in the Community as Chair of the Water Taskforce and sits on the Board of Trustees of WaterAid.

Peter is a Chartered Water and Environmental Manager, a Chartered Scientist and a Chartered Environmentalist. In 2016 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Society of the Environment and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, as well as Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. He holds an MBA from Warwick Business School.

Peter was Chairman of Water UK from April 2012 to October 2013 and is a past President of the Institute of Water.

Liz joined the board of Kelda Group and Yorkshire Water in November 2011 as Director of Finance, Regulation and Markets. She became CEO in September 2019.

Liz was previously a partner of Ernst & Young LLP (EY) where she held several senior partner roles, including leading the firm’s national water team and the assurance practice across the North Region. Liz had been with EY since 1987 and in that time worked with some of the largest companies in the UK. Liz specialised in delivery of services to the water industry, including several water companies and UK regulators.

Liz is a lay member and trustee of the University of Leeds, where she chairs two committees and is Deputy Pro-Chancellor. She was also a non-executive director and Chair of the audit committee of KCOM from April 2015 to August 2019 and supported the Natural Capital Coalition as a Board member from April 2016 to July 2019. From 2013 she was also a member of the Prince of Wales Accounting for Sustainability group of CFOs which she chaired for 2 years and stepped down with her change of role in September 2019.

Emma Howard Boyd is the Chair of the Environment Agency, an Ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and has recently been appointed as the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation. She has worked in financial services for over 25 years, in corporate finance and fund management. As Director of Stewardship at Jupiter Asset Management until July 2014, Emma was integral to the development of their expertise in the corporate governance and sustainability fields.

Nicola Lovett is UK & Ireland CEO of ENGIE, which employs over 17,000 people across three key activities: energy, services and regeneration. Since her appointment, she has been focused on combining these activities to help businesses and communities accelerate the transition towards a net zero carbon world.

Nicola has over 20 years of senior level experience across both public and private sectors. She has been with ENGIE since 2013 having held a number of executive roles, including as Divisional CEO for Business Energy and Services, where she led on delivering innovative customer-led solutions such as the provision of energy ‘as a service’, allowing businesses to reduce energy consumption and improve operational efficiency. Nicola was also responsible for the strategic acquisition and integration of a number of smart building and demand-side response companies, enhancing building user experience. Prior to her work for ENGIE, she held senior level positions at both Balfour Beatty and Serco.

Pia Heidenmark Cook is Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at Ingka Group, the world’s leading home furnishing retailer, with around 36 BEUR turnover, 160,000 co-workers and operations in 30 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America.

Pia has worked at IKEA since 2008, for many years as Head of Sustainability in IKEA Group Retail & Expansion, embedding sustainability in IKEAs retail operations and a meeting the customer strategy. Before joining IKEA in 2008, Pia worked as Vice President Corporate Social Responsibility at the Rezidor Hotel Group (300+ hotels in 50+ countries).

Pia has worked with, lectured and studied CSR/sustainability related topics since 1996, both across academia, consultancy and business.

As the Green Party’s first MP, Caroline has represented Brighton Pavilion since 2010. Previously she served as an MEP for 11 years, and as an Oxfordshire councillor. She has also been elected both as the Party Leader and its Co-Leader, with Jonathan Bartley.

She is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change, Co-Chair of the group on Fuel Poverty, and Vice Chair of Parliamentary Groups on Animal Welfare, Public and Commercial Services and Sustainable Housing. She is also a member of Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee and co-chair of IPPR’s Environmental Justice Commission.

Caroline has consistently been voted the UK's most ethical politician, and has won awards for her work on tackling social exclusion, wildlife protection, and women’s rights, and is in the Environment Agency’s Top 100 Eco-Heroes of all time. Her book, Honourable Friends: Parliament and the fight for change makes a passionate case for parliamentary reform.

María Mendiluce has over 20 years’ experience in sustainable development, energy and climate action. In addition to sitting in the Senior Management Team of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), where she guides over 200 member companies on transformative climate policy and energy transition, María formally adopted the role of CEO of the We Mean Business coalition in May 2020. Her prior work experience includes roles at the Economic Bureau of the Spanish Prime Minister, the CEO office of Iberdrola, and the International Energy Agency (Paris). María has a PhD in energy economics and regularly teaches at different universities and publishes in academic journals and media.

Tony is CEO of Make My Money Matter, a brand-new campaign trying to help members of the public better align their finances with their values. Ultimately, Make My Money Matter aims to help ensure the £3 trillion in UK pensions is invested in building a better world. Tony Burdon has worked in international development for most of his life, spending over fifteen years living and work in Africa and Asia. Before joining Make My Money Matter, Tony was a senior civil servant at the Department for International Development, leading the Economic Growth, Private Sector and International Financial Institutions Departments

Will joined Drax in 2015 as CFO and was appointed as CEO in January 2018. He has a wealth of experience in finance and technology, having held CFO and divisional Finance Director roles at a number of major companies, including CSR plc (acquired by Qualcomm, Inc in 2015) and Sky. Will has a track record of creating value and building well-managed companies. He has been a key architect of our purpose and strategy, driving the sustainability agenda from the top, including Drax’s response to the climate change crisis, and ensuring that we are delivering for our stakeholders. He provides leadership of the executive team and takes responsibility for important external relationships and stakeholder management. Will is also a non-executive board member of the Sustainable Biomass Program.

During his time as CEO, Heathrow has consistently improved service levels for passengers, while reducing costs, and it is now rated one of the best airports in the world. Heathrow was named “Sustainable Business of the Year” at the edie awards and one of the Best Companies to work for by the Sunday Times.

He is chair of the Business in the Community Employment and Skills Leadership Team, a member of DEFRA’s Council for Sustainable Business, a member of HRH the Prince of Wales’ Sustainable Markets Council, and a Commissioner with the Energy Transitions Commission. John is also a Non- Executive Director at Thames Tideway.

Before becoming CEO in July 2014, he was Development Director, responsible for delivering the £2.5bn Terminal 2 on time and on budget.

Prior to joining Heathrow, John worked in housebuilding with Taylor Wimpey, in brewing and leisure retail with Bass plc and as a strategy consultant with LEK. He has lived and worked in the UK, US, Australia and the Philippines.

John is married with two daughters.

Bim Afolami was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Hitchin & Harpenden in 2017, following a successful career in the City – first as a corporate lawyer and then as a Senior Executive at HSBC.

Bim grew up watching his parents serve the local community with dedication. His father is a consultant doctor in the NHS, and his mother is a pharmacist. He wanted to make that same positive difference to people as their Member of Parliament.

In Parliament, Bim has championed education, the environment and the economy. He is Chair of the APPGs on Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Markets and Financial Services, and Credit Unions.

In September 2019, he hosted “Net Zero by 2050: A Policy Response” in his constituency, looking at economic and environmental policies to help the government achieve its target of net zero emissions by 2050

Colette Cohen is the Chief Executive Officer for the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) and has worked in the oil and gas industry for more than 25 years. Colette successfully launched the OGTC in 2017 and has established it as the ‘go to’ technology centre for the industry. Since starting her career offshore with BP in 1991, Colette has worked for ConocoPhillips in the North Sea, Norway, the US and Kazakhstan, where she received a Jubilee Medal from the Kazakh Prime Minister in recognition of her contribution to the country’s oil and gas industry.  Prior to joining the OGTC, she was Senior Vice President for Centrica Energy’s Exploration and Production business in the UK and The Netherlands.

Colette has previously served on the board of Oil & Gas UK and the OGA Decommissioning Board. She is now the Chair of the National College for Onshore Oil and Gas, sits on the Technology Leadership Board and is a Non-Executive Director for both OPITO and NORECO. She is also a Commissioner for the Just Transition Commission for Scotland, an active champion for the industrial transition of the oil and gas industry to a net zero future and a committed role model for women in industry.

Colette is a chemistry graduate from Queens University Belfast, has a Masters in Project Management and Economics from Ceram University, an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen, is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Institute of Directors and a Trustee of Springer Rescue for Scotland. 

Arizona has fronted campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands including Chanel, Estée Lauder, Prada, Louis Vuitton & Yves Saint Laurent, and graced the cover of over 40 international Vogue Magazines. With an increasing awareness of the world around her, she has become a passionate advocate for sustainability and environmental regeneration and one of the leading voices on the topic from the fashion industry. As well as starring in the campaign of fast retailer giant Mango’s first ecological line, Arizona has been engaged as a sustainability-consultant for fashion companies who wish to lower their environmental impact. Arizona sits on the board of The Sustainable Angle, a non-profit organisation that initiates and supports projects that minimise the environmental impact of the fashion industry, and contributes to Fashion Revolution, a team of business leaders, policymakers and brands who work together towards radically changing the way clothes are sourced, produced and consumed. She is an ambassador for Greenpeace and Women For Women and has also collaborated on campaigns with Extinction Rebellion, UN Development Programme, Oxfam and Remake.

Water UK chief executive Christine McGourty joined the water and sewerage industry’s trade body in December 2019.

Christine has extensive experience in regulated industries and trade bodies, leading the corporate affairs functions at Centrica, British Gas and Energy UK, as well as serving as a non-executive board member at Smart Energy GB. Her most recent role was as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at FTSE-listed engineering and technology company Laird plc.

Prior to entering the corporate world Christine was a journalist for more than 20 years, including reporting on science, technology and environmental issues for the BBC and the Daily Telegraph.

Paul has been at the forefront of CDP's development since its inception in 2000 and CEO since 2008. He’s a thought leader on climate change and sustainability and on the actions that governments, corporations and investors must take to deliver the Paris Agreement and keep the world at no more than 1.5°C warming. Paul also sits on the boards of We Mean Business, the Science Based Targets initiative and the Investor Agenda.

Steve chairs the ESG Senior Leadership Team at Aviva Investors, and is a member of the CIO Investment Committee. Steve founded Aviva Investors’ Sustainable Finance Centre for Excellence. This Centre seeks to transform capital markets so that they support long term sustainable development. He also co-founded the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, the World Benchmarking Alliance, the UN Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Coalition. He was also part of the group that helped write the Principles for Responsible Investment.

Steve was appointed to the European Commission High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance, and the UK Green Finance Taskforce, and is also a member of the Financial Stability Board Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).

Steve started his career at the World Wide Fund for Nature in 1995, where he chaired the business and industry core group and oversaw the ethical investment policy. He also served on the board of the UK Sustainable Investment & Finance association (UKSIF) from 2003 to 2010, serving as its Chairman from 2006.

Steve has a PhD in Sustainable Finance from the University of Surrey. He is a Visiting Professor at Cass Business School, and also teaches at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. His work became a case study in the Harvard Business School MBA in 2012.

Steve has been nominated by the Financial Times as one of their ‘warriors of climate change’. He has received awards from Brummell, the Chamber of Commerce, the City of London, Financial News, the United Nations Foundation, Yale and Harvard. He has also spoken at the World Economic Forum, Columbia University, the London School of Economics, the Singapore  Exchange and 10 Downing Street.

Paul Stein was appointed to the Rolls-Royce Executive Leadership Team as Chief Technology Officer in April 2017 to be accountable for the company’s technology investment and for ensuring close alignment with business strategy to maintain a competitive edge.

Prior to that, Paul was Research & Technology Director accountable for the company’s global investment in R&T, as well as fostering innovation and promoting and sustaining specialist engineering talent.

He joined Rolls-Royce in 2010 as the Chief Scientific Officer and for two years concurrently acted as the Engineering and Technology Director for the Company’s Nuclear business.

Paul was Director General, Science and Technology, at the UK Ministry of Defence immediately prior to joining Rolls-Royce. Prior to that, he was Managing Director of Roke Manor Research which was then owned by Siemens, and in 2003 was appointed to the Siemens UK Executive Management Board, leading technology and contributing to business strategy.

Paul holds an Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree from King's College, London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Douglas is the CEO of innocent drinks, having taken over from the founders in 2013. He has been at innocent for 13 years, in a number of leadership, marketing and innovation roles. Since becoming CEO, the business has more than doubled in size to over £430m of turnover, through product innovation and geographic expansion, to become Europe’s leading chilled drinks brand. Under Douglas’s leadership, innocent certified as a B Corp in 2018, joining a global movement of leaders who believe business can be a force for good by balancing purpose, planet, profit and commitment to high social, environmental and people standards. Prior to innocent, Douglas spent 7 years at Freeserve (now Orange broadband) as part of the leadership team that grew the business from a start up to a leading UK internet service provider, his main role was as Director of Corporate Development. Douglas started his career at KPMG Corporate Finance and has studied at the University of Edinburgh and Harvard Business School (GMP).

Dr. Rhian-Mari Thomas was awarded an OBE for services to green banking and was appointed chief executive of the UK Government and City of London Corporation-backed Green Finance Institute in 2019. She is Chair of the Green Finance Institute’s Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings.

Rhian was previously the global head of green banking and the founder and chair of Barclays Green Banking Council, which developed and launched Barclays’ suite of green finance products and services.

These include issuance of the first green bond by a UK bank backed solely by UK assets, the first green mortgage by a major UK high street lender and establishing Barclays as the first commercial bank with a full green corporate banking proposition to complement Barclays’ existing green bond origination capabilities.

Rhian is an Emeritus Member of the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). She also previously sat on the UK Government Green Finance Taskforce, the Banking Environment Initiative’s Fintech Taskforce and the steering group for the United Nations Environment Programme Principles for Responsible Banking.

Rhian is a commissioner for the Commission for Carbon Charging, a member of the Global Advisory Council for Oxford University’s Sustainable Finance Programme and an Advisor to the UK Government’s Climate Finance Accelerator programme.

Rhian began her banking career at Barclays Investment Bank in 2000, spending 10 years in leveraged finance and financial sponsors coverage before holding a succession of leadership roles across Barclays Corporate Bank and Barclaycard.

She is a passionate advocate of diversity and fairness and was awarded the Barclays Woman of the Year award 2014/15 in recognition of her efforts to support the inclusion agenda both within the bank and the broader community. In both 2016 and 2017, Rhian was ranked in the Financial Times Outstanding Top 30 Global Executive LGBT Allies list.

A fluent Welsh speaker, Rhian holds a PhD in Physics from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

Michael Jacobs is Professorial Fellow at the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) at the University of Sheffield. An economist, his work focuses on post-neoliberal political economy, climate change and environmental policy, and progressive political thought.

Prior to joining SPERI Michael was Director of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice, based at the UK think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research. He was principal author and editor of the Commission’s final report Prosperity and Justice: A Plan for the New Economy (2018). His books include The Green Economy: Environment, Sustainable Development and the Politics of the Future (Pluto Press 1991) and Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth (edited with Mariana Mazzucato, Wiley Blackwell 2016).

From 2004–2007 Michael was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers at the UK Treasury, and from 2007–2010 Special Adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, with responsibility for energy, environment and climate policy. In these roles, among other activities, he oversaw the Stern review of the economics of climate change, environmental tax and spending policy, the 2008 Climate Change Act and 2009 Low Carbon Transition Plan.

After leaving government in 2010, Michael advised governments and others on international climate change policy in the run-up to the UN Climate Conference in Paris in December 2015. He was a founder and senior adviser to the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.

He is co-founder and Executive Chair of the Economic Change Unit, a new not-for-profit organisation which supports and amplifies the efforts of those seeking to build more resilient, sustainable and equitable economies.

Ian Funnell is Ian Funnell is a graduate of Aberdeen University in Engineering Science. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.

Ian has had a long and distinguished career in the global energy sector. He started in the UK utility sector, joining ABB originally in 1999, in manufacturing, global utility and oil & gas sectors. He rejoined the UK utilities in 2008 as the Director of Major Projects, and latterly as the Managing Director of Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc.

Ian rejoined ABB in 2012 in France as Group Vice President in the global utility sector and latterly as CEO and President of ABB SA (France). Ian was appointed CEO of ABB UK in January 2015 and Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi ABB Power Grids in the UK and Ireland on 1 July 2020.

Ian is Chair of CBI North West Region, a member of the CBI Presidents Committee, and a member of the Advisory Boards of Innovate UK (Energy Revolution) and Imperial College London (Energy Futures Laboratory). He has also been a member of the Government’s Made Smarter Commission.

Richard leads the BBC Sustainability team. He created the original “albert” carbon calculator for TV production which has become an industry standard tool in the UK and beyond. In 2011 he co-founded the BAFTA albert Consortium, a pan-industry group dedicated to promoting and developing sustainability in the screen arts. Richard has devised and delivered climate change-related training to hundreds of employees and has advised numerous programme makers on how they can make their shows in greener ways. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment and is a Chartered Environmentalist.

Jo Bamford spent 14 years at JCB before moving into the hydrogen sector, setting up Ryse Hydrogen and then buying Northern Ireland bus giant Wrightbus. He has won contracts to supply the world's first hydrogen double-decker to cities such as London and Aberdeen - aiming to put 3,000 hydrogen buses on the UK's streets by 2024 - and announced another world-first after developing a hydrogen JCB excavator.

MSc in Political Science, Aarhus University; MPA in Applied Microeconomic Analysis and Leadership, Harvard University. Executive development Wharton, Stanford, Insead and IMD. Former consultant, McKinsey & Co. Joined Ørsted in 2004. Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Stakeholder Relations, reporting to the CEO.

Henrik was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director in November 2018, having acted as a consulting adviser to the Company and provided services equivalent to those of a Chief Commercial Officer since March 2017.

Henrik was formerly a Managing Director with Natixis S.A. (both in the UK and North America), and previously Global Head of Crude Oil Sales and Trading at BP PLC. His experience prior to this included roles as Executive Director at Hess Energy Trading Ltd, and Executive Director at Goldman Sachs International, London. His expertise includes investment banking, commodities trading, fund raising, and commodity finance. Henrik has an MBA from INSEAD and graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics with a BA in finance and economics.

Shaun Spiers is executive director of Green Alliance. He was previously chief executive of CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England), head of the credit union trade association ABCUL, and an MEP for the South East. Shaun is a trustee of Sustain, the alliance for food and farming, and his book, How to build houses and save the countryside, was published in 2018.

Appointed to Pernod Ricard HQ in August 2017, Vanessa is responsible for creating and driving the Group’s new 2030 ‘Good Times from a Good Place’ Sustainability strategy - a global strategy adopted and being implemented by Pernod Ricard’s 87 affiliates globally.

Before joining the HQ, she held the position of Global Communications Director for Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët and prior to this, she spent 17 years in a number of Communications roles in the UK for Pernod Ricard, including Global Communications Director for Chivas Brothers, the Scotch Whisky and Gin business.

During her career, she has also worked for a number of luxury and food & drink consultancies and spent 5 years as a Senior Press Officer for The National Farmers Union.

Vanessa has been awarded The Cambridge Institute Business Sustainability Management Certification. She is a Master of the Keepers of the Quaich, a Liveryman for the Worshipful Company of Distillers and is a past Chairman of The Benevolent, the industry charity.

She is an experienced scuba diver and has a passion for protection of the sea and environment.

Andrew is the CEO of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, Co-founder of Food Made Good Global and Board Member of the Courtauld 2025.

All of this work is inspired by a mission to cut the climate impact of the food we eat.

He lives in Kent, has a 1 year old, and has shifted around 5 tonnes of soil in the past month in the name of home grown courgettes.

Gabrielle has led BT's environmental sustainability programme since 2009. Her work has spanned BT's carbon targets - BT's 1.5°C science-based carbon reduction target, BT's net positive carbon abatement target to help customers save three times the end-to-end carbon impact of BT's business and ICT's carbon abatement potential, including the acclaimed GeSI SMARTer2030 report.

Gabrielle also developed BT’s supply chain engagement programme - the award winning BT Better Future Supplier Forum.

Gabrielle represents BT in external fora such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), We Mean Business and Aldersgate Group and chairs the UNFCCC Momentum for Change Advisory Panel. She is a regular speaker and writer about BT's climate action journey.

Prior to joining BT's digital impact and sustainability team, Gabrielle held roles in regulatory and public affairs and programme management. She has an MSc in Telecommunications Business from the University College London, an MA in International Economics and Relations from SAIS Johns Hopkins University and a BA in International Relations/Asian Studies. She is also an alumnus of the University of Cambridge Sustainability Leadership Programme and has completed the WBCSD Leadership Programme.

Maria joined Scottish Widows at the start of 2020 to lead the customer investment proposition to market for the Pensions business. She is responsible for defining the investment offering across workplace savings, individual and longstanding customer segments. Maria is also responsible for incorporating sustainability in Scottish Widows’ investment design and is the spokesperson on investment matters.

Maria joined Scottish Widows from Mercer, where she had a role of Market Engagement Leader in their DC & Individual Wealth business, which she took up following the acquisition of JLT Group by Marsh & McLennan in April 2019.

For 6 years leading up to that, she had been Head of JLT’s DC Investment Consulting team, where she was tasked with enhancing JLT’s DC proposition through market leading research, development and advice for a wide variety of DC pension arrangements. Maria combined her thought leadership and proposition development role with her client facing role, advising a diverse portfolio of DC clients.

Maria joined JLT in early 2013 from Capita Employee Benefits, where she was mainly focussed on DC advice, although prior to that her background had been predominantly in Private Equity.

She holds an MSc in Strategic Planning and Investment from Newcastle University Business School and is a CFA charterholder. She is a regular speaker at DC industry events and a professional awards judge.

Andrew is responsible for thought leadership and ESG integration at Schroders, with oversight of the Sustainable Investment team and Schroders’ stewardship activity.

Andrew joined Schroders from Didas Research, an independent research firm he founded in 2013 focused on identifying companies well placed to sustain long-term earnings growth and equity market outperformance. The research approach at Didas was driven by the belief that in the long run, stock market outperformance, profitability and competitive advantage are intrinsically linked to companies’ abilities to adapt to changing social and environmental pressures.

Prior to this he spent six years at Goldman Sachs as Managing Director and Head of GS SUSTAIN Research, leading the team’s integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors with industrial, competitive and financial analysis.

Andrew also worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co in New York where he advised financial institutions and was involved in the firms’ Business in Society work with Global Witness, a development-focused NGO.

Previously he was Head of European Mining Research at Deutsche Bank where he led a team of four London-based analysts and worked with global colleagues to create a global sector research product.

Andrew was voted #1 Pan European mining analyst in the 2002 Extel Survey and #1 European Metals analyst in the 1998 Extel survey.

Andrew started his investment career in 1997 as an Analyst covering the Steel & Mining sectors at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson.

Thomas leads climate and environment within Unilever’s Global Sustainability Team, responsible for strategy, policy, advocacy and partnerships.

Thomas led the development of Unilever’s new climate and nature strategy, launched in June 2020, which included a recommitment to 1.5 degree Science-Based Targets, a new Net Zero by 2039 commitment and the launch of the €1bn Climate & Nature fund.

Thomas joined Unilever in 1999, abandoning the finance graduate scheme after 3 years in 2002 to take a role in UK Social & Environmental Affairs. After 6 years in Unilever’s UK business, Thomas joined Green Alliance as Deputy Director, where he learned more about climate change and the critical importance of public policy in decarbonising the economy.

Thomas re-joined the business in 2010 as Global External Affairs Director, and was part of the original team that launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, subsequently founding the Unilever Global Advocacy team to drive transformational change on systemic issues such as recycling, public health and sustainable agriculture.

During that time he served as sherpa to former Unilever CEO, Paul Polman KBE in his role as Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate and the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on the Post 2015 Development Agenda. He was part of the Dutch delegation to COP21 and was part of the virtual team that choreographed the business input to the Paris Climate Summit.

Thomas read Philosophy and Modern Languages at Durham University and holds an Advanced Diploma in Sustainability and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Cross-Sector Partnerships for Sustainable Development from Cambridge University and a Masters in Development Management from the Open University. Thomas is a Chartered Management Accountant and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He is married to Sarah, a British diplomat, and they live with their three children near Cambridge.

In 2017, Darren joined the Woodland Trust as its Director of Estates & Woodland Outreach before becoming its Chief Executive in September 2019. Prior to this, Darren gained his PhD from Oxford University before joining the RSPB, where he held a variety of roles including responsibility for their UK Conservation Programmes.

At the Trust, Darren has been responsible for: the Trust’s acquisition strategy – growing the estate to c29,000 hectares across the UK; expanding our woodland creation with schools, local communities and partners to over 4 million trees/annum; and our restoration of over 2,000 ha/year of ancient woodlands. He now leads the UK’s largest woodland nature conservation charity, with over 500,000 members and supporters.

Darren is also Chair of the Northern Forest Board and a member of the BBC Rural Advisory Committee.

Tetra Pak is leading the packaging industry and encouraging other participants to play their part in achieving the global goal of being net zero by 2050.

As President of Tetra Pak Europe & Central Asia Region, Charles Brand has been instrumental in ensuring sustainability forms a key part of Tetra Pak’s corporate agenda. This has included leading research into the environmental performance of different forms of carton, alongside the development of innovations such as paper straws, a PE/AL solution and plant-based caps as part of its commitment to low carbon packaging.

Brand joined Tetra Pak in 1985 as an Electronics Development Engineer and has since held several key senior positions in the company, including Vice President of R&D for Tetra Rex, Managing Director of one of the key business units of Tetra Pak, Managing Director Tetra Pak Taiwan and Executive Vice President, Product Management & Commercial Operations.

Caroline joined Landsec in April 2015 and leads Corporate Affairs and Sustainability. She is responsible for both setting strategy and delivery and has moved Landsec to an industry leadership position on sustainability within real estate. Her sustainability work is focused on creating jobs and opportunities, efficient use of natural resources and sustainable design and innovation. Recent achievements include work to move Landsec towards being a net zero carbon business, transitioning the company to 100% renewable electricity provision, setting new science-based carbon and energy reduction targets and establishing award winning social value programmes. Prior to joining Landsec, Caroline was COO of PwC’s Sustainability & Climate Change team where she worked with a number of clients to develop leading sustainability programmes.

David is the Head of Carbon Budgets at the Committee on Climate Change, where he’s worked since 2007. He oversees the process for setting the carbon budgets under the Climate Change Act, with the next to be recommended towards the end of 2020. Previously David led the process to develop the decarbonisation pathways for achieving a net-zero emissions target to underpin the Committee’s recent advice on Net Zero. He also led the Committee’s recent Hydrogen Review and has a PhD on hydrogen infrastructure from Imperial College London.

Dr Rebecca Heaton is responsible for Drax Group’s efforts to mitigate climate change, ensuring that sound science underpins climate change polices and business strategy. She is also responsible for developing sustainability and climate change research programmes. She has a 20 year global career working at the interface between business, science and policy.

After an early career in academia, she has held senior roles in a number of large energy companies. A Chartered Forester, her expertise spans energy, climate change and land-use and the role business has to play in enabling the UK to decarbonize. She is also a member of the UK Committee on Climate on Change.

Shweta Harit is Global Brand Vice President for evian where she spearheaded evian’s latest carbon neutral certification in April 2020, as well as continuing to engage consumers with evian’s sustainability journey more broadly as it seeks to become fully circular by 2025. Shweta leads the evian innovation team which is currently seeing the brand transition to “bottles made from bottles” (rPET) across the evian range.

She strongly believes in brand purpose and its importance for businesses today, and her specialism lies in this area.

Shweta has over two decades of experience delivering campaigns rooted in social purpose at a global level for various multinationals, including Unilever, Kellogg’s and Danone. At Kellogg’s, Shweta led the signing of a new partnership with UN Women focused on female nutrition, in addition to the brand repositioning of Special K. At Unilever, she led Brand Strategy, Development and Innovation for its most well-known brands, including Dove for seven years and Lifebuoy.

Shweta’s experience is therefore truly global, and she uses her ability to build strong networks to drive very challenging projects through in complex matrix organisations. She loves working within teams, and as a manager loves to develop and grow her people.

Mark is the Founder of the non-profit financial think-tank, the Carbon Tracker Initiative and conceived the ‘unburnable carbon’ capital markets thesis. He commissioned and was editor of Unburnable Carbon – Are the World’s Financial Markets Carrying a Carbon Bubble? In November 2011. More recently, Mark founded and is Chairman of Planet Tracker – www.planet-tracker.org. which focuses on natural capital and financial markets, covering seafood, textiles, agriculture and water. Mark is responsible for management strategy, board matters and developing their capital markets framework analysis. Their goal is to align capital markets with natural ecological limits to growth.

Prior to forming these groups, Mark had twenty- seven years’ experience in sustainable financial markets working for major institutional asset management companies. Mark is a co-founder of some of the first responsible investment funds firstly at Jupiter Asset Management in 1989 with the Ecology Funds, NPI with Global Care, the AMP Capital Sustainable Future Funds, and Henderson Global Investor’s Industries of the Future Funds.

Mark served on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development working group on capital markets leading up to the 1992 Earth Summit; was a Member of the Steering Committee of UNEP Financial Sector Initiative (1999-2003). Mark is a Founder Director of the UK Sustainable and Responsible Investment Forum (UKSIF), 1990-2006, is a member of the Advisory Council of ImpactBase.org; a member of the Advisory Board of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s ‘Conservation and Markets Initiatives’; a member of UNCTAD’s Sustainable Stock Exchange’s Green Finance Advisory Group; and is a Senior Advisor to Consilium Capital and a Fellow of Tribe Impact Capital.

Mark has a BA in Politics & Economic History and an M.Sc in Agricultural Economics.

Richard Black is Director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), whose core work is to ensure that discourse in the UK on climate change and the energy transition is rooted in evidence. Richard’s background is in broadcasting and journalism – he worked for BBC World Service in various roles including presenting science programmes before becoming BBC News Environment Correspondent. On leaving the BBC Richard was Director of Communications for the Global Ocean Commission. In 2018 he wrote 'Denied: The Rise and Fall of Climate Contrarianism', the only book about the UK's climate contrarian elite. Richard frequently contributes to media, including taking part in the BBC's Attenborough documentary 'Climate Change: The Facts'.

Henry has worked in sustainability all of his working life, his initial passion for the environment was sparked by his childhood growing up on an organic farm in Cumbria. Henry has worked in sustainability for a range of organisations, including environmental start-ups, charities, Local Government and environmental consultancy. He moved to Nando’s in 2016.

In his current role as Head of Sustainability at Nando’s Henry is responsible for setting and leading the sustainability agenda for the UK and Ireland business. He also guides the global sustainability agenda for more than 1,200 restaurants in the group. Since Henry joined Nando’s the carbon footprint of the average meal has reduced by 40% and the business has recently committed to reducing this by an additional 50% as part of their approved Science Based Target.

Henry represents Nando’s at the Sustainable Restaurants Association, The Net Zero Forum, UKSSD, Round Table on Sustainable Soy and various other industry fora. Henry is also an alumnus of the University of Cambridge Sustainability Leadership Programme. And it wouldn’t be Nando’s if there wasn’t a bit of fun so Henry also gets involved in brewing honey beer from the restaurant’s residents bees and playing the trumpet in the Nando’s band!

Ray Dhirani leads the sustainable finance team at WWF-UK, where he has spent the last eight years. WWF-UK is an integral part of the wider WWF global network. Previously, he spent eight years working in the markets division of Merrill Lynch in New York within foreign exchange and fixed income sales and trading. His educational background includes a BSc. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MSc. in Environment & Development from the London School of Economics. Ray’s team focus mainly on sustainable investment and metrics, spatial finance, policy and regulatory work on climate and environment, as well as wider system change in the finance and economic system.

Gordon has twenty years of experience championing sustainability and responsible business, with a focus on climate change, natural capital and water.

As Head of Sustainability at Yorkshire Water, Gordon has embedded the Six Capitals approach and Integrated Reporting to shape more sustainable decision-making, strategies and investment choices. By working closely with the Board and having established its Social Value Committee, Gordon and his team have delivered a wide range of sustainability improvements through a cross-business programme of environmental, financial and social priorities. A current priority is responding to the climate emergency by leading the business in its new commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Gordon is also the chair of trustees at the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation, helping shape the Foundation’s strategy and governing the distribution of donations (over £7m to date) to a wide range of good causes.

Mike is a change agent, committed to helping business big and small, new and established to prepare for and succeed in the great sustainability disruption that will wash through the economy in the 2020s.

Mike was until recently Director of Sustainable Business at Marks & Spencer, spearheading its ground-breaking Plan A (because there is no Plan B for the one planet we have) sustainability programme. He co-chaired the Consumer Goods Forum’s sustainability work bringing the world’s largest retailers and fast moving consumer goods brands together to work on issues such as deforestation, plastics and forced labour. He is a Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Chris has worked for PepsiCo for 27 years, predominantly in Supply Chain and Financial leadership roles. Having worked as a supply chain leader over the last decade, sustainability has been a critical part of Chris’ role and three years ago he formally took ownership of leading the sustainability agenda as part of his responsibilities to transform PepsiCo Europe’s supply chain. In this role, Chris leads PepsiCo’s work to embed sustainable thinking, practices and technology into the European supply chain. A key area he is driving is to establish end to end sustainability thinking into core decision making and processes across our business, alongside partnering with all stakeholders to make sustainable choices more accessible.

Tzeporah has been designing and winning campaigns in Canada and internationally for 25 years. She currently is International Program Director at Stand.Earth, the Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Committee, and the Co founder of the Global Gas & Oil Network. She is also an Adjunct Professor of York University Faculty of Environmental Studies and works as a strategic advisor to a number of First Nations, environmental organizations and philanthropic foundations on climate and energy issues. She is the former co-director of Greenpeace International's Climate and Energy Program and Co-founder of ForestEthics. In 2016, Tzeporah was appointed by the Alberta Government to Co-Chair the Oil Sands Advisory Working Group tasked with making recommendations to implement climate change and cumulative impact policies and was listed as one of the 35 Most Influential Women in British Columbia by BC Business Magazine. In 2015, she was awarded the YWCA Women of Distinction Award in British Columbia. In 2019, Tzeporah received the Climate Breakthrough Project Award and in 2013 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of British Columbia. She is the author of This Crazy Time: Living Our Environmental Challenge www.tzeporahberman.com.

Olly joined Openreach in 2017. He leads Service Delivery (including Openreach Northern Ireland), a team of 19,500 engineers who are responsible for keeping the UK connected so people can live, work and stay and in touch. The team is the single biggest engineering team currently working across the UK. Olly is the business continuity lead for Openreach and has been responsible for leading the team through the COVID-19 crisis, ensuring the business stays open so that engineers (classed as key workers) can support the UK infrastructure at this critical time.

Before Openreach – Olly was operations director for the AA. He was responsible for their day to day operations and also modernising the field teams and call centres. Before that he ran the central heating installation business at British gas. He has also worked in strategy, commercial analytics and change management at British Airways, Barclaycard and L.E.K consulting.

Dr Martin Edlund has for the last twenty years combined management consulting and strategy research collaboration with world-class technology companies such as ABB, GE, LM Ericsson and SKF. Today, he leads Swedish marine energy developer Minesto and the work towards commercialising its unique renewable energy technology called Deep Green. Dr Martin Edlund has a PhD in Innovation Management from the Department of Technology Management and Economics at the Chalmers University of Technology and holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Physics.

Justin Laney manages the John Lewis Partnership fleet of 3500 commercial vehicles and 1300 cars. The fleet is recognised for leading in innovation, and the priorities remain to reduce all emissions (including those affecting air quality and noise) through efficiency and displacing all diesel with low carbon alternatives. Areas of focus are using bio-methane in heavy trucks, electrification of home delivery operations, high capacity vehicles, aerodynamics, and other methods based on good science and rigorous testing. Headline commitments include running all heavy duty trucks on biomethane by 2028, and achieving a zero carbon fleet by 2045.

Justin’s career started with London Transport (Buses), having obtained a BEng at Liverpool University. He also worked at UPS for 20 years, managing fleets in EMEA as well as the UK. Justin is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Director of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, and Chair of SRF’s Steering Committee.

Val Miftakhov is a Founder & CEO of ZeroAvia, Inc, a California company developing the World's first practical zero emission aviation powertrain. Val is an avid helicopter and airplane pilot, and a serial sustainable transportation entrepreneur - his previous company eMotorWerks has developed the World’s leading platform for EV battery aggregation to provide grid services, and was acquired in 2017. Prior to that, Val held a number of senior business and product positions at Google and McKinsey & Company, and was a nuclear researcher at Stanford Linear Accelerator. Val holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University, Masters in Physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and was a two-time winner of Russian Nationwide Physics competitions.

Nicole Itano is the Executive Director of tve (television for the environment), a non-profit that uses storytelling to drive real world action for a more sustainable world. Nicole has 20 years of experience in the non-profit and media sectors communicating about global development and environmental issues. She has led award-winning global media and communications projects that have reached millions of people around the world, helping raise awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and drive action on climate change and biodiversity loss. As the Director of Media and Content at WWF-UK, she led the organisation’s global media outreach for the Our Planet Project, in partnership with Netflix and Silverback Productions. Nicole joined the non-profit sector after a decade in international journalism, where she reported from more than 50 countries for many of the world’s leading media outlets, including Time Magazine, The New York Times and Bloomberg Television. She is also the author of a book about the global AIDS epidemic.

Peter has 20 years’ experience advising businesses, NGOs, government agencies and the UN on communications on environmental issues. He wrote the first communications strategy for the UN IPCC, and designed and led many agenda-setting campaigns including the European Hydrogen Highways Initiative, Nature4Climate and Mission 1.5. He has worked with businesses including BP, PUMA and Maersk as well as NGOs such as WRAP, CDP and Sir Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room. He launched Browning Environmental Communications in 2017 after a career at CNC-Communications & Network Consulting (now Kekst CNC) and Lexis PR, and was previously a speechwriter and journalist.

Roger Harrabin is the BBC's Energy and Environment Analyst, and one of their senior journalists on the environment and energy. He has broadcast on environmental issues since the 1980s and has won many awards in print, TV and radio. Aside from his speciality he has covered many major general news stories. He is a Visiting Fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford, an Associate Press Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge and has received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Cranfield University.

Jillian Ambrose is the Guardian's energy correspondent. She was previously the energy editor of the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph, and the news editor of Utility Week.

Leo previously worked for 16 years as a journalist, editor and author at the Guardian newspaper. Before joining Carbon Brief, he was WWF-UK’s chief advisor on climate change. In 2013, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Exeter in recognition of his journalism. His books include A Life Stripped Bare, The Final Call and Will Jellyfish Rule the World?

Gemma is the Director, Business and Nature, at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). Gemma has fifteen years of experience in sustainability working with researchers, business and governments. She collaborates with a range of companies to identify strategic and commercially relevant approaches to protect and restore nature. She is leading a team who are supporting businesses in amplifying their ambitions for global action on reversing nature loss, articulating a view on what business leadership looks like in the face of the ecological crisis and identifying sustainable and scalable solutions.

Through CISL’s Natural Capital Impact Group, Gemma has worked closely with companies wishing to measure and reduce their impacts on nature in their supply chains. Gemma has supported the development of a new metric and risk screening framework that allows businesses to proactively manage risks relating to the degradation of biodiversity and its wider societal impacts. She co-developed a business primer that outlines steps to integrate nature into business strategies and how a company can identify a portfolio of mitigation actions to reduce impacts on and restore biodiversity. She developed the Catchment Management Declaration with a group of multi-sector actors with the ambition to tackle the collective challenges through catchment management. Gemma has been involved in a collaborative project analysing the risks and strategies for companies to respond to pollination deficit for key commodities and co-created a primer for the fashion industry to develop corporate biodiversity strategies.

Emily has been the environment correspondent at PA Media (formerly the Press Association) for nearly 13 years. Her beat ranges from climate change and energy to wildlife and farming. With stories on topics from ash dieback to household waste and recycling and the reintroduction of beavers, she has led coverage of the environment as it has risen up the agenda. She has also covered UN climate conferences and international environmental science reports and will be leading PA’s coverage in the build-up to the Cop26 talks in the UK in 2021.

Lisa has reported from around the world and is now Climate Change Correspondent in this critical year of tackling the climate emergency.

She was one of the first journalists into Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein and among the first journalists into Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.

During the Arab Spring she reported extensively from Libya and was in Tripoli at the start of and throughout the NATO bombing.

Lisa has also reported on a series of significant international stories including the Bali bombing, the Mumbai siege, the Boxing Day Tsunami and the election of Donald Trump.

Lisa was the Royal Television Society specialist journalist of the year in 2017, and her coverage of the European migration crisis was recognised by the Foreign Press Association.

James Kirkup is the Director of the Social Market Foundation, responsible for the overall management and work of the think-tank. He joined the SMF in 2017 after a 20-year career in journalism, most of it spent at Westminster covering government and politics. He was Political Editor and Executive Editor at the Daily Telegraph and a correspondent for The Scotsman and Bloomberg News. He is a regular columnist for publications including the Spectator, the Times and Unherd, writing about politics and public policy.

Trewin Restorick is Founder and CEO of the award-winning charity Hubbub UK which transforms the way environmental messages are communicated by bringing people and organisations together as a force for good. Previously Trewin created Global Action Plan the UK’s leading environmental behaviour change charity. Trewin is a frequent media commentator on environmental issues and was trained by Al Gore as one of his climate change ambassadors. He has Chaired Student Hubs and been a trustee for the New Economics Foundation Before starting Global Action Plan, Trewin was Director of Fundraising at Friends of the Earth where he created PaperRound London’s leading community recycling business. Prior to Friends of the Earth, Trewin worked at Plymouth City Council and produced a youth TV programme for the BBC called Something Else.

Dan Smith is a reputation and campaigning specialist Partner at Headland. Headland is the UK’s fastest-growing reputation consultancy, which brings together experts in corporate and financial communications, campaigning and public affairs. Dan has advised household-name brands, FTSE100 & 250 businesses, NGOs, charities and public sector organisations. His current clients include TikTok, Three Mobile, Just Eat, Pret, LinkedIn, Versus Arthritis and Business for Nature.

including helping them navigate complex policy problems. He also works closely with the Hanbury data team to advise political campaigns on their messaging and corporates on their reputation. Prior to founding Hanbury, he was formerly Chief Speechwriter, Director of Strategic Communications and Director of Strategy to Prime Minister David Cameron. He spent six years working in Downing Street and has an unparalleled knowledge of the workings of Whitehall. He played a central role in three campaigns: the Scottish Referendum of 2014, the General Election of 2015 and the EU Referendum of 2016, and has been described by the Mail on Sunday as ‘the most influential figure from an ethnic minority background in British politics’.

Mike's research examines how dietary choices affect environmental sustainability and human health. He uses global models and meta-analyses to examine these issues and to provide insight into what can be done to reduce the impact that diets have on environmental sustainability and human health.

Dave has over twenty years’ experience advising corporates and Governments on the technical, commercial and behavioural components of net zero buildings and organisations. Having started his career designing low carbon buildings and distributed energy systems, he combines practical knowledge with strategic insights into the risks and opportunities presented by climate change. He is currently supporting a number of multi-national clients with the development of net zero strategies and implementation plans in the real estate, retail and manufacturing sectors. He is also leading research for BEIS into the decarbonisation options for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems within non-domestic buildings, having led Verco’s earlier work on the 3-year Building Energy Efficiency Survey.

Dave’s international project experience includes; a zero carbon community in China, a zero waste programme in the Middle East, an eco-resort in Malaysia, and carbon reduction strategies for three sub-Saharan cities. Other major projects include; the development of a zero carbon dairy, a community-owned wind turbine, and a standardised process for energy efficiency project development with the Investor Confidence Project.

Anna is a Chartered Engineer and holds an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) focussed on bridging the gap between design and operational energy performance of non-domestic buildings. Anna is currently leading the energy management strategy for Tesco to cost-effectively reduce the retailer’s operational energy consumption and spend. She played a pivotal role in shaping the Tesco’s Science Based Carbon targets as well as its underlying Renewable Energy Roadmap, which will see Tesco run off 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

Dr Jenifer Baxter joined The Institution of Mechanical Engineers as Head of Energy and the Environment in May 2015 and moved into her current position at the beginning of 2020. Jenifer is Chief Engineer at the Institution, responsible for quality assurance and engineering knowledge management, providing thought leadership, working with members, public affairs activities and is an expert engineer to the media and government covering all mechanical engineering subjects and specialises in energy, transport and the environment. Jenifer is also Head of the Communication and Marketing Services at the Institution bringing a joined-up approach to engineering and member experience.

Jenifer has written a number of reports for IMechE, including recent reports on decarbonising transport, train engines and fuels, hydrogen trains, fashion waste and gas use in the energy sector, with further short reports on Leaving the EU: Euratom Treaty as well as academic papers covering subjects as diverse as engineering out food waste, to perceptions of hydrogen futures and technological innovation systems.

Jenifer has a PhD from Cardiff University examining hydrogen from waste technologies, an MSc in Sustainability, Planning and Environmental Policy and a BEng in Environmental Engineering also from Cardiff University.

Jenifer is a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, IOM3 and is a Chartered Engineer and Scientist.

Wayne Bexton is Head of Energy Services at Nottingham City Council and has worked in public sector energy and sustainability fields for over 18 years, having previously delivered sustainability advice in the private sector. Wayne has delivered numerous high profile, high value environmental projects and programmes for the public sector across the East Midlands, receiving industry recognition along the way including the National Lottery Awards Environment Category Winner, Solar Power Portal - Best Commercial Project and the Local Authority of the year 2018 and 2019 at the National Energy Awards.

Currently leading on Nottingham’s ambitious carbon neutral, energy and sustainability programmes, with an aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2028. The City has already reduced carbon emissions by 41% and now generates 24% of the energy demands of the City from renewable energy schemes within the City.

Eileen is a CFA and FCA with over 14 years of experience of sell-side equity research at Morgan Stanley, where she covered a range of European companies across the Consumer space, including FMCG and Luxury. Eileen has experience of developing global thematic frameworks and integrating environmental, social and governance factors into equity analysis. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Eileen qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG, focusing on financial sector clients.

At Planet Tracker, Eileen is responsible for the Textiles Programme which aims to enable investors and corporates in textiles and apparel to identify and place value on natural capital vital to their industry and investment viability, in order to help drive a market shift from degenerative practices towards a sustainable textiles system - upstream in material production, processing and manufacturing, where the biggest environmental damage is being wrought, and downstream, through waste reduction and consumer preferences.

Duncan is COP26 Director at National Grid Group, leading the Group’s engagement in decarbonisation and Climate change.

Until recently he was Director of Operations for the UK electricity and gas transmission grids. He has held a variety of commercial and engineering roles at National Grid. Prior to joining the company, he worked in Pharmaceuticals for GlaxoSmithKline. National Grid is one of the largest listed utilities in the world, with operations in the UK and the US.

Among other responsibilities, Zoisa leads the business arm of Octopus Energy - one of the fastest growing 'EnTech' companies in the country, and the UK's latest tech unicorn. Octopus Energy for Business works with companies to provide future-proof energy services, supplying them with 100% renewable and fairly priced power. Since launching in 2018, Zoisa's team has accrued 20,000 customers, from SMEs to large organisations such as Arsenal FC. In May 2020, her team launched the Electric Juice Charging Network, the UK's first consolidated network of charge point providers that allows users to charge their EVs across the UK with all costs appearing on a single bill.

Prior to Octopus Energy, Zoisa was the UK Managing Director of the Dutch Utility, Eneco B.V. At Eneco, Zoisa helped grow the UK’s renewable asset portfolio which consisted of more than 250MW of wind and solar projects, including a direct wire project with Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd. Eneco UK also supplied blue chip companies such as Mars, Unilever, Heineken and AkzoNobel.

Merlin leads Regen’s mission to transform how we generate, supply and use energy. Merlin is a passionate advocate of a smart, decentralised, low carbon energy system based on renewable energy. He is an influential figure in energy policy sitting on leading forums such as the BEIS and Ofgem Smart Systems Forum. Merlin was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to sustainable energy.

Merlin was previously director of the Environmental Industries Commission, where he worked in Whitehall and Westminster to ensure government support for British companies to succeed in the rapidly growing worldwide market for low-carbon products and services.

Rebecca is a registered associate nutritionist with a background in science communication and public affairs. At the Food Foundation Rebecca leads the Peas Please programme, a nation-wide initiative focused specifically on vegetables. Peas Please aims to bring together farmers, retailers, restaurant chains, caterers, processors and government departments with a common goal of making it easier for everyone to eat more veg, given both the health and environmental benefits of doing so. In a previous life, Rebecca worked for a number of years in strategic account management and consultancy in the marketing and tech sectors before deciding to move into nutrition. Rebecca has also conducted research into eco-labelling with the SHEFS research consortium, looking at the opportunities and trade-offs involved as part of the transition towards more healthful and sustainable diets.

Alastair Hamilton is an Associate Partner in McKinsey’s London office and serves companies and governments on a range of strategy, capital productivity, and organisational topics. He leads McKinsey's work on net zero in the UK and negative emissions. Alastair recently co-authored the article “How a post-pandemic stimulus can both create jobs and help the climate and has led our global work on green stimulus around the world."

Before Arevo, Sonny was President and CTO (Connected Devices) at Fossil Group (NASDAQ: FOSL) which acquired Misfit, a wearable tech company he founded, for $260m. He previously founded Elemental Machines (remote process monitoring / analytics), AgaMatrix (biosensors for diabetes), and FireSpout (natural language processing). Sonny is a founder of Alabaster with investments in 30+ deep tech startups. Previously, he worked at Microsoft Research in NLP under Kai-Fu Lee, pursued a Linguistics PhD at MIT under Noam Chomsky, and studied maths at UIUC.

As part of PhD research at Imperial College London Victor developed version 1 of the Recycleye AI system which significantly outperformed other algorithms in identifying and classifying individual items in waste streams. Victor has received numerous awards for his work: the Letitia Chitty Centenary Memorial prize, the Black & Veatch Prize in Environmental Engineering and the Centurion Award for academic excellence. Some of his prior work includes developing evolutionary algorithms and parametric models to optimize building forms. He also holds a MEng in Environmental Engineering (1:1). Victor has extensive international industry experience having worked in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Houston and Brussels. Victor resigned from his job at Goldman Sachs to co-found Recycleye.

Farhana Yamin is an internationally recognised environmental lawyer, climate change and development policy expert. She has advised leaders and ministers on climate negotiations for 30 years, representing small islands and developing countries and attending nearly every major climate summit since 1991. In addition to founding Track 0, she is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, a Senior Advisor to SYSTEMIQ and an FRSA.

From 2013- 2018, she was an Advisor to the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a coalition of 48 of the world’s most vulnerable countries that played a key role in the 2015 Paris Agreement negotiations. She is widely credited with getting the goal of net-zero emissions by mid-century into the Paris Agreement through strategic communications and behind the scenes coalition-building. She has worked in private philanthropy as well as published numerous books and articles on climate change law & social justice.

She has taught in UK universities since 1995, including as a Visiting Professor at University College London. She stepped back from the world of academia and UN negotiations in 2018 to focus on non-violent civil disobedience and social justice movements challenging capitalism. As a Political Coordinator of Extinction Rebellion, she played a key role in XR April 2019 protests, glueing herself to the Shell HQ offices in London, alongside thousands of other activists. She is currently a Coordinator of Camden Think & Do, an initiative she helped pioneer which is experimenting with radical inclusion methodologies to support communities create “pop up” actions hubs in high streets and public spaces. She also sits as an expert on various Commissions and serves as trustee or an advisor to a number of organisations working on the intersection of social, racial and ecological justice, including Greenpeace UK, SYSTEMIQ, WWF-UK and Julie’s Bicycle.

Annelie Selander has almost 20 years experience in the food industry. Following 10 years at Nestle in Sweden working across infant nutrition, coffee and consumer insights and two years at Finnish homewares company Fiskars, she joined Findus to lead NPD for the Nordics in 2013. After four years in senior marketing and innovation roles she was appointed Group Sustainability Director for Nomad Foods, parent company of the Birds Eye, Findus, and iglo brands, in January 2018.

Annelie has a passion for purpose led business and marketing and is responsible for the Europe-wide programme that underpins Nomad Foods sustainability strategy and its ambition to make a difference to every mealtime, through affordable and sustainable food.

Headquartered in the UK, Nomad Foods is Europe’s largest frozen food company and the world’s largest branded purchaser of eco-labelled fish. It’s recently launched Green Cuisine range of plant protein meat alternatives brings an exciting new dimension to a portfolio that is already flexitarian at heart.

Joining the Business and Nature coalition as Communications and Events Officer, Rhiannon has over 15 years of experience in communication. Previously Creative Director at one of Scandinavia’s largest advertising agencies, Rhiannon has created offline, online and integrated B2B and B2C campaigns for clients including BA, BT, Dell, IKEA and Nike. After a very happy move to the non-profit world, last year Rhiannon created a CASH training course for the DCA in Denmark. Rhiannon has two little girls and lives in West Byfleet.

Francesca Sharp is the Technical Lead on Climate Change at ICAEW. She joined ICAEW in 2014 to build, maintain and engage communities of interest and practice in its sustainability work. Francesca is responsible for ICAEWs strategy for delivery of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development and Climate Change. Francesca is a Lead Assessor for the Finance for the Future Awards run in partnership with HRH the Prince of Wales Accounting for Sustainability Project and Deloitte. Francesca is also a member of the Steering Group of the UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development (UKSSD).

Before joining ICAEW, Francesca worked at AccountAbility, a global think tank and standards setter in sustainability. She was responsible for managing the development of the principles-based AA1000 series of standards, and their multi-stakeholder development process.

Francesca has a Master’s Degree from the University of St Andrews in International Relations with a minor in Sustainable Development.

Ian Playford leads the Innovation Gateway Partnership, an award-winning alliance of major organisations working together to transform spaces and ways of working with high-impact innovation. Partners including Tesco, NatWest, Nottingham City Council, Unite Students and others, share experience, performance data and source the innovations they need to address their challenges.

Prior to this, Ian operated in and led Boards across International organisations as diverse as Kingfisher Group Plc, UK Government and private equity companies.

Councillor Jack Hemingway is the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Change at Wakefield Council, where he is leading the authority’s efforts to achieve net zero by 2030. First elected in 2012 as Wakefield’s youngest ever councillor, he has a keen interest in environmental issues. Jack has a masters degree in history and lives in Wakefield with his partner and two children.

John is a Professor in Energy and Climate Policy at the University of Leeds undertaking research on how to achieve rapid reductions in Greenhouse Gas emissions to minimise the climate crisis. More specifically, John’s research interests include energy demand, resource productivity, energy and economy modelling, carbon accounting and exploring low carbon transitions. John is currently the Co-Director of the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (www.creds.ac.uk) and has previously run large research centres on behalf of the UKRI Energy Programme. John regularly advises a number of UK Government departments and also supports the Committee of Climate Change. He has regularly given evidence to Parliamentary Select Committees and also engages extensively with the media.

David is the Environment Technical Director for the UK’s greenest company, Skanska UK. He leads a team of environmental and sustainability experts whose primary role is to ensure that the most rigorous sustainability principles are adhered to in construction and facilities management projects.

During 10 years at Skanska, David has been involved with many flagship initiatives, including the UK’s first BREEAM outstanding rated public building at Brent Civic Centre, where LED and controls technology played a key role in the BREEAM achievement.

Previously holding roles with Mowlem and Carillion, David is a respected thought leader in environmental and sustainability matters, having represented Skanska at many industry events and bodies such as the Green Building Council.

Sam joined Water UK in 2017, having held a variety of strategy, policy and transformation roles in-house, in consultancy, and within government organisations. A geologist by training, he is currently leading the charge behind the development of a sector-wide Routemap to net zero operational emissions by 2030.

Inventor - Floating Offshore 50MW Wind Turbine

Degree in Mechanical and Production Engineering from Newcastle Polytechnic

Anna is Head of Environment at Tesco, where she is responsible for the Company’s climate change agenda, as well as other areas including sustainable agriculture, forests, marine and the Company’s partnership with WWF

Alan is Head of Environment at Associated British Ports (ABP). He is a Chartered Environmentalist, experienced in environmental and sustainability issues including ESG reporting, air quality, GHG accounting, carbon reduction, waste management, biodiversity

Dr. Juan José Freijo is the Global Head of Sustainability and EMEA Government Affairs at Brambles. He has worldwide responsibility for the definition and implementation of the company’s sustainability strategy, based on its circular business model of continuously sharing and reusing assets. He also leads a global team focused on creating a regenerative supply chain, having positive environmental impact, improve communities and reinforce sustainable business models. He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and Management, and a PhD in Physics.

Allan Wickham leads NatWest Group’s Climate Operational Footprint programme with an ambition to be Net Zero in 2020 and Climate Positive in 2025. Other goals include commitments to electric vehicles, Zero Waste to Landfill, and the global use of renewable energy sources. Allan has worked internationally in the property sector for over ten years with experience in leading climate, technical services, health and safety, and risk teams.

David Symons leads WSP’s Future Ready innovation programme. He was BusinessGreen’s leader of the year in 2018 and is a regular media commentator on environmental and other future trends for BBC, Sky News and national print media. David is a director for Aldersgate Group, and Commissioner for IPPR’s Environmental Justice Commission working to decarbonise the UK in a fair way. In 2019 he convened www.pledgetonetzero.org – an initiative to galvanise the environmental sector to take leadership on its own environmental performance. Outside work David is a keen runner, and a rather less accomplished amateur photographer.

Lia was born and raised in Grimsby, and has lived there for most of her life, apart from her years at College.

She worked as a college lecturer in media studies in what is now Grimsby Institute. Subsequently she became a self-employed video producer and project manager.

She was elected as a Councillor on North East Lincolnshire Council in May 2018.

Lia was elected as Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby in December 2019. She has already been elected to the Backbench Business Committee.

Lia wants to ensure that the Grimsby fishing industry benefits from the UK leaving the EU. She also wants to see Grimsby benefit from the Green Renewable sector.

Roz joined Green Alliance as head of policy in June 2019 and coordinates its policy work. She began her career as a researcher and then worked as an environmental journalist, writing for a number of publications including ENDS Report, Environmental Finance, The Guardian and The Architects’ Journal, before becoming the associate editor of the daily EU news service ENDS Europe.

Prior to Green Alliance, Roz worked at the manufacturers’ organisation, Make UK, where she led the team working on climate, energy and environment policies affecting the sector, including emissions trading, energy pricing, chemicals regulation and air pollution.

Roz studied Biology and Geography at the University of Bristol and has an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College, London

Rob Saunders is challenge director for the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programme, ‘Prospering from the Energy Revolution’. Over the coming four years, this aims to prove the future business models and local approaches that will put energy users and consumers at the heart of a cleaner, cheaper and more resilient energy system.

A Cambridge engineering graduate, Rob started his career in innovation in the food and packaging industries when leading major R&D programmes for Crown Packaging and Pepsico. He retrained in energy at Imperial College, and in a brief academic career led analysis for the UK Energy Research Centre on bioenergy before joining Innovate UK in 2011 as lead for offshore renewable energy.

Rob led the energy programme at Innovate UK for four years, helping UK businesses to grow as they develop new products that address solutions to affordable clean and secure energy supplies of the future. During that time Innovate UK supported hundreds of UK businesses, developed and launched the energy catalyst programme and set up two energy-focussed catapult centres; Offshore Renewable Energy in Glasgow & Blyth, and Energy Systems in Birmingham.

Wayne Bexton is Head of Energy Services at Nottingham City Council and has worked in public sector energy and sustainability fields for over 18 years, having previously delivered sustainability advice in the private sector. Wayne has delivered numerous high profile, high value environmental projects and programmes for the public sector across the East Midlands, receiving industry recognition along the way including the National Lottery Awards Environment Category Winner, Solar Power Portal - Best Commercial Project and the Local Authority of the year 2018 and 2019 at the National Energy Awards.

Currently leading on Nottingham’s ambitious carbon neutral, energy and sustainability programmes, with an aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2028. The City has already reduced carbon emissions by 41% and now generates 24% of the energy demands of the City from renewable energy schemes within the City.

Sam currently works in Business Development at Johnson Matthey leading the strategy and programme in Clean Hydrogen generation at scale. Previous roles at Johnson Matthey have included Technology Manager for the Steam Reforming catalyst and technology R&D team. After moving from R&D into Business Development he was tasked with developing a portfolio of new opportunities for processes from new feedstocks, such as biomass, waste and renewable energy.

Madeleine is the environment reporter for the i paper, reporting on nature and climate issues for the paper and online. Prior to that, she spent four years at BusinessGreen, covering the growth of the green economy in the UK and beyond. Madeleine has spent three years as a trend forecaster for Stylus, specialising in consumer attitudes to sustainability.

Munish Datta is passionate about the crucial role every sector of society - government, business, civic - must play to create a truly sustainable world. As director of membership & operations at UK Green Building Council, he is responsible for leading the organisations membership strategy and enabling the delivery of its mission to radically improve the sustainability of the built environment. As Senior Associate, faculty & tutor at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership he empowers senior business leaders & organisations to tackle critical global challenges. Formerly, Munish led cross business teams to design and deliver Marks & Spencer’s multi award winning, globally renowned sustainability strategy (Plan A) for its 1000+ buildings property portfolio. He is a start-up advisor, member of the UK Government BEIS ‘Green Construction Board’, Governor of the Stephen Perse family of schools & trustee of Rama Foundation, a charity building the capacities and skills of disadvantaged communities.

James leads the CBI’s Energy & Climate Change team, supporting policy development and campaigns, and speaking on behalf of the CBI and its members. His work included leading the CBI’s campaigning for a UK net-zero emissions target and developing the CBI’s The Low-Carbon 2020s – a Decade of Delivery report.

He joined the CBI in early 2019 from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders where he helped shape the political engagement on Brexit, the switch to low-emission vehicles and the future of diesel. Prior to this he worked in a variety of roles at EDF Energy covering public affairs, media relations and corporate communications. Central to this was political and media engagement surrounding the Final Investment Decision and Government approval for the Hinkley Point C new nuclear power plant in 2017. James also supported efforts to secure life extensions for existing UK nuclear power stations, access to Contracts for Difference auctions for remote island wind projects, and the future of carbon pricing. James has also worked with a range of businesses in several consultancy roles, including campaigns on carbon pricing and European energy policy. James also has a habit of climbing up mountains and regular visits to the European Alps provide a constant reminder of the rapid changes climate change is bringing to our natural environment.

Ed King is international lead, strategic communications at the European Climate Foundation. He was founding editor of Climate Home News, which he ran from 2011-2017. Before climate change intervened he was a journalist and producer at BBC Sport, living in blissful ignorance of climate change, covering rugby, football, horse racing along with the odd game of darts.

Chaitanya leads NEF’s work on the Green New Deal, just transition and other environmental programmes. He was previously Head of Climate and Energy Policy at Green Alliance in the UK and before that was based in New Delhi as South Asia campaigns leader for 350.org. He has an MSc in energy policy from the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University.

Nick Molho has been the Executive Director of the Aldersgate Group since 2014, an organization based in London and comprising around 60 member organizations from many economic sectors with a combined turnover of around £550 billion. He is responsible for the overall management of the Group, including the development of its work programme, its relationships with key political and business stakeholders and its robust representation of member views to government ministers and parliamentarians. He has played a key role in broadening the Group's impact and membership and bringing its influence to bear on areas that are core to the Group’s interest.

Before joining the Aldersgate Group, Nick was Head of Climate Change and Energy Policy at WWF-UK following a career as an environmental and energy lawyer at CMS Cameron McKenna, where he spent six years working on commercial energy law for a range of international businesses, regulators and governments.

Libby Peake is head of resource policy at Green Alliance, an independent charity and think tank focused on achieving ambitious leadership for the environment. She works closely with other NGOs, academics and businesses to promote better use of resources throughout the economy. This includes managing the Circular Economy Task Force, a forum for business thinking on resource efficient policies. Much of her current research is focused on driving the right innovations and infrastructure to encourage both reductions in energy use and improvements in resource use. Her recent reports include Less in, more out: using resource efficiency to cut carbon and benefit the environment, Building a circular economy: how a new approach to infrastructure can put an end to waste, Plastic promises: what the grocery sector is really doing about packaging and Balancing the energy equations: three steps to cutting UK demand. She is an expert and trusted commentator on topics including: plastic; ecodesign; chemicals regulation; resource efficiency; and recycling.

Charlotte is a principal in Boston Consulting Group’s Total Societal Impact practice with expertise in climate, environment and sustainability strategy across the private sector, NGOs and government. She has been with the firm for six years and her extensive experience includes helping businesses review their supply chains and assets to support long-term business continuity and sustainability, as well as the development of stakeholder engagement strategies.

Bas Sudmeijer is a Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in its Energy, Environment and Climate practices. He has been with the firm for 14 years and advises energy companies and governments on energy transition and decarbonisation topics. Bas leads BCG’s social impact activities in the United Kingdom, alongside the firm's work on carbon capture and storage globally.