Speakers - edie Sustainability Leaders Forum

The Rt Hon Claire Perry
Minister of State for Energy & Clean Growth
BEIS

Claire Perry worked at the Bank of America, McKinsey and Credit Suisse, and founded her own financial advice business before moving to the public sector as a political advisor to George Osborne. She was elected as MP for the Devizes Constituency in 2010 and again in 2015 and 2017. Since entering Parliament, she has served on the Justice Select Committee, represented Britain at the Council of Europe, worked as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence and been appointed by Prime Minister, David Cameron, to be his Special Advisor on child internet safety. She served as a Government Whip from 2013 - 2014, and as Rail Minister from 2014 - 2016. On 12 June 2017, Claire was appointed Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Since her arrival, she has led the delivery of the Government’s inaugural Clean Growth Strategy, established the Green Finance Taskforce, and launched the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a global initiative to drive the transition to cleaner energy. Claire attends Cabinet and was made a member of the Queen’s Privy Council in March 2018. Claire holds a degree in Geography from Brasenose College, Oxford and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Jonathon Porritt - edie sustainability leaders forum speaker

Jonathon Porritt CBE
Founder director
Forum for the Future

Jonathon Porritt, co-founder of Forum for the Future, is an eminent writer, broadcaster and commentator on sustainable development. Established in 1996, Forum for the Future is now the UK’s leading sustainable development charity. The Forum has a growing presence in the United States, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. In addition, he is a non-executive director of Willmott Dixon Holdings, a trustee of Ashden, and a director of Collectively (an online platform celebrating sustainable innovation). He was formerly director of Friends of the Earth, co-chair of the Green Party and as chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission until 2009, he spent nine years providing high-level advice to government ministers. Jonathon was installed as the chancellor of Keele University in February 2012. Recent books are ‘Capitalism As If The World Matters’ (2007) and ‘The World We Made’ (2013) - which seeks to inspire people about the prospects of a sustainable world in 2050. Jonathon received a CBE in January 2000 for services to environmental protection.

Dr Liz Goodwin OBE
Senior fellow and director, food loss and waste
World Resources Institute

Liz Goodwin is a chemist by background and started her career in the chemical industry. In 2001, she joined the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and was appointed CEO in 2007, a position she held until June 2016. Liz joined the World Resources Institute (WRI) in 2016 as senior fellow and director, Food Loss and Waste. She is a Champion of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 whose aim is to halve global food waste by 2030. In 2015, Liz was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to the business resource efficiency and the environment. In March 2017, Liz was appointed chair of the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) by the Mayor of London.

Simon Boas Hoffmeyer
Director, group sustainability
Carlsberg Group

Simon has a background within strategy, business development, PR and communications and has been developing business-driven sustainability solutions for more than 10 years, within many different areas such as compliance, reporting, communication, data management and branding. He is currently sustainability director at Carlsberg Group and is among others responsible for the rollout of the sustainability programme Together Towards ZERO. His interest particularly lies in making sustainability relevant and accessible for consumers and developing value-chain partnerships to achieve sustainability goals. An example of this includes the development of the world’s first bio-based beer bottle – The Green Fiber Bottle.

Kené Umeasiegbu
Head of environment
Tesco

Gabrielle Ginér
Head of environmental sustainability
BT

Gabrielle has worked on BT’s environmental sustainability programmes since 2009. Her work has spanned BT’s carbon targets, including BT’s recent 1.5 degrees Celsius science-based carbon reduction target, BT’s net positive carbon abatement target, ICT’s carbon abatement potential and BT supply chain engagement initiatives, such as the award-winning BT Better Future Supplier Forum. Gabrielle represents BT in external fora - WBCSD, We Mean Business and the UNFCCC Momentum for Change Advisory Panel. Prior to joining BT’s sustainability team, Gabrielle held roles in regulatory and public affairs and programme management. She has an MSc in telecommunications business (University College London), an MA in international economics and relations (SAIS Johns Hopkins University) and a BA in international relations/Asian studies.

Léon Wijnands
Global head of sustainability
ING

Léon has more than 25 years of experience in banking, particularly in the field of sales and marketing. Prior to his current position, Léon led the ING Bank Customer Contact Centers. Over the years, he was responsible for the 21 branches in the “District Amsterdam” and has led many marketing initiatives as well as change programmes. Léon holds a master’s degree in business economics, business administration and in financial economics. He joined ING in 1990.

Benedict Orchard
Environmental sustainability manager
Adnams

Ben is the environmental sustainability manager for Adnams, an independent values-based family brewer, distiller and retailer, who is committed to a sustainable future. Adnams has been brewing from Southwold, on the Suffolk coast, for 146 years meaning longevity, and therefore sustainability, is fundamentally critical to its business. Since joining in 2012, Ben has developed and implemented an environmental framework to progress Adnams’ already leading position on sustainable business. By combining his passion with his research skills from his first-class environmental sciences degree from UEA, Ben identifies the best solutions and develops the business case for sustainability, highlighting the clear links to economic and social improvements too.

Alan Mak, MP
Chair
All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)

Will Gardner
Founder
Mission in Action

Felix Finkbeiner
Founder
Plant for the Planet

At the age of 9, Felix Finkbeiner, inspired by the story of Wangari Maathai, developed the idea that children could promote climate justice by planting a million trees in every country. With the support of children from over a hundred countries, Felix launched the children and youth initiative, Plant-for-the-Planet, in 2007. So far, more than 70,000 children and youth in 67 countries have been trained in Plant-for-the-Planet academies. As climate justice ambassadors, these children and youth give speeches to adults, make them act and fight for their future. In May 2018, the German President awarded Felix the Federal Cross of Merit to honor his commitment for climate justice. Plant-for-the-planet.org

Tim Crossland
Director
PlanB

Tim Crosland is a barrister and former government lawyer. Working in Nigeria and Kenya he directly encountered the interconnections between climate change, displacement of people and regional and international insecurity. He assisted with the negotiations that culminated in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and in 2016 established the Charity, Plan B, to advance strategic legal action aimed at closing the gap between current actions and the global climate obligation to limit warming to 'well below 2˚C' while aiming for 1.5˚C.

Beccy Speight
Chief executive
Woodland Trust

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