Speakers

Aaron Reid
Head of sustainable procurement
Balfour Beatty

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Andrew McMullen
Environmental impact director
LEGO Group

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Andrew is Environmental Impact Director at the LEGO Group. Responsible for their ambition to be a zero impact business by 2032 for issues related to energy, water and waste in their own operations and supply chain. Through his exposure to the benefits of play whilst working for the LEGO group, Andrew takes an interest in how creativity and innovative thinking can be encouraged through playful activities. He believes these skills are key for individuals of all ages who are passionate about helping to solve sustainability issues. Previous roles include work on Royal Mail's energy efficiency and data management initiatives and at Tesco PLC delivering CAPEX projects and employee engagement programmes related to resource efficiency. Before moving to environmental work, Andrew was a building controls and refrigeration specialist.
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Anita McBain
Head of responsible investment & ESG
M&G Investments

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Ben Ngobi
Global procurement sustainability lead
Accenture

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Ben Ngobi leads Accenture’s Global Procurement Sustainability, as well as its Northern Europe Supplier Inclusion & Diversity programs. Ben is responsible for the strategy to embed environmental, social and governance factors into purchasing decisions, working closely with multiple stakeholders in the company. Ben was responsible for enhancing Accenture’s approach to small and medium enterprise supplier engagement. In addition, he is helping establish initiatives that support reporting of progress on Modern Slavery and human rights, as well as the new corporate goals around Science-Based Targets.
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Benet Northcote
Partner and director, corporate responsibility
John Lewis Partnership

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Benet Northcote is Director, Corporate Responsibility for the John Lewis Partnership, incorporating John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners.  He is accountable for the delivery of the Partnership's CR objectives across ethical sourcing, sustainability, D&I and Partner wellbeing, as well as the management of operational Health and Safety.  He is a Trustee Director of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, a Trustee of Green Alliance and sits on the Board of the Conservative Environment Network.     He joined the John Lewis Partnership in 2013 after nearly five years as Deputy Private Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales, where he was responsible for HRH's initiatives on responsible business, the natural environment, food and farming.  Prior to that he was Chief Policy Adviser to Greenpeace UK, working predominantly on energy and transport policy.     He started his career with the BBC as a journalist, before moving to corporate communications agency CTN Ltd., where he advised many FTSE 100 firms.
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Benjamin Ware
Global head for responsible sourcing
Nestlé

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Carmel McQuaid
Head of sustainable business
Marks & Spencer

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Chris Daly
Supply chain VP, Europe nutrition
PepsiCo

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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’s 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.
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Chris Harrop
Group marketing and sustainability director
Marshalls

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Chris Harrop is Group Marketing Director and Director of Sustainability at Marshalls plc. An accomplished marketer with a proven global track record, Chris’ persistent contribution has ensured that Marshalls not only leads the hard landscaping sector but is also a world-class sustainable business.  He drives the organisation to leverage its United Nations Global Compact signatory status for competitive advantage by working to uphold the principles of human rights, labour rights, Environment and Governance.  Under Chris’ guidance, the business has won numerous awards for commitment to the environment and supply chain ethics, including BITC, Business in the Community Awards for Excellence and the PLC Awards on 3 occasions. Chris was Chairman of the United Nations Global Compact UK Network for 4 years from January 2013 and has been a Non-Executive Director of the Ethical Trade Initiative since January 2011.  In addition, in June 2017 Chris became Chairman of Made in Britain.  Chris was rated 5th in Ethical Corporation’s Heroes of Sustainability in 2007 and named a Business Game Changer’ by BITC in 2012 and was named as one of the Top 100 Modern Slavery Business Influencers in 2018. Chris rounded off 2018 by being named BtB Marketer of the Year by BtB International. One of Chris’s proudest moments came in the 2019 New Year Honours List, when Her Majesty the Queen appointed Chris as an Officer of the British Empire, OBE for services to the Prevention of Modern Slavery and Exploitation. The strategic combination of experience allows Chris to fully understand the dynamic complexities of ethical trade, supply chains and international commerce.  Its potent combination affords him great insights which he is then able to recognise and activate in practical terms within his own organisation; he doesn’t just say it he does it. As a small example Chris made a personal journey to the North Pole in April 2017 to see the effects of climate change himself and to become a better advocate for action on climate change.
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David Saddington
Senior executive officer
BEIS

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David Symons, WSP

David Symons
UK Director of sustainability
WSP

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Edwina Hughes. WRI

Edwina Hughes
Head of engagement, Cool Food Pledge
WRI

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Erin Meezan
Vice president & chief sustainability officer
Interface

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As chief sustainability officer, Erin gives voice to Interface’s conscience, ensuring that strategy and goals are in sync with its aggressive sustainability vision established more than 20 years ago. Today, Interface has evolved its thinking to go beyond doing less harm to creating positive impacts, not just for Interface and the flooring industry, but for the world at large. Erin led the company to unveil a new mission in 2016 – Climate Take Back, tackling the single biggest threat facing humanity: global climate change. This mission is focused on creating a path for Interface and others to reverse global warming, not just reduce carbon emissions. As CSO, Erin leads a global team that provides technical assistance and support to this audacious goal and the company’s global business, addressing sustainability at all levels – from operations and management, to employees and customers, and in policy forums. Erin and her team also develop industry-leading approaches to measurement, driving transparency and innovation in the field of sustainability, while also capturing successes as the company nears its Mission Zero targets in 2020. Erin is a frequent lecturer on sustainable business to senior management teams, universities and the growing green consumer sector. She has keynoted at a variety of conferences and forums around the world. Erin serves as a guest faculty member at Harvard University for the Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership program. She also serves on the Sustainable Entrepreneurship MBA (SEMBA) program advisory board for the Vermont Grossman School of Business. Erin is a magna cum laude graduate of the Vermont Law School, where she earned her master’s degree in studies in environmental law and her juris doctor degree.
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Fiona Ball
Head of responsible business and Sky ocean rescue
Sky Group

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Fiona joined Sky in 2005 and leads the Group’s work on the environment (from reducing the company’s impact on the environment to ensuring its product and services are sustainable), child safety, access services and responsible sourcing. Alongside this, she was responsible for Sky Rainforest Rescue, Sky’s six year campaign and partnership with WWF to inspire customers to get involved and help save one billion trees in the Amazon Rainforest and am now actively involved in the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign, which aims to protect the health of our oceans by ensuring the business leads industry by being single use plastic free in its operations, products and supply chain by 2020. She is responsible for opinion former engagement and reporting the company’s sustainability performance and strategy. Prior to joining Sky, Fiona was the Global Environment Manager at a multinational telecommunications company. Fiona is a Chartered Environmentalist and a fellow member of the Institute of Environmental Management.
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Dr. Geoff Mackey
Corporate affairs & sustainability director
BASF

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Geoff was brought up on a small family farm in South Armagh, N. Ireland, he read biology in Liverpool and followed it with a range of post graduate qualifications in Health & Safety and management including a sleepless MBA. His doctorate concerned the strategic business value of social networks. He is a Director of BASF plc, responsible for a service portfolio in UK & Ireland and BASF’s Sustainability network in Europe. He has been within the BASF group for almost 20 years and advises a wide range of strategic and tactical groups inside and outside BASF covering private, public and third sector organizations in sectors including science, environment and further education. Historically, he has been an HSE inspector (Yorkshire), a bouncer (N. West), research scientist (Wales), sports coach (Midlands), bingo hall manager (N. East), bar manager (N. Ireland), PR adviser (Cambs), trainer (London) and ran his own consultancy (Shrops). In his 'spare time' Geoff is a driver for his two growing boys; an active Rotarian and has been recognized for his work both nationally and internationally; played rugby for Waterloo and Halifax; American Football in America and Australia; has sung and danced(!) with operatic societies; represented Breconshire at athletics; and is a published poet. He once won an award for his writing, and raises substantial charitable donations standing on his hind legs in public and talking.
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Gilbert Ghostine
CEO
Firmenich

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Gilbert Ghostine is the Chief Executive Officer of Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned Perfume and Taste Company and the number one Fine Fragrance House worldwide. Ranked among this year’s Top 100 CEOs, he is recognized for his relentless commitment to inclusive growth and delivering sustainable and differentiating innovation to his customers. Gilbert has a deep understanding of the Consumer Goods and Luxury industries, having lived and led businesses in 4 Continents for two decades with Diageo, the leading premium spirits company; and more recently as CEO of Firmenich for the past 5 years. A champion of “inclusive capitalism”, Gilbert believes in delivering positive value for all his stakeholders, from his customers and people to the planet and society. Leveraging the Group’s world-class science capabilities, exemplified by its Nobel Prize, Firmenich strategically invested CHF 380m in 2018 to innovate for a better society, with a focus on Sanitation, Nutrition and Climate Change. Firmenich is recognized as a global environmental leader, as one of only two companies worldwide to have achieved a triple A ranking from CDP, the world’s gold standard for environmental management. It is also one of only seven companies worldwide to be globally-certified as a gender-equal employer. Gilbert holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Saint Joseph University, Lebanon and completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.
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Ian Heasman
Director of sustainability
Taylor Wimpey

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Ian is the Director of Sustainability for Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd, one of the UK’s largest house builders. He is responsible for the development and delivery of Taylor Wimpey’s sustainability policy and strategy. This has included work on climate change, waste and resources, water, biodiversity, air quality, supply chain, social issues, reporting, disclosure, contaminated land and environmental liability. Ian studied geology at Southampton University and then Environmental Technology at Imperial College. Ian’s career started at an air quality start up and with environmental consultancy practices ERM and RPS. For the last twenty-two years he has been working within the construction sector, initially on large civil engineering projects with Taylor Woodrow, but mainly within the house building sector.
Find out about Janice here

Janice Lao
Director, group corporate responsibility and sustainability
The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels

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Janice Lao is Director, Group Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Limited, owner and operator of The Peninsula Hotels and other luxury real estate assets. Janice is an environmental scientist and development economist and has won a multitude of awards throughout her career. She was recently listed in Forbes as one of the world’s top female sustainability leaders and was named as the 2019 edie Sustainability Leader of the Year. Throughout her international career, she has worked for world-renowned international think tanks and blue-chip multinational conglomerates in the transport, energy, extractive, FMCG, property and hospitality sectors. Prior to joining HSH, she held a variety of sustainability roles in Hong Kong for MTR Corporation, John Swire & Sons and Cathay Pacific. Her work has been highlighted by global organisations such as Fortune’s Change the World list in 2017. Janice’s expertise lies in embedding sustainability into businesses, ranging from sustainability management, successful identification and implementation of projects using green bond, M&A, and equity financing structures, as well as advising board members and senior management. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Change and Management (University of Oxford), a diploma in business (University of Oxford) and graduated from Ateneo de Manila University with a BSc in Environmental Science and economics at the top of her class. She also achieved a Sustainability Leadership certification from Harvard in 2018. Janice is married with two children and is a passionate advocate for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and careers in young girls and for ethically made zero-waste fashion and jewellery products.
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Jim Skea
Co-chair working group III
IPCC

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Joe Franses
VP sustainability
Coca-Cola European Partners

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Jonathan Horrell
Director sustainability
Mondelez International

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Laura Gutowski
Director of strategy & sustainability
Pret A Manger

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Dr. Márcia Balisciano
Head of corporate responsibility
RELX Group

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Márcia leads corporate responsibility at RELX, a global provider of information and analytics focused on science and health, risk and business, legal and exhibitions, with more than 30,000 employees and offices in 40 countries.  Engaging colleagues throughout the business, she works to ensure RELX’ extra-financial performance is a source of competitive advantage and stakeholder confidence. She is a member of the board of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizenship, the United Nations Global Compact UK, and the UK National Crime Agency's Child Rescue Alert Development Board.  She is founding director of London museum and educational facility Benjamin Franklin House and previously was special advisor to the American Chamber of Commerce (UK).  She is chair of the Conference Board’s Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council.  A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, she holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and a PHD in Economic History from the London School of Economics.  She was named Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s 2007 Birthday Honours List and lives in London with her husband and two boys.
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Mardi McBrien
Managing director
CDSB

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Mart Drake-Knight
Owner
Rapanui Clothing

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Martin Gettings
Group head of sustainability
Canary Wharf Group

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Mary Robinson
President; former President of Ireland; and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mary Robinson Foundation Climate Justice

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Michael Alexander
Head of water, environment, argiculture
Diageo

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Michael is global head of water, environment, and agriculture sustainability for Diageo with a focus on strategy, policy and communications. His principle responsibility is to drive the company’s strategy and associated communications, stakeholder engagement and reputational programme. This applies to the full value chain but with an emphasis on supply chain and operations. Key to success is understanding the evolving and complex sustainability agenda and industry best practice - and sharing and applying this across the business. He joined Diageo in 2007 prior to which he was with Ericsson. A graduate of the universities of Edinburgh and London, Michael is a member of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Institute of Economic Development and the Chartered Institute for Public Relations.
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Mirza Baig
Global head of governance
Aviva Investors

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Naomi Hicks
Director of partnerships
WWF

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Nidhi Baiswar
Head of sustainable design and construction
Bouygues UK

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Paul Clark
General manager, Cloud engineering and supply chain
Microsoft

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Paul currently works in Azure as the General Manager of Cloud Provisioning & Decommissioning Engineering and he is the Azure environmental sustainability champion. Paul Clark is a veteran of process engineering and managing global supply chain capabilities that deliver exceptional value to customers as well as large corporations. Paul’s passion for innovation can be traced back to Intel where he spent significant time working in emerging markets and developing a deep understanding of the global perspective. At Microsoft, one of Paul’s passions is Supply Chain Sustainability and how corporations drive accountability throughout the cloud infrastructure ecosystem.
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Rebecca Marmot
Chief sustainability officer
Unilever

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Rhian Mari Thomas
CEO
Green Finance Initiative

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Sashidhar Vempala
Head of communications and sustainability
Pernod Ricard India

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Sashidhar is a former wildlife photographer and conservation documentary film maker. Being a conservationist and wildlife photographer in India, he has been working very closely with the forest departments of certain states to aid water management, bio diversity conservation, conflict management, and anti-poaching camp infrastructure. This work has allowed him to gain a vast amount of expertise in water conservation, habitat and biodiversity management, working with tribal communities on livelihoods. His extensive background in forest conservation amongst other things has led him to his current role as Head of communications, sustainability and responsibility at Pernod Ricard India.
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Scott Poynton
Founder
The Forest Trust

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Scott Poynton has built a career inspiring leaders to take major, unprecedented leaps forward that have transformed not only their own company, but also their entire industries. Since founding The Forest Trust (now Earthworm Foundation) in March 1999, Scott has worked on seven major industry wide transformational projects that have broken traditional moulds and helped position his clients as pioneers, helping them reap significant reputation and business returns while making major shifts in their environmental and social performance. Key to these major transformations has been an exploration and implementation of company leaders' personal values. This career continues as an independent advisor to C-suite executives the world over, where he shares the lessons he's learned over the past 20 years to inspire leaders, both experienced and new, young entrepreneurs, to move forward within a complex context of big challenges and bigger opportunities.
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Siån Sutherland
Co-founder
A Plastic Planet

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Sonya Bhonsle
Global head of supply chain program
CDP

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Sonya Bhonsle is the Global Head of CDP’s Supply Chain program which enables major multinationals and governments to achieve sustainable supply chains, influencing over US$3.3 trillion in annual procurement spend. Sonya has over 14 years of Sustainable Supply Chain experience, both in the public and private sector. Over the last few years she has specialised experience on Scope 3, setting and meeting scope 3 targets (including science-based targets), as well as setting and meeting water security and deforestation related supply chain goals.
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Tom Szaky
CEO
TerraCycle

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Yui Kamikawa
Senior sustainability manager
Coca-Cola Company

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