Speakers

Lord Turner chairs the Energy Transitions Commission, a global coalition of major power and industrial companies, investors, environmental NGOs and experts working out achievable pathways to limit global warming to well below 2˚C by 2040 while stimulating economic development and social progress.

He was chairman of the Institute for New Economic Thinking until January 2019, where he remains a Senior Fellow. He is Chairman of Chubb Europe and on the Advisory Board of Envision Energy, a Shanghai-based group focussed on renewable energy, batteries and digital systems.

From 2008-2013, Lord Turner chaired the UK’s Financial Services Authority, and played a leading role in the post crisis redesign of global banking and shadow banking regulation.

Lord Turner has held high profile roles in public policy: he was Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (1995-2000); chairman of the UK Low Pay Commission (2002-2006); chairman of the Pensions Commision (2003-2006); he was the first chairman of the Climate Change Committee (2008-2012) an independent body to advise the UK Government on tackling climate change. The recommendations set out in their first report “Building a low-carbon economy” were adopted in 2009.

He became a cross bench member of the House of Lords in 2006.

Amongst his business roles, Lord Turner was at McKinsey&Co (1982-1995); was Vice-Chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe (2000-2006) and a Non-Executive Director of a number of companies, including Standard Chartered plc (2006-2008).

He is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Financial Studies (Frankfurt) and a Visiting Fellow at the People’s Bank of China School of Finance, Tsinghua University (Beijing). He writes regularly for Project Syndicate, and has published “Between Debt and the Devil” (Princeton 2015), and Economics after the Crisis (MIT 2012).

He is a Trustee Emeritus of the British Museum, honorary fellow of The Royal Society, and received an Honorary Degree from Cambridge University in 2017.

Alisyn Malek is the Executive Director of the Coalition for Reimagined Mobility (ReMo). A change maker in the mobility and automotive sectors, Malek has experience leading organizations, driving investments, and developing products, and has played an active role in tackling complex challenges head on and offering effective solutions. Malek focuses on driving consensus among automakers, global mobility players and regulators in advancing mobility policy. From EV product development, corporate venture, and strategy at General Motors to developing the first-of-its-kind autonomous vehicle transportation solution as the co-founder and COO of May Mobility, Malek has a deep understanding of the automotive and emerging transportation industries. Malek is also the founder and CEO of Middle Third, a boutique consultancy focused on go-to-market mobility strategies. Malek is a contributor to Newsweek’s Experts Forum on mobility and sustainability issues. Malek received a 2019 Automotive News All Star award and was recognized as a top ten female innovator to watch by Smithsonian in 2018. Malek’s work in cutting-edge product development and corporate ventures also put her on the list of top automotive professionals under 35 to watch by LinkedIn.

Anna is Group Head of Environment for Tesco. At Tesco, Anna is responsible for delivery of the Group’s global climate change strategy and net zero commitment, alongside other agendas including restoring nature in food production. Anna is also responsible for Tesco’s flagship partnership with WWF. The cornerstone of the partnership focuses around halving the environmental impact of the average UK shopper’s basket.

Prior to joining Tesco, Anna was Head of Sustainability for Nestlé UK & Ireland, where she led the development and roll-out of an integrated sustainability strategy across the multi-category business. Before moving in-house, Anna spent 10 years in sustainability consultancy in Europe and Asia.

As Lead Negotiator for the UK COP26 Presidency, Archie led the process that resulted in all 197 parties agreeing the ‘Glasgow Climate Pact’ and finalising the Paris Agreement Rulebook at COP26 in November 2021. He has been the UK’s Lead Climate Negotiator since 2016, overseeing climate negotiations in the UNFCCC, EU, G7 and G20. He has a background in both international and domestic policy. Previous roles include Director International Climate & Energy; Deputy Director Americas & Head of South America Department in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office; Head of Delivery in the Department of Energy & Climate Change; and Deputy Director for Business, Environment and the Olympics in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael & St George (CMG) in the 2022 Birthday Honours.

Prior to joining National Grid, Ben was the Chief Executive Officer of Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, one of the largest utility infrastructure businesses in Australia, active in every mainland state and throughout storage, midstream, transmission, distribution and metering. Before AGIG Ben was the Director of Strategy & Regulation and Chief Financial Officer of UK Power Networks, one of the largest electricity distribution businesses in the UK with 8 million customers. Before moving into industry Ben spent 15 years as an energy and utilities investment banker, working mostly in Europe and Asia. Ben holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University.

Ben has more than 25 years’ experience in the energy sector and has wide international experience. Ben’s focus areas include strategy, regulation, external affairs, stakeholder engagement, M&A, innovation and sustainability. Ben has a particular interest in the energy transition and the role of hydrogen. He also has wide general management experience from his time as a CEO.

Beverley Gower-Jones, Managing Partner of Clean Growth Fund, has a successful track record and is a thought leader in early stage cleantech investments and commercialisation. Beverley specialises in accelerating innovation to market and scaling companies by providing strategic insights, developing industry partnerships and identifying novel ways to overcome barriers to entry. Her ambition is to create a better, sustainable world and she firmly believes that this will be achieved through innovation playing a transformative role in the global economy. Prior to Managing Partner at Clean Growth Fund and CEO of Carbon Limiting Technologies, she was a founder and Vice President of Shell Technology Ventures, and was instrumental in Shell’s technology venturing strategy. With over 30 years’ experience in the international energy sector, Beverley is a Fellow of the Energy Institute. She holds a BSc in Mining Geology, from University College Cardiff.

Brad is an experienced DevOps and Reliability Engineering leader with a passion for improving engineering infrastructure and systems. With a degree in computer systems and networks, Brad worked for Xerox and Linux before becoming one of the first members of the Speechmatics growth story over 7 years ago.

Bryony leads the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC), which forms part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF).  IDC is a £200m programme with £261m match funding from industry, designed to deploy low carbon technologies and enabling infrastructure in heavily industrialised regions of the UK.

Bryony was previously Head of Technology at Costain, with responsibility for the identification and development of new technology. She was a member of BEIS’ CCUS Cost Challenge Task Force, a Director of the CCSA (where she co-chaired the Technical Working Group) and has previously chaired the Independent Advisory Panel for the UKCCSRC.

Carmel is Head of Sustainable Business at M&S working in a group role linked into the sustainability teams in M&S Food, Clothing &Home, International, Services and Property.

She remembers seeing the launch of Plan A on tv in January 2007 and nine months later was delighted to join M&S as Climate Change Manager.

Carmel has been involved in in the evolution of the company’s eco and ethical plan (Plan A) since then broadening her knowledge of environmental and social issues over the years.

In September this year M&S reset Plan A with a singular focus on becoming a net zero Scope 3 business across its entire supply chain and products by 2040.

Carmel is from Dundalk, Ireland and has a Masters in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast.

She started her career in a food ingredient factory working for ICI in Germany followed by a number of years in the Manufacturing Practice at PA Consulting.

Chris Grigg has been appointed Chair of the new UK Infrastructure Bank. Chris has extensive experience in financial services and business, spending 20 years at Goldman Sachs, latterly as a Partner before becoming CEO of Barclays Commercial Bank. From 2009 to 2019 Chris was CEO of British Land the FTSE 100 property company. Most recently, Chris was a Senior Advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Chris has been a Non-Executive Director of  BAE Systems, the global defence company since 2013 and is currently their SID.

Rt Hon Chris Skidmore has been the MP for Kingswood since 2010. He was Deputy Chairman of the No 10 Board 2013-15 and served in government between 2015-2020, as PPS to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Minister for the Constitution in the Cabinet Office, Minister of State for Health and twice Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. In 2019, he was also appointed Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, attending Cabinet, during which time he signed the UK’s commitment to Net Zero by 2050 into law, and helped secure the UK Presidency of COP26.

He is currently Chair of the All Party Group on the Environment, a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Research Director at Public Policy Projects, focusing on environmental policy.

Damitha Adikaari is the Director for Climate Science and Energy Innovation at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He has responsibility for the energy engineering, energy innovation policy, innovation portfolio, greenhouse gas emissions inventory and climate science programme. He is an electrical engineer with a PhD in solid state electronics with experience in power generation, solar cell research and development, energy policy and programme delivery.

David is responsible for driving safety and engineering excellence across the National Grid group. His remit covers all technologies, including electricity, gas, hydrogen and carbon capture, and extends across all group operations in both the UK and US.

He is an expert in safety and resilience, providing strategic oversight to National Grid’s engineering activities and capabilities, including assurance to the Board.

David is also the company’s engineering ambassador, responsible for growing our engineering credentials at the heart of the energy transition. He advises governments and other key stakeholders, helping to solve the engineering challenges brought about by the transition to net zero.

David joined National Grid in 1992 as an electrical engineer. He has occupied senior management positions on both gas and electricity networks in the UK and US, including leading National Grid’s electricity transmission business in the UK for many years, and has also led our Gas Transmission operations, as well as teams in both the gas and electricity control centres.

Before joining National Grid, David worked for VSEL (now BAE Systems) – the only submarine
builder in the UK – designing electrical generation and distribution systems for warships.

He’s a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Engineering and IET, a dual-accredited Chartered Engineer with both the IET and IGEM, and a member of the Institute of Asset Management (IAM) and a Major in the Staff Corps.

David was born in Wales and lives in Northamptonshire. He has two daughters and is passionate about rugby.

Deborah is a business leader, investor, TV personality and writer, well known for her appearances on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den.

Deborah launched her own glass and ceramics export company straight out of Business College and then went on to set up one of the first Stefanel fashion franchises in the UK. With several successful businesses in the leisure and retail sector under her belt, Deborah became Managing Director of the holiday park business Westar Holidays, acquired the major shareholding in a management buyout and later sold the company in a deal with Phoenix Equity Partners worth £33million whilst retaining a 23% stake. Following this, Deborah continued to innovate and develop the company, selling her remaining shares when the business was sold to Parkdean Holidays for £83m.

Deborah first appeared on Dragon’s Den in Series 3 and is known for her environmental and ethical focus as well as being a shrewd and reasonable Dragon. The show has led her to invest and advise in all manner of businesses leading to a wide-ranging portfolio covering a variety of sectors from research and fashion to DIY and food. She continues to invest in businesses outside of Dragons Den and most famously saved Fox Brothers, Somerset’s oldest textile mill which now exports across the globe.

Deborah supports ethical, fair practice both in business and in life believing that taking care of the environment and wildlife is essential for our future security and wellbeing. She is actively involved in a carefully selected group of environmental charities; is a Fellow of the WWF, a Trustee of Tusk Trust, an Ambassador for Micro-loan Foundation, Marine Conservation Society and World Horse Welfare amongst others. She has become a CIWF Compassion Visionary.

In early 2022 Deborah co-hosted the first series of The Big Green Money Show with Felicity Hannah, looking at company impact on the planet as well as how sustainability can be viewed as an opportunity or an inconvenience.

A serial entrepreneur and transformative explorer, Dennis Pamlin’s main skill is working with companies, governments and other organisations as a strategic economic, technology and innovation advisor in the area of sustainability.

Dennis is a founding partner of the UNFCCC Global Innovation Hub launched in November 2021 to promote transformative innovations for a low-emission and climate-resilient future. His current roles also include Executive Director of Mission Innovation’s Net-Zero Compatibility Innovations Initiative, Head of Strategy of Digital with Purpose which advocates the transformational effect digital technology can have on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Senior Advisor of Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), and founder/CEO of 21st Century Frontiers.

Dexter leads CDP’s work to support companies in building a truly sustainable economy, by measuring and understanding their environmental impact in their own operations and in their global supply chains. His remit includes developing market-leading products for companies through CDP’s Reporter Services team, working with CDP’s corporate partners, and overseeing CDP’s involvement in the We Mean Business ‘Commit to Action’ campaigns with corporations. Prior to his current role, Dexter ran CDP’s program to enable major multinationals and governments to achieve sustainable supply chains, and in 2013 he launched Action Exchange, after joining CDP, in 2008.

The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has revealed the first six start-ups that will be backed by its member companies as part of the first ever Innovandi ‘Open Challenge’ in the race to ‘net zero’ by 2050.

Greg Hands was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy on 16 September 2021.

He was previously Minister of State for Trade Policy in the Department for International Trade (DIT) from 13 February 2020 to 15 September 2021 and Minister of State in the Department for International Trade from 2016 to 2018. He was elected the Conservative MP for Hammersmith and Fulham in 2005, and for Chelsea and Fulham in 2010.

Ingrid Holmes is the Executive Director of the Green Finance Institute. Ingrid was previously a Director and Head of Policy and Advocacy at Federated Hermes International. She was also the firm’s climate change coordinator.  She has over 15 years of experience working on environmental policy and sustainable finance issues. Prior to joining Hermes Ingrid was a Director at climate change think tank E3G, leading a range of global initiatives on sustainable and inclusive finance. She has also held positions at the low carbon asset manager Climate Change Capital; been an energy and environment adviser in the UK Parliament; and adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Prior to that she had a career in science publishing and journalism.

Ingrid has held a number of UK and EU advisory roles including Member of the UK Green Finance Initiative (2016/2018), Member of the European Commission’s High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (2017/2018) and ran the Secretariat for the Green Finance Taskforce (2017/2018). During the period 2019/2021 she was Vice Chair of the Disclosures Working Group within the UK Prudential Regulation Authority/Financial Conduct Authority Climate Financial Risk Forum and Co-Chair of the Investment Association’s Climate Change Working Group. She is currently a Member of the Lloyd’s ESG Advisory Group, acting as an independent expert on climate change.

Ingrid has a BSc in Biological Sciences (Hons Zoology) from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc/DIC in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London. Her BSc thesis was published in Genetical Research (Cambs) and she was awarded the Kathleen Lacy Prize for ranking first in her MSc specialism (Pollution Management).

Jennie Dodson is Head of Secretariat for Mission Innovation, working with 23 governments responsible for more than 90% of global innovation investments to catalyse collaboration and action to make clean energy solutions affordable, attractive and accessible for all. Prior to this she led on strategy and the design equitable international research programmes at the UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR). Jennie has a Green Chemistry PhD from the University of York focused on the development of biorefineries and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She was a fellow at the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and FutureEarth.

Jon began his career at Cadbury Schweppes, where he spent eight years in a variety of sales and marketing roles. In 1997 he moved to Inbev, the world’s largest Brewer, before joining Coca-Cola in 2005 as Business Development Director. He was appointed General Manager, Coca-Cola GB & Ireland, in April 2010, and is responsible for all aspects of The Coca‐Cola Company’s operations in the UK and Ireland. In 2017 Jon also assumed responsibilities for The Coca-Cola Company operations in Northern Europe. Jon was President of the Food and Drink Federation between 2019 and 2021, he was also President of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) between 2011 and 2014. Jon has a degree in Banking & Finance from Loughborough University, where he was sponsored by HSBC.

Julia has been working in the field of climate and energy for the past two decades, focused on decarbonizing the industry sector. She is an experienced business developer with a track record of spearheading international projects and integrating sustainability and innovation into businesses and governments strategies.

Julia joined Breakthrough Energy in 2018. She has been shaping and implementing the organization’s activities and partnerships in Europe as well as internationally.

Prior to Breakthrough Energy, Julia served in a variety of leadership roles in the climate and energy sector – heading industry and energy innovation programs at the European Climate Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation, and the Institute for Industrial Productivity. She started her career as an analyst at the International Energy Agency. She has worked internationally with projects in Europe, China and India.

Julia holds a PhD with distinction in Economics and Industrial Strategy and a Masters in Corporate Strategy and Industrial Organisation from University Paris Dauphine.

Lee is CEO of Kao Data having spent in excess of 25 years leading privately owned international tech companies specialising in mission-critical digital infrastructure and software services. His previous experience includes driving the European growth of digital services/SaaS provider, WAM!NET, and helping grow the Interoute business to €750M and contributing to its successful sale in a $2.3BN acquisition by GTT.

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin was appointed as the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt in February, joining Nigel Topping – the High-Level Climate Champion for the United Kingdom, to help realise the ambitions of governments to lower carbon emissions and build resilience to climate change. The Champions specifically bridge the work of governments with the many voluntary and collaborative actions taken by cities, regions, businesses, investors and civil society.

Dr. Mohieldin, is an economist with more than 30 years of experience in international finance and development. He is an Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. He has been the United Nations Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda since February 2020.

He was Minister of Investment of Egypt from 2004-2010, and most recently, served as the World Bank Group Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations and Partnerships. His roles at the World Bank also included Managing Director, responsible for Human Development, Sustainable Development, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, Finance and Private Sector Development, and the World Bank Institute; World Bank President’s Special Envoy on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Post-2015 Development Agenda (later, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)), and Financing for Development; and Corporate Secretary and Executive Secretary to the Development Committee of the World Bank Group’s Board of Governors.

Mr. Mohieldin also served on several Boards of Directors in the Central Bank of Egypt and the corporate sector. He was a member of the Commission on Growth and Development and selected a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2005. His professional experience extends into the academic arena as a Professor of Economics and Finance at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University and as a Visiting Professor at several renowned Universities in Egypt, Korea, the UAE, the UK and the USA. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of Durham University Business School. He also holds leading positions in national, regional and international research centers and economic associations.

Mr. Mohieldin holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom; a Master’s in Economics and Social Policy Analysis from the University of York, United Kingdom; a Diploma of Development Economics from the University of Warwick; and a B.Sc. in Economics from Cairo University. He also participated in high-level certification programmes at Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University. In 2018, the American University in Cairo conferred upon him the honorary degree of doctor of Humane Letters “in recognition of renowned attainments and achievements”.

Nancy Hobhouse is Head of ESG at Evri, the UK’s biggest dedicated parcel delivery company, delivering more than 700 million parcels on behalf of Europe’s top retailers. Evri has a mission to be the most convenient way to send, receive and return parcels, without costing the earth. She’s responsible for spearheading several key initiatives and developing an ambitious and robust ESG strategy. Her remit covers every aspect of the business from product development and innovation to operational changes around key touchpoints, such as alternative fuel usage, industry knowledge sharing and
people-centric initiatives.

Nick directly works on issues of climate diplomacy and foreign policy, macroeconomics and the security implications of climate change and resource scarcity.

Nick is a regular commentator and public speaker on climate change in the global media and is active on Twitter at @mabeytweet.

Nick undertakes a range of other roles including advising the UK COP President as a Friend of COP 26, a London Sustainable Development Commissioner, a trustee of Ashden, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Energy Transition.

Nick founded London Climate Action Week in 2019 and chairs the LCAW Steering Group.

Before co-founding E3G, Nick was a senior advisor in the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit leading cross-government work including on climate change, fisheries, countries at risk of instability and organised crime. Nick also worked in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Environment Policy Department helping establish its climate diplomacy network.

Nick was seconded to the FCO from WWF-UK where he worked as Head of Economics and Development. This followed research at London Business School on the macroeconomics of climate change and lead authorship of “Argument in the Greenhouse: The International Economics of Controlling Global Warming” (1997).

Nick has a degree in mechanical engineering from Bristol University and a Masters in Technology and Policy from MIT. He began his career working in the UK electricity industry for GEC and PowerGen.

Outside work Nick is an avid reader of history and practices Chen Style Tai Ji Quan.

Mr. Ovais Sarmad joined the United Nations Climate Change secretariat (UNFCCC) on 1 September 2017. Mr. Sarmad supports the Executive Secretary in managing the operations of UNFCCC secretariat and its staff and organizational development, advising on a range of issues relating to the inter-governmental affairs and strategic planning. Previously he served as Chief of Staff/Chef de Cabinet at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva. Mr. Sarmad worked in several management and policy capacities in IOM over a period of 27 years. Prior to IOM, he worked in the private and public sectors in London, where he qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (GCMA). He graduated from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, as a Bachelor of Commerce.

Paddy Arber is Group Head of Government Engagement – Sustainability at Aviva, the UK’s largest insurer and a significant global investor. He works across Aviva’s investment and insurance arms to develop and advocate public policy that will help build a more sustainable global financial system. Most recently, he has been leading Aviva’s work in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and UK Transition Plan Taskforce. He co-chairs the policy and government workstreams of GFANZ, the UN Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance and the Net Zero Insurance Alliance.

Before joining Aviva, Paddy spent a decade working for the British Government, specialising in public finance and international negotiations. He was a member of the UK team that helped deliver the Paris Climate Change Agreement in 2015, where he led an engagement team on climate change negotiations in the G20, G7 and UN Sustainable Development Goals. He also worked for six years in HM Treasury, notably in the cross-government unit that negotiated the EU’s long-term Budgets.

Given his background, Paddy is particularly interested in public-private collaboration to deliver climate and sustainability outcomes and believes the private sector must play a pivotal role in delivering the UN Paris and Sustainable Development Goal agreements. He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and the University of Leeds.

Phil Pratt is Chief Sustainability Officer of THG and Managing Director THG Eco -THG’s sustainability services & solutions subsidiary. THG is a leading vertically integrated, global e-commerce technology group and brand owner, powered by its proprietary technology platform, Ingenuity, through which it also provides end-to-end e-commerce solutions for local and global brands to reach a global e-commerce consumer base.

Prior to joining THG, Phil was vice president sustainability and corporate affairs for Danone Europe until Sept 2019, where he played as leading role in defining Danone’s European sustainability strategy, in addition to overseeing the Danone’s businesses in UK, Germany, Spain, and France in achieving BCorps accreditation.

Phil began his career in sales, being appointed Managing Director of Modelez, Egypt in 2002 before focussing his career on sustainability. Over the past 18 years, he worked for some of the largest global FMCG companies both in the UK but also internationally, leading teams in developing and implementing sustainability and CSR strategies and programs, as well as being a member of global leadership team.

Sam Clarke is an EV evangelist, industry advisor and EV driver for nearly 20 years. He was a 2015 winner at the Great British Entrepreneurs Awards and in 2022 was voted #25 in the greenfleet.net top 100 most influential people in Low Carbon Fleets and #5 in the Motor Transport Power Players for 2022.

In 2009 he founded the all-electric delivery firm Gnewt which subsequently won multiple awards nationally and globally and was acquired by John Menzies Plc in 2017. During his tenure, he created the UK’s largest fully electric commercial fleet, the largest privately-owned smart charging infrastructure and UK’s most advanced private V2G network.

Sam is also a regular public speaker, having previously been invited to speak at the Transport Select Committee in Westminster and at the European Commission in Brussels. He is a permanent sofa panellist for the EV Café and has featured on programmes such as Fully Charged on multiple occasions.

In recent years, Sam extended his Board advisory capacity within GRIDSERVE to become their Chief Vehicle Officer. His role is to drive forward mass uptake of electric vehicles through the creation of a net zero EV leasing division, commercial charging infrastructure builds and support the nationwide network roll out of the GRIDSERVE Electric Highway.

Sean Kidney is CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, an international NGO, working to mobilize global capital for climate action. Projects include a green bond definitions and certification scheme with $34 trillion of assets represented on its Board; working with the Chinese central bank on how to grow green bonds in China; market development programs in Brazil, Mexico, ASEAN and Africa; and market tracking services for the green bonds industry. He is a member of the European Commission’s Platform on Sustainable Finance, and was a member of its predecessors, the 2017 EU High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and the EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance. He is also a member of green finance committees in China, India, Mexico and Kazakhstan. Sean is also a Professor in Practice at SOAS University of London.

Sophie Punte is Managing Director of Policy at the We Mean Business Coalition, leading the Coalition’s work to create the policy environments that unlock business climate action worldwide. For 25 years she has focused on bringing industry, government and other stakeholders together to address common sustainability challenges. She is the founder of Smart Freight Centre, headed Clean Air Asia, and held multiple roles around the world with the United Nations, KPMG, Opus International Consultants and the New Zealand environment ministry. She sits on the WEF Global Future Council on Urban Mobility Transitions and advisory group of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition. Sophie lives in the Netherlands.

Stephanie Millar works as the Pharma and Med Tech Sector Lead on the UNFCCC Climate Champions Team. In this role, she combines her industry experience with her passion for sustainability to shape and deliver the sector’s strategy for achieving their net zero commitments. Stephanie has a master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Auckland, where she applied Green Chemistry principles to her work, sparking her passion for sustainable science. In addition to her accomplishments in science and sustainability, Stephanie led the development of a mentorship program for Women in Climate Tech, empowering women to pursue careers in STEM and sustainability. Using her knowledge of sustainable science and her excellence at connecting with people, Stephanie aims to accelerate climate action across all life sciences.

Sylvain Vanston is Executive Director, Climate Investment Research at MSCI since November 2021. In this capacity he helps formulate a research agenda for MSCI’s climate-related content through collaboration with a wide range of teams and works with strategic clients globally on issues of climate risk reporting, risk management, portfolio management, TCFD, GFANZ, climate metrics, biodiversity, etc.

Previously, he worked at the AXA Group where he was in charge of generating new policy developments and integrating Climate Change and Biodiversity-related factors into the AXA Group’s operational, underwriting and investment processes (e.g. ESG integration, Impact Investing, divestment, shareholder engagement, underwriting guidelines, coalition building, green products, etc). He also led AXA’s work within the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, TCFD and TNFD.

His academic background is in International Relations, with degrees from Sciences Po Paris, London School of Economics, and Kent University. He started his career in Public Relations and business finance, followed by SRI ratings and analysis.

Toddington is a second-generation solar energy and energy storage professional, whose parents pioneered some of the world’s first commercial deployments of solar energy and battery storage systems around 45 years ago. He has spent virtually his entire career focused on delivering sustainable energy solutions, including creating five successful sustainable energy and low carbon businesses which he has led as CEO over the last 20-years. Prior to founding GRIDSERVE Sustainable Energy Ltd, Toddington was co-founder and CEO of BELECTRIC UK (2010 & 2011 solar world market leader), responsible for the development, construction and financing of c.350 MWp of utility scale solar farm & solar rooftop projects, including a 3.5MWp 20-acre solar rooftop project for Rolls-Royce.

Toddington created GRIDSERVE to #deliver sustainable energy and move the needle on climate change. GRIDSERVE’s first major success was winning the highest price battery storage enhanced frequency response contract with National Grid, where GRIDSERVE was awarded one of only seven successful contracts out of 208 tendered. Since then GRIDSERVE has grown from strength to strength. In 2019, against the odds of a year dominated by Brexit, GRIDSERVE pushed through, pioneering and delivering the UK’s largest and most technically advanced hybrid solar projects, becoming the UK solar energy and technology market leader.

In 2020 a year dominated by the global pandemic, and the country locking down multiple times, GRIDSERVE persistently and safely managed to open the UK’s first Electric Forecourt®, powered by solar energy and battery storage projects, designed to provide the best possible charging experience for electric vehicle drivers, and assist the uptake of net zero carbon electric vehicles in the earliest possible time frames. This was also supported with the launch of a new electric vehicle solution leasing business, in partnership with GRIDSERVE’s c.20% shareholder and strategic funding partner Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC.

In 2021, GRIDSERVE’s presence in the charging space accelerated when acquiring the UK’s biggest existing charging network from Ecotricity. GRIDSERVE invested millions of pounds to upgrade the newly-named GRIDSERVE Electric Highway network with new charging technology, contactless payment, real-time mapping as well as reducing pre-authorisation fees. The replacement of chargers was only the first step as the GRIDSERVE Electric Highway continues to expand to meet the needs of the electric vehicle market today. Already in 2022, six Electric Super Hubs have opened, each with 6 – 12 High Power Chargers, at Moto Motorway Service locations in Swansea, Exeter, Burton-in-Kendal, Thurrock, Severn View and Heston Westbound. GRIDSERVE continues to build its award-winning Electric Forecourts® with the latest location opening in Norwich this year.

Dr. Tom Mitchell is Chief Strategy Officer of Climate-KIC, Europe’s primary climate innovation agency. With 15 years’ experience of working on climate change policy and research, Dr. Tom Mitchell has a PhD in climate and disaster risk management and has published widely on climate resilience. Before joining EIT Climate-KIC, Tom led the climate change team at the Overseas Development Institute, supported UN policy on disaster risk reduction and served as a coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Truman Semans is Chief Executive Officer of OS-Climate (OS-C), a part of the Linux Foundation (LF). OS-Climate a breakthrough Open Source solution for climate-aligned finance, investing, and financial regulation. Using the proven Linux Foundation approach for community-driven projects to solve complex challenges, OS-Climate is a non-profit data and modeling platform that enables investment decisionmakers to run scenario-based predictive analysis for accurately forecasting and pricing risk and opportunity related to physical climate impacts and economic transition. Responding to the universal call for more rigorous, transparent, and affordable climate data, OS-C’s Data Commons will provide corporate and other climate related data as a public good.

Previously, Truman was CEO of Element Capital Advisors, helping family offices and foundations integrate climate and ESG into their portfolios. He was a Partner of strategy consultancy GreenOrder, helping clients including private equity firms, Morgan Stanley, Google, GM, GE, Duke Energy, SABIC, and DuPont drive growth and profitability through investments in environmental innovation, resource efficiency, and clean technology. Truman led the Pew Business Environmental Leadership Council, and he co-founded the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) and the U.S. Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (USPREF). Truman consulted with McKinsey & Co., served as the U.S. Treasury Department International Economist for global environment, and was the financial mechanisms lead on the U.S. Climate Change Negotiating Team.

He has an MBA and BA from Duke University and a Masters in International Economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS. He serves on the Investment Committee of the National Wildlife Federation and the Advisory Board of Coast Capital, LLC.

Zebrina is head of environment and climate change with royal mail and Non-Executive Director of Peabody Housing Association. Zebrina is responsible for the delivery of Royal Mail’s Net-Zero 2040 ambition and environmental strategy ‘Steps to Zero’ which focuses on transitioning the UK’s largest fleet, decarbonising a large UK-wide estate and driving ambition throughout the supply chain. Zebrina has been working in ESG for 15 years primarily in construction and transport sectors prior to joining Royal Mail in 2021.

Zoe Jennings is Head of Climate Investment for the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission at the Connected Places Catapult. She has over 25 years of experience working and leading strategic energy and climate change programmes, in both the public and private sectors. As Head of Climate Investment at the Connected Places Catapult she works at the interface between local government and business, seeking to leverage the combined scale of cities to mobilise finance and drive investment into low and net zero carbon projects across UK’s cities.

Previously Zoe worked in local and London government for 15 years, including the GLA and the London Development Agency on climate mitigation and energy, air quality and waste programmes. She led the Mayor’s London Hydrogen Partnership and launched the first national RE:FIT framework, enabling retrofitting of public sector buildings at scale.

Before joining the Connected Places Catapult, Zoe led the SETsquared Partnership Scale-Up Programme at the University of Surrey, supporting ambitious businesses to grow through engagement with research and academia, large corporates, investors, and Government.