Speakers

Amanda Mackenzie is the chief executive of Business in the Community – The Prince’s Responsible Business Network – which aims to create healthy communities with successful business at their heart. Previously, Amanda was a member of Aviva’s Group Executive for over 8 years as CMO and joined Aviva to change its name from Norwich Union. Amanda has over 25 years of commercial experience, including director roles at British Airways Airmiles, BT and British Gas. She is a non-executive director of Lloyds Banking Group, chairing the responsible business committee. Formerly, she was a non-executive director of Mothercare Plc. and sat on the audit committee for 6 years. She was on the board of the National Youth Orchestra for 10 years and was a member of Lord Davies’ review to increase the number of women on boards. Amanda is a Life Fellow of the RSA and Fellow and former President of the Marketing Society. Prior to her current role Amanda, on loan from Aviva, helped launch the UN’s Global Goals as executive advisor to Project Everyone – a Richard Curtis co-founded campaign for the UN.

Andrew Griffith MP was appointed by the Prime Minister as the UK’s Net Zero Business Champion in November 2020 to support the country’s business community to make credible plans to net zero by 2050 and showcase the UK’s place as a global leader in tackling climate change.

Mr Griffith works closely with Business Secretary and COP26 President Alok Sharma to support as many UK businesses as possible to commit to net zero targets whilst harnessing the potential of British firms as they launch new products, attract new investment and create new jobs.

In 2019 Andrew Griffith was elected the Member of Parliament for Arundel and South Downs and is a member of the House of Commons Science & Technology Select Committee. He served as the Prime Minister’s Chief Business Adviser between July and December 2019. Prior to this, Mr Griffith served on Sky Group plc’s Board of Directors from 2008-19 as Chief Operating Officer and previously Chief Financial Officer. Andrew Griffith studied Law at Nottingham University and is a qualified chartered accountant.

Ben is the acting Director General for Net Zero Buildings and Industry at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, where he is responsible for the Government’s programme to decarbonise the UK’s 30 million buildings and its industrial base. He has spent the last decade working on energy and climate policy, as well as having spent time in the energy industry as Director of External Policy for an international renewable electricity developer. Prior to his current role, Ben was previously head of core strategy and carbon budgets at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and has worked across a range of Government policies from childcare to family law, before moving to work on energy policy.

Full bio:

Chris Stark is the Chief Executive of the UK Climate Change Committee (CCC), the independent authority on tackling climate change under the UK’s Climate Change Act. 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 to recommend a ‘Net Zero’ target for the UK – and has since directed detailed analysis and advice on the UK’s path to carbon neutrality. 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.

Twitter: @ChiefExecCCC

Claire is responsible for Nationwide’s strategy, including strategy execution and long-term growth (innovation, ventures and acquisitions). She leads the Society’s response to climate change and chairs the Society’s Strategy Delivery, Responsible Business and Strategic Investment committees. She also acts as Board observer for a number of Nationwide’s portfolio companies. She was previously a Partner & Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group.

Curtis Ravenel is a Senior Advisor to former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, COP26 Finance Advisor and UN Special Envoy for Climate Finance, is a founding member of the Secretariat for the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and is a Distinguished Fellow in Sustainable Finance at ClimateWorks Foundation.

In the last 25 years, Desmond has worked in Europe, the United States of America and across the West African sub-region with various industries, non-governmental and parastatal organizations as well as development partners to design and develop progressive management systems that support long-term sustainable development goals.

He is currently the C40 City Advisor for Accra and has successfully led the development and launch of the City’s first Climate Action Plan, compatible to the tenets of the Paris Agreement as part of Deadline 2020 and is the Advisor on Resilience and Sustainability to the Mayor of Accra.

Prior to his current role, he was Accra’s Chief Resilience Officer and led the development of the City’s first Resilience Strategy under the 100 Resilience Cities (100RC) program with Rockefeller Foundation

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.

Cécile combines years of experience in climate change policy analysis with a background in tropical ecology and thorough understanding of forest ecosystem functioning to provide a unique multidisciplinary approach to her work. Her research focuses on the potential for Nature-based Solutions to respond to climate change. She is an expert on the ecosystem functioning and carbon dynamics of tropical forests across the globe, and their response to a rapidly changing climate.

As the Science Lead of the Oxford Biodiversity Network, Cécile works with teams across 20 Departments and Institutes to ensure the effective organisation, innovation, funding, and impact of biodiversity-related research across the University. Cécile also manages the Global Ecosystems Monitoring network’s database for the Ecosystems Science team at the University of Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment, providing data gathering and analysis support to the 70+ permanent plots scattered across the globe. She is Technical  Director of the Nature-based Solutions Initiative, and Founding Director of Oxford Biochar.

Over the past five years, Cécile has published widely on the effects of climate change on tropical forest ecosystems. As Technical Director of Oxford University’s Nature Based Solutions Initiative, Cécile works with an interdisciplinary team to translate science-based evidence on Nature-based Solutions to decision makers. The team work closely with NGOs, local governments and the United Nations, with the strong ambition to bring the equitable protection of nature to the centre of the sustainable development agenda.

Cécile has completed an MSc in Environmental Technology at Imperial College, worked as a consultant for Ecosecurities and Environmental Resources Management Ltd, completed a DPhil at Oxford University, and worked as a consultant for the UN-REDD+ team of the United Nation Food and Agriculture Organisation, where she was involved in developing Vietnam’s Measurement, Reporting and Verification Framework Document under Vietnam’s National REDD+ Programme.

Dr Maria P. Neira has been directing the Department of Environment, Climate Change and  Health at the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland since September 2005. Throughout her tenure and up until now she has led and advised on policy and management in key areas of environmental health.

Prior to that she served as Under-Secretary of Health and President of the Spanish Food Safety Agency.

From 1993-1998 she was Coordinator of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control.

Dr Neira began her career as a medical coordinator working with refugees in El Salvador and Honduras for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). She then spent several years working in different African countries during armed conflicts.

Born in the city of Oviedo, Asturias, Dr Neira is a Spanish national, a medical doctor by training and specialized in Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases; and Public Health.

Among many distinctions, she has been awarded the Médaille de l’Ordre national du Mérite by the Government of France and received an “Extraordinary Woman” award by HM Queen Letizia of Spain. In early 2019, she was nominated among the top 100 policy influencers in health and climate change.

Eliot leads CISL’s team that bridges between business and policy makers to bring about a more sustainable economy. He is Director of CISL’s Corporate Leaders Groups, leading the team behind both the European and UK Corporate Leaders Group (CLG Europe and CLG UK). He also leads CLG Europe’s Green Growth Partnership with leading EU climate and environment ministers, which creates a common space for governments, businesses and parliamentarians to collaborate in support of a greener EU economy.

Eliot’s work has a strong focus on climate change, but he also helps drive action on the circular economy, plastics and issues around the social and justice implications of economic change. He represents the Corporate Leaders Group on the board of the We Mean Business Coalition and has been responsible for CISL work that has included collaborations with the World Bank, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UNFCCC, a number of European governments and a wide range of senior business stakeholders. He regularly advises business and government and has sat, for example, on the UK government’s BEIS Economic Recovery Taskforce on Net Zero and Treasury Net Zero Review Technology and Innovation Advisory Group.

He has over 20 years’ experience in working to unlock systemic change, including providing policy analysis around climate action for Save the Children and Christian Aid, leading Christian Aid’s UK lobbying work with parliamentarians and political parties, and working on mobilising grassroots campaigning in locations from Addis Ababa to Birmingham.

Elliot Treharne is a specialist in urban and environmental policy and is currently the Joint Interim Assistant Director for Environment and Energy at the Greater London Authority responsible for developing and implementing the Mayor of London’s environmental strategies and policies. He is also Head of Air Quality with responsibility for London’s air quality, transport decarbonisation and green transport projects and programmes. Elliot’s career started with the United Nations, with placements in New York and Tanzania. Following these Elliot joined Transport for London developing London’s congestion charging scheme. He co-wrote the Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy, developing the local measures concept to reduce poor air quality at the worst hotspots in London reducing health inequalities and plays a pivotal role in developing and delivering London’s new Ultra Low Emission Zone. In 2015 he also undertook a six-month secondment working as Clean Air Advisor in the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Emma Pinchbeck is the Chief Executive of Energy UK, a position that she has held since July 2020. She is an expert in whole-economy decarbonisation and the energy transition. She also holds several board advisory positions. Emma had her first baby in October 2019 and shares childcare with her husband. She is passionate about efforts to improve diversity in the energy industry.

From 2016-2020, she served as Deputy CEO of the trade body Renewable UK, in which role she also sat on the Board of Scottish Renewables. Prior to this, Emma was Head of Climate Change at WWFU-K. She has an MA from the University of Oxford.

Ian Stuart has been Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HSBC UK Bank plc since April 2017.  One of the UK’s largest banks, HSBC UK serves 14.5 million retail, commercial and private banking customers, supported by 32,000 colleagues. In addition to the HSBC UK brand, it also includes HSBC Private Bank (UK), M&S Bank, first direct and John Lewis Financial Services. As CEO of HSBC UK, Ian is also a member of the HSBC Holdings plc Group Executive Committee.

Ian has worked in financial services for four decades. He joined HSBC as Group General Manager and Head of Commercial Banking Europe in 2014, having previously led the corporate and business banking businesses at Barclays and Natwest. He started his career at Bank of Scotland.

Ian is the global Executive Sponsor of HSBC’s Ability Employee Network, and is also a Business Ambassador for Meningitis Now.

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).

James has a background in international climate finance and infrastructure finance as well as many years’ experience in leadership roles in membership organisations. Most recently, James supported global megacities to overcome the substantial barriers to financing climate action as Director of the City Finance Programme at the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and Head of the C40 Cities Finance Facility – a project preparation facility he developed, now supporting cities across the world to structure nearly a billion dollars of sustainable infrastructure transactions.

Joe became Nationwide Building Society’s Chief Executive Officer in 2016.

As a building society, Nationwide was founded for a social purpose; to help members buy their own homes and improve people’s lives. Nationwide is one of the UK’s biggest mutual organisations and the world’s largest building society, with 16 million members and 18 thousand employees. Through COVID, Nationwide has remained number 1 for service, and recently pioneered truly flexible working for employees.

Joe’s career started with Procter & Gamble and Dixons Carphone. Joe joined HSBC in 2004, latterly appointed as Head of HSBC’s, UK Retail and Commercial Bank. In 2014 he became CEO of Openreach.

Johan is a Research Leader at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), a member of the Global Research Committee of SEI, and a Reader at the University of York, UK, and has worked at SEI since it was formed in 1989. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). Key areas of interest relate to atmospheric issues, especially the integration of strategies to address climate change and air quality, in particular associated with strategies to reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs). He is leading the development of an SLCP strategy support tool – LEAP-IBC – being used by many country governments to develop national integrated air pollution and climate change mitigation strategies. He has also contributed to work to assess the impact of air pollution on human health outcomes including the influence of exposure to PM_2.5 on pre-term births and asthma. He coordinated a UNEP/WMO integrated assessment on Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone (2011), which considered different measures to reduce methane emissions, and which helped to spark interest by a number of countries and inter-governmental agencies leading to the formation of the CCAC. He was Coordinating Lead Author of the atmosphere chapters in GEO4 and GEO5, UNEP’s flagship Global Environment Outlook assessment, exploring the relationships between air quality, climate change and ozone depletion. In recent years he has been supporting the development of the CCAC, partly through the activities of the Scientific Advisory Panel and partly by helping to lead CCAC initiatives, especially the SNAP initiative, ‘Supporting National Action and Planning on SLCPs’ and the Regional Assessment Initiative, and has an author of the UNEP and CCAC Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions.

On January 20^th 2021, John F. Kerry was sworn in as our nation’s first Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the first-ever Principal to sit on the National Security Council entirely dedicated to climate change. President Biden announced Kerry would have a seat at every table around the world as he combats the climate crisis to meet the existential threat that we face. In recent years, Kerry was the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s first ever Visiting Distinguished Statesman, following his four years as the 68th United States Secretary of State. As America’s top diplomat, he guided the Department’s strategy on nuclear nonproliferation, combating radical extremism, and the threat of climate change. His tenure was marked by the successful negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Agreement.

From 1985 to 2013, he served as a U.S. Senator representing Massachusetts, and was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2009 to 2013. Secretary Kerry served in the U.S. Navy, completing two combat tours of duty in Vietnam for which he received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree from Boston College Law School. Secretary Kerry is the best-selling author of A Call to Service, This Moment on Earth with his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, and his 2018 memoir, Every Day Is Extra, which The New York Times described as “a bittersweet reminder of what the country once demanded of its leaders.” Secretary Kerry was the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States in 2004.

Kentaro Hosomi is Executive Vice President at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and as of 1 April 2021 also serves as Chief Regional Officer (CRO) for the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region and CEO Mitsubishi Heavy Industries EMEA, Ltd. In his current role, Mr. Hosomi leads MHI’s efforts to grow its business across the region and across MHI Group companies, including Mitsubishi Power, Mitsubishi Logisnext, Primetals Technologies and MHI Air-conditioning Europe.

He previously served as President & CEO for the company’s Energy Systems domain and was deeply involved in MHI Group’s energy transition strategy. Mr. Hosomi is also a member of the board for Vestas Wind Systems where MHI now holds a stake in.

Mr. Hosomi brings around 40 years of experience to MHI Group, and has a proven track record in the power and energy sector.

In 2011, Mr. Hosomi was appointed as General Manager of Business Development & Strategic Planning Department of Power Systems at MHI, where he was responsible for business development, strategic planning, alliances for the overall power systems business. There, he made achievements such as the acquisition of PW Power Systems (currently known as Mitsubishi Power Aero LLC) and the launch of Savannah Machinery Works in Georgia, USA (now operating under Mitsubishi Power).

Mr. Hosomi’s expertise in sales, marketing and commercial administration of various types of power plant projects contributed to the company’s global presence in the energy industry. Starting as a sales specialist for the Middle East and later on doing a five-year stint in London, UK, his career at MHI Group includes a track record worth a few decades of winning, executing and managing power plant projects successfully.

Mr. Hosomi earned his Bachelor’s degree in economics from The University of Tokyo, Japan.

Kentaro Kawamori, the CEO and Co-founder of Persefoni, was the youngest Chief Digital Officer ever at a Fortune 500 energy company. His career has focused on the software space and includes time spent as a Cloud strategy consultant at Accenture and a Venture Partner focused on early-stage SaaS companies. In 2020, Kentaro was recognized by Forbes on its 30 Under 30 list.

Leo Hickman is the director and editor of Carbon Brief, the award-winning website which specialises in reporting climate change. 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. In 2020, he was named “Editor of the Year” by the Association of British Science Writers. His books include A Life Stripped Bare, The Final Call and Will Jellyfish Rule the World?

Leslie Swynghedauw is a Vice President at MSCI ESG Research specialising in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk and performance analysis of listed equities within the food and beverage industries. Leslie is also co-leading the EMEA ESG ratings team as well as the consumer staples sector.

Prior to joining MSCI in 2014, Leslie worked for EIRIS, a UK-based ESG research provider, as well as for Amundi. Leslie holds a Master degree in Development and Risk Management from Sciences Po Bordeaux.

Nicholas Stern is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government and Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE. He was Chief Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank, and has held posts at other UK & overseas universities. He was Second Permanent Secretary to Her Majesty’s Treasury, Head of the UK Government Economic Service, and led the Stern Review on the economics of climate change. He was knighted for services to economics (2004), made a life peer (2007), and appointed Companion of Honour for services to economics, international relations and tackling climate change in 2017. He was President of the Royal Economic Society (2018-2019) and President of the British Academy (2013-2017). His latest book is “Standing Up for a Sustainable World: Voices of Change” (eds Henry, Rockström and Stern, Edward Elgar, 2020).

Maria Mendiluce was appointed as CEO of the We Mean Business coalition in 2020, at the start of a critical decade for climate action. The We Mean Business coalition brings together seven international organizations: BSR, B-team, CDP, Ceres, CLG Europe, The Climate Group and WBCSD, which together catalyze business leadership and policy ambition to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy.
Maria will use her 25 years experience in sustainable development, energy and climate action to deliver an ambitious five-year strategy. This includes mainstreaming climate action across all businesses, both large and small, and advocating for climate policies to accelerate the green recovery and deliver an inclusive transition to net zero emissions before 2050.
Formerly Managing Director at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) covering Climate & Energy, Circular Economy, and Cities & Mobility, Maria played a pivotal role in guiding over 200 member companies to take transformative action on climate policy, energy transition, plastic waste and urban mobility. She has also held senior positions at the Economic Bureau of the Spanish Prime Minister, in the CEO’s office of Iberdrola and at the International Energy Agency.
Throughout her career Maria has a track record of establishing transformative projects. These include the Alliance to End Plastic Waste which pledged $1.5 billion to address plastic leakage to the environment; the Transforming Urban Mobility project to drive clean, safe and efficient mobility for all and WBCSD flagship Low Carbon Technology Partnership initiative which was recognised as a key contributor to the Paris Agreement. She has also focused on working to achieve greater representation of women in leadership roles through the Leading Women Awards and the LEAP education project.
Maria is a board member of the Science Based Targets initiative, a Commissioner on the Energy Transition Commission, a Co-Chair of the Global Environment Outlook Business Advisory Board (UNEP), a board member of the Centre for International Environmental Studies
(CIES) in Geneva, and a member of the BMW Mobility Council and Telefonica Sustainability Advisory Board.
She has a PhD in energy economics, regularly teaches at universities and publishes in academic journals and media.

Marine de Bazelaire is Group Advisor on Natural Capital at HSBC, since January 1, 2021 after being Head of Sustainability for France and then Europe since 2004. This newly created position aims to support the Group’s response to the risks and opportunities linked to natural capital, including the markets of carbon offsetting. Between a first part of her career in multimedia publishing and that now dedicated to sustainable development, she worked for the UNESCO Bureau of Public Information.

Colonel of the citizen reserve of the French Air Force, she is also a member of the board of directors of the Bangladeshi non profit, Friendship. She graduated from IHEDN (Institut d’Enseignement Supérieur de la Défense Nationale) and CHEEDD (Higher School of Sustainable Development and the Environment), and obtained a DEA in Museology from the University of Paris IV, a Master of Sciences in Publishing and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Pace University, New York.

Mark Carney is currently the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and Prime Minister Johnson’s Finance Adviser for COP26. Mark is a member of the Arnhold Distinguished Fellowship Program Board within Conservation International. He is also an external member of Stripe’s Board, a global technology company building economic infrastructure for the internet.

Mark was previously Governor of the Bank of England (from 2013 to 2020), and Governor of the Bank of Canada (from 2008 to 2013).

Internationally, Mark was Chair of the Financial Stability Board (from 2011 to 2018), He chaired the Global Economy Meeting and Economic Consultative Committee of the Bank for International Settlements (from 2018-2020) and was First Vice-Chair of the European Systemic Risk Board (from 2013-2020). He is Vice Chair of Brookfield Asset Management and a member of the Global Advisory Board of PIMCO, the Group of Thirty, the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, as well as the boards of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Hoffman Institute for Global Business and Society at INSEAD.

Mark was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada in 1965. After growing up in Edmonton, Alberta, he obtained a bachelor degree in Economics from Harvard and masters and doctorate degrees in Economics from Oxford.

After a thirteen-year career with Goldman Sachs, Mark was appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003. In 2004, he became Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance. He held this position until his appointment as Governor of the Bank of Canada in February 2008.

Mark Gough is the CEO of the Capitals Coalition, a global collaboration of business, governments and civil society that is transforming the way that decisions are made by including the value provided by nature and people.

Previously, Mark led the Natural Capital Coalition and was on the board of the Social and Human Capital Coalition. He championed and delivered the bringing together of these two communities, creating a unified, systemic, collaborative approach.

Mark has worked extensively in the private sector, leading programs and strategy for the Crown Estate and Reed Elsevier (now RELX), as well as advising many more.

Among other board and advisory positions, Mark is on the Advisory Board for TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity), a member of the Steering Committee of the United Nations CEO Water Mandate and an advisor on the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.

Matthew works at the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). He is Deputy Director for Energy Innovation Strategy, and responsible for delivering major parts of BEIS £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, responsible for innovation programmes on nuclear, smart energy and buildings in particular. He also works with colleagues across UK ministries to steer the Government’s wider £3bn+ investment in energy innovation.

He has spent 16 years in the UK civil service focussed on clean technologies and R&D – including carbon capture & storage (CCS), and low carbon vehicles. He was Private Secretary to two Secretaries of State, and most recently undertook a 2½ year secondment to Sheffield University to establish their new energy research institute.

Michael is an internationally recognised leader in the future of mobility & energy, having set up and delivered major national and city strategies on sustainable transportation, climate & energy, and autonomous vehicles. He created and led the UK’s national programmes on electromobility and driverless cars; and joins Arrival from the role of Director of Innovation at Transport for London (TfL), where he was responsible for making sure transport in London is ready for the future – from e-scooters to EV infrastructure; from demand responsive transport to innovation in freight. He was previously a management consultant with Deloitte, and Policy Fellow at the Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College London.

Michael Lewis joined E.ON UK as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2017, after holding the role of CEO at E.ON Climate & Renewables GmbH. He has worked in the energy industry for 26 years.
Having joined PowerGen in 1993, Michael originally worked in technical and environmental roles, before moving into Corporate Strategy and Development. Following E.ON’s acquisition of PowerGen in 2002, Michael moved to E.ON’s headquarters in Düsseldorf as Vice President Corporate Development.
In 2007 he was appointed as Managing Director for Europe on the Board of E.ON Climate & Renewables, before becoming CEO responsible for global wind power development, construction and operations, where he led E.ONs international expansion into offshore wind.
Michael is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE).

He was born in Glasgow in 1970 and educated at St John Bosco Secondary School. He went on to study at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, where he obtained a BSc in Occupational Therapy. He also holds a BA and a Diploma in Applied Social Sciences from the Open University.

Prior to becoming an MSP, Mr Matheson practised as a Community Occupational Therapist with Stirling Council, Central Regional Council, and Highland Regional Council.

He was elected as the MSP for Falkirk West following the May 2007 elections. Prior to this, he was a Regional MSP for Central Scotland from 1999 to 2007. Before being appointed Minister for Public Health and Sport, Mr Matheson was Vice Convenor of the European and External Relations Committee. He also sat on the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee, and previously served on the Justice and Enterprise and Culture Committees. Michael Matheson was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Justice in November 2014 and reappointed in May 2016. He was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity in June 2018.

Mike Hawes became SMMT Chief Executive on 2 September 2013.

He has over 30 years’ experience in policy and public affairs, the majority of which has been spent in the automotive industry. He joined SMMT from Bentley Motors where he held a number of communications, corporate and public affairs roles.

Prior to that, he also worked for both Toyota and, Bentley’s parent company, Volkswagen AG, where he developed the European and global knowledge needed for this challenging role.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is one of the largest and most influential trade associations in the UK. Its resources, reputation and unrivalled automotive data place it at the heart of the UK automotive industry.

SMMT is the voice of the UK motor industry, supporting and promoting its members’ interests, at home and abroad, to government, stakeholders and the media.

SMMT represents more than 800 automotive companies in the UK, providing them with a forum to voice their views on issues affecting the sector, helping to guide strategies and build positive relationships with government and regulatory authorities.

Morten joined BTPSM in September 2018 and is responsible for leading all aspects of the business in its support of the Trustee of the Scheme and its members.

Morten has spent most of his career in financial services He joined the pensions and investment industry in 2001 and spent over 10 years with the 90 bn Danish pension scheme ATP, where he held different senior positions across administration, investments, product and business development In 2010 he moved to London where he founded and as CEO made NOW Pensions one of the largest occupational DC providers in the UK

Nick Mabey is the Chief Executive of E3G and a founder director since 2006.  In addition to his leadership role, he engages on issues of climate diplomacy, foreign policy, European politics and the security implications of climate change and resource scarcity.

Nicolas Moreau joined HSBC Global Asset Management on 2 September 2019 as Chief Executive Officer.

Nicolas has 30 years of experience in the asset management and insurance industries. Before this appointment, Nicolas spent 2 years at Deutsche Bank as the Management Board member responsible for Deutsche Asset Management. As the Global CEO, Nicolas led the business to be listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in March 2018 and rebranded the business to DWS. Previously, Nicolas spent 25 years with the AXA Group. He was Chairman and CEO of AXA France and a member of the AXA Group Management Committee, as well as Vice Chairman of the Group Investment Committee. Nicolas has also been CEO of AXA Investment Managers and CEO of AXA UK & Ireland. He began his career with Arthur Andersen.

Nicolas is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and has an actuarial degree from the Centre d’Etudes Actuarielles. He was awarded la Legion d’honneur in 2015, for his services to the French financial industry.  Nicolas is a Director of the Investment Association.

Nigel Topping is the UN High-Level Climate Action Champion for COP26 in the UK, appointed by the UK Prime Minister in January 2020. Nigel works alongside the Chilean High-Level Climate Action Champion for COP25, Gonzalo Muñoz. The role of the high-level champions is to strengthen collaboration and drive action from businesses, investors, organisations, cities, and regions on climate change, and coordinate this work with governments and parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Nigel was most recently CEO of We Mean Business, a coalition of businesses working to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy. Prior to that he was Executive Director of the Carbon Disclosure Project, following an 18 year career in the private sector, having worked across the world in emerging markets and manufacturing.

Founder at Thinking the Unthinkable. International broadcaster. Moderator of public/private conferences (corporate/government). http://www.thinkunthink.org/

35 year analytical expertise in diplomacy, defence, international security.
– Main news presenter, the BBC’s international 24-hour news channel BBC World News 1996-2014.
– presented The Hub with Nik Gowing, BBC World Debates, Dateline London , plus location coverage of major global stories.
– 1979-1996 ITN : bureau chief in Rome/Warsaw’
– Diplomatic Editor Channel 4 News (1988-1996).
– BAFTA award for coverage of Martial Law in Poland 1981

Councils/boards
– Chatham House (1998–2004)
– Royal United Services Institute (2005–present)
– Overseas Development Institute (2007-2014)
– Westminster Foundation for Democracy inc vice chair (1996-2005)
– Wilton Park (1998-2012 )
– Hay Festival

Much sought-after analytical expertise on failures to manage information in new transparent environments of conflicts, crises, emergencies and tension. Peer-reviewed study at Oxford University is “Skyful of Lies and Black Swans”. Predicts new vulnerability, fragility and brittleness of institutional power in the new all-pervasive public information space.

Ongoing “Thinking the Unthinkable” study reveals candidly why so many leaders face new difficulties identifying what looms in the disruptions of the “new normal”. The findings are scary. Based on hundreds of interviews, inc 60 top level confidential interviews of corporate/public service leaders, plus new generation of millennials.

2014- Visiting Professor, Kings College, London in School of Social Science and Public Policy.

Member World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Geo-Economics.

Honorary Doctorates – Exeter University 2012; Bristol University 2015 for ongoing cutting edge analyses and distinguished career in international journalism.

1994: Fellow Kennedy School of Government, Harvard.

Noel Quinn was appointed Group Chief Executive in March 2020, having previously served as interim Group Chief Executive from August 2019.

Mr Quinn has been with HSBC – or its constituent companies – since 1987, when he joined Forward Trust Group, a subsidiary of Midland Bank (now HSBC UK). He led HSBC’s acquisitions of Swan National Motor Finance and Eversholt Leasing Ltd, becoming General Manager of each business in turn.

He subsequently served as Head of Specialised and Equity Finance at HSBC; Group Director of Strategy & Development at HSBC Insurance Services North America; Head of Commercial Finance Europe; and Head of Commercial Banking UK.

From 2011 to 2015 he was the Regional Head of Commercial Banking for Asia-Pacific, based in Hong Kong. Mr Quinn was appointed Chief Executive, Global Commercial Banking in December 2015. He became a Group Managing Director in September 2016.

Mr Quinn qualified as an accountant in 1987.

Paro Konar is the Director for the Industrial Energy directorate, a role she job-shares with Stef Murphy. The Industrial Energy Directorate is at the heart of BEIS Energy and Industrial policy, and is responsible for strategy, policy and delivery of decarbonisation policies to meet UK’s legally binding net zero targets. This includes policies on industrial decarbonisation, delivery of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage technology. The directorate is also responsible for developing the policy framework for the production and use of low carbon Hydrogen and designing and implementing the UK’s Emissions Trading Scheme. Paro’s background is in the electricity sector where she spent the majority of her career, she received an OBE in 2018 for services to energy economics.

Philip Glanville was elected Mayor of Hackney in September 2016, becoming the borough’s second directly elected Mayor. He was re-elected in May 2018, giving Hackney Labour their best result since 1986.

Previously a councillor in Hoxton West for ten years, Philip spent three years as Cabinet Member for Housing before becoming Deputy Mayor in 2016.

As Cabinet Member for Housing, Philip oversaw the delivery of genuinely affordable homes,  which he is continuing as Mayor, committing the Council to tripling the number of council homes built since 2010, including 800 for social rent.

Employment, skills and education are also a key priority for the Mayor; supporting schools, ensuring that we actively help young people into careers and that all residents, whatever their age, have the skills and support they need to get into employment, return to work or start a business ─ all contributing towards his agenda to bridge the gap between Hackney’s residents and their growing local economy. Critical to this agenda has been the Council’s award winning in-house apprenticeship programme.

Philip is committed to being a campaigning Mayor, standing up for Hackney’s most vulnerable residents and for local government’s important role in fighting austerity. He writes extensively on these subjects, and more recently has been part of the growing ‘new municipalism’ movement in local government.

He has served on the LLDC Board since 2016, and is currently the Chair of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee, Co-Chair of Thrive London and London Councils Digital Champion.

Prof Greg Clark CBE is Group Advisor for Future Cities and New Industries at HSBC Group. He works with HSBC’s global client base in 63 countries and 300 cities on the business and investment opportunities of the century of cities, accompanied by the 4^th Industrial Revolution, and the Climate Emergency.

Greg is also Chairman of the Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport, and place-making. He is chairman of the UK Government’s expert advisory group on Smart Cities and Connected Communities and a member of the UK Gov’s Urban Centre Recovery Task Force.

He is a Board Member of Transport for London and chairs its Investment Committee. He is also a member of the London LEAP and leads it work on economic and industrial strategy for London and the future of central London.

He was previously chair of The OECD Forum of Cities & Regions (1996 – 2016). He is Hon Prof of Urban Innovation and Policy at UCL and Strathclyde University. He is a Global Fellow at the Urban Land Institute, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and was previously a Global Fellow at the Brookings Institution (2011-2020). He is author of 10 books and 100 reports on cities, mobility, innovation, investment and leadership. His monthly column: The Planet of Cities, is hosted by RICS. He is Global Cities expert on the BBC World Service Series, My Perfect City.

Remy Briand, as Head of ESG, is responsible for MSCI’s ESG (environmental, social and governance) ratings products. He is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.
Remy Briand has been leading MSCI ESG Research since its creation in 2010. Remy also served until February 2017 as global head of research for MSCI where he led a team of 150 researchers designing indexes, analytics and risk models for institutional investors. As head of index research for 10 years, he managed the expansion of the MSCI Global Indexes to cover 80 developed, emerging and frontier markets. He also initiated and led the development of MSCI’s market-leading factor indexes.
Mr. Briand joined MSCI in 2001 from Credit Lyonnais Asset Management, where he was equity portfolio manager and head of research. He began his career as a private equity analyst at Credit Lyonnais.
Over his 27-year career as an investor, researcher and business leader, Remy has gained unique insights on topics such as global investing, emerging markets, sustainable investment and financial innovation. He regularly shares his views at industry conferences and with financial news media.
Remy holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Sciences from INSA (Lyon) and an MBA from HEC (Paris).

Richard Hamilton has been principle Engineer at Mitsubishi Power Europe since April 2019.  Currently supporting a range of initiatives related to product Life management and Intelligent solutions, to support the company’s current customers to develop effective economical operation of current assets as well as implement potential upgrades to operate in the future energy economy.  This includes storage and hydrogen firing.

Richard joined Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group 10 years ago and has managed teams in Materials, Engineering Development and Supply Chain.  Before joining MHI Group, he was a Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Materials at Imperial College in London.

Richard Roberts is Inquiry Lead at Volans, a research and advisory firm focused on sustainability, innovation and market transformation. Over the last decade, he has worked on strategy development and corporate transformation projects with companies in a range of sectors, from finance to heavy industry. Since 2018, he has led Volans’ work on Tomorrow’s Capitalism—examining the role of business and finance in shaping tomorrow’s markets in ways that foster resilience and regeneration.

Richard is part of the delivery team for the Bankers for Net Zero initiative, which is bringing together leaders from banks, business and policy to accelerate progress towards the UK’s net zero target in the lead-up to COP26. He is the lead author of The Retrofit Revolution, the first in a series of Bankers for Net Zero briefing papers setting out how the right combination of policy and finance can accelerate the UK’s transition to net zero emissions.

Sam leads Green Alliance’s Greening the Economy work, aiming to put actions that meet our climate objectives and restore nature at the heart of our Covid-19 economic recovery. He is also a member of Chatham House’s Panel of Young Advisors, advising on youth strategy and climate. Before joining Green Alliance Sam was a Senior Advisor to Tony Blair, as well as leading on Brexit and Industrial Strategy for the Wellcome Trust. Prior to this he worked for the Shadow Treasury team in Parliament. Outside of work Sam is a school governor, museum trustee and mentor with the Social Mobility Foundation. He holds a MSc in Climate Change.

Shirley Rodrigues was appointed as London Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy in October 2016.  She has devised and delivered environmental policies and programmes in London, nationally and internationally for government and philanthropy including most recently overseeing a global cities and climate change grants portfolio at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF).

She is now working to deliver the Mayor of London’s vision to make the city a fairer, greener, healthier and more sustainable one. This includes ambitious programmes to reduce air pollution across London including the expansion of the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone, making London carbon neutral by 2030 and spearheading London’s economic and social recovery from the impacts of Covid-19 through a Green New Deal.

Stefan Håkansson is the Global Director of City Energy Solutions & CEO of E.ON Business Solutions. With over 20 years of experience in the energy industry, Stefan is a world leader in the push for the development of sustainable Energy Infrastructure Solutions. Stefan began his professional career at E.ON in 1999, when he joined Sydkraft AB in Malmö, Sweden. For the first 11 years, he dealt with Energy System issues in northern Europe through large power plant operations. Up to 2018, Stefan worked as Managing Director for E.ON Värmekraft AB and secondly as Managing Director of Heating Energy at E.ON Värme Sverige AB. During this time, Stefan worked with local Customer Solutions such as heating, cooling, power and energy efficiency for City Customers. This focus is now expanded to innovative energy infrastructure projects combining digitalisation, decarbonisation and sustainability for industry, business and communities.

Stephen Brown was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the UK operating companies of Primetals Technologies Ltd. in 2016. Stephen has held a number of senior management posts in Primetals Technologies and prior to the formation of the then joint venture, in Voest Alpine and Siemens Plc since 2005.

Stephen has worked in the metals industry serving both the ironmaking and steelmaking business sectors since 2000. Prior to this Stephen worked for Davy Mckee and Kvaerner Metals in the Water, Waste Water, Process Chemical and Iron & Steel divisions executing a range of projects worldwide in various Engineering and Project related roles. Stephen is dedicated to research and development in the metals industry and the promotion of engineering in the UK, in particular within the UK’s steel industry.

Susan Aitken has been Leader of Glasgow City Council since May 2017 and is the first SNP Leader of the Council. For her work to deliver equal pay justice for thousands of women in the city, she was awarded Scottish Local Government Politician of the Year.

Under her leadership Glasgow has been named the host of COP26, a Global Green City, and the European Capital of Sport for 2023.

Susan has worked in a variety of policy and research roles in the Scottish Parliament and the third sector, and as a freelance writer and editor specialising in health and social care policy. She is a graduate of both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities.

Tim Mohin is the chief sustainability officer for Persefoni AI. Formerly, Mohin served as chief executive of the Global Reporting Initiative; he has also held sustainability leadership roles with Intel, Apple, and AMD and worked on environmental policy within the U.S. Senate and EPA. He is the author of Changing Business From the Inside Out: A Treehugger’s Guide to Working in Corporations.

Tiy is a Fiji national with over ten years’ experience in communications, outreach, and environmental advocacy. He has worked as a journalist, filmmaker, and strategic communications specialist, throughout the Asia-Pacific region. His past environmental advocacy work has included, fisheries protection, deforestation, sustainable consumption and production, and climate change. Most recently Tiy was the Regional Communications Specialist for a regional Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) project covering 13 Pacific Island Countries at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. His first job with the United Nations was as a Television Producer during the UN Transitional Authority East Timor (UNTAET) mission. He is a former Fulbright scholar and has a Masters in Environmental Science and Policy from Clark University, Massachusetts, USA, and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Technology Sydney, Australia.

Willie was appointed as the inaugural Chairman-Designate of the Scottish National Investment Bank in November 2019. Prior to that role he served for 19 years as Chief Executive, and latterly as Chair, of Martin Currie, a $17.2bn AUM investment management firm.

Previously, Willie spent 16 years with the 3i Group, latterly as Managing Director responsible for the company’s Scottish and Irish businesses, and ran investment teams focusing on Venture Capital, Oil & Gas and mid-market buyouts.

Since 2016 he has been a member of the Advisory Board of Scottish Equity Partners, and a Board and Audit Committee member of the National Galleries of Scotland.

Yewande is a chartered engineer, innovator and speaker. Her engineering experience includes the design and construction, innovation and manufacture of buildings and systems in the built environment. She has worked on projects in the UK, Africa, the Middle East and East Asia and has been named the UK Young Woman Engineer of the Year by the Institution of Engineering & Technology. She has also been awarded the Exceptional Achiever Award from the Association for BAME Engineers and the Association of Consultancy and Engineering, U.K. (ACE). She is a Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster.  She is passionate about STEM communication and has presented Engineering programmes for Television.  In the 2020 New Year Honours list, Yewande was awarded an MBE for services to engineering innovation and diversity in STEM.

She has recently been appointed the UK’s Innovation agency (Innovate UK) Ambassador for Clean Growth  and Infrastructure.