2024 Summit Agenda
Speaker spotlight
Andy Brown
Group Chief Sustainability Officer
Jane Wakiwaka
Head of Sustainability
Mark Fenton
Carbon Manager
Mark Edwards
Head of Sustainability
Tom Gray
Group Nature Strategy Lead
Jochen Krippner
Director of Sustainable Investment
Margaret Read
Director of Policy
Nick White
Principal Advisor - Net Gain
Ruth Voigt
Environmental Sustainability Leader
Sam Longman
Head of Sustainability & Corporate Environment
Emma Hines
Sustainability Director, UK Materials & Cement
Sandrine Ricard
Director Sustainability & Responsibility
Event Agenda
8.30 Registration, Coffee and Networking
9.00 Welcome from Environment Analyst & Opening Remarks from the Chair
Peter Skinner, Chief Operating Officer, SLR Consulting
9.15 Market Analysis: Environment Analyst Market Update & Future Outlook
Environment Analyst will present the findings from our recently published UK Environment & Sustainability Consulting Market Assessment, which reveals the market is forecast to grow by 66% to reach a total of £4.9bn by 2027, and discuss the key drivers that are priming consultants for strong growth up to 2027 and beyond.
Get an update on the state of the industry, and how evolving market dynamics will impact your business. Learn which service areas and client sectors are providing the most growth opportunities, how market consolidation is continuing, and the role of private equity and the impact of M&A activities on the sector.
Ross Griffiths, Managing Director, Environment Analyst
Indré Jakaityté, Research & Data Manager, Environment Analyst
09:45 Policy Keynote: Scanning the Policy Horizon: Strategy, Stability, Sustainability?
What might we expect from the government in a refreshed National Infrastructure Strategy, and what will it mean for company sustainability strategies? How might the policy and environment begin to value resilience more seriously and what needs to happen to ensure nature based solutions become mainstream solutions?
Margaret Read will offer the National Infrastructure Commission’s view on priorities for the new Government, and how infrastructure operators can respond and adapt to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Margaret Read, Director of Policy, National Infrastructure Commission
10.10 Sustainability Leaders Panel: Discussing Priorities & Drivers to Adapt, Transform and Accelerate Sustainable Delivery
A collaborative and solution focused panel of both large and small consultants alongside industry business leaders, discussing current challenges and opportunities.
Chair: Ross Griffiths, Managing Director, Environment Analyst
Panellists:
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Thom Rawson, Sustainable Rail Principal, Rail Safety & Standards Board
10:55 Morning Refreshments & Networking
11.25 Panel: Future Proofing the Sustainability Profession
This discussion panel will view the profession through the lens of those in their early careers alongside experienced professionals.
It will provide highlights of the findings from Environment Analyst’s latest Early Careers Survey alongside a deep dive into solutions for recruiting and retaining skilled sustainability teams and explore issues such as:
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Developing industry collaboration to drive greater ED&I
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Supporting sustainability skills and opportunities as the role continues to evolve
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Future hopes and aspirations for careers in the sustainability services sector
Chair: Sally Hayns, Chief Executive Officer, CIEEM
Panellists:
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Angela Mulgrew, Director of Environment and Sustainability, AECOM
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Katherine Stanfield, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Jacobs
12.00 Sustainability Leaders Panel
Fireside chat-style discussion panel focusing on strategies to successfully embed sustainability into your organisation’s core functions, aligning internal corporate strategy and culture with external objectives, as well as outlining the challenges facing sustainability leaders and their evolving roles.
Chair: Emma Chynoweth, Editorial Director, Environment Analyst
Panellists:
12.05 Interactive discussion: Taking actionable steps to address the challenges of Scope 3 and engage your supply chain to decarbonise
This session will be a solution focused interactive discussion led by our panellists that will question how to tackle Scope 3 beyond just providing numbers and truly engage with your supply chain to decarbonise.
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Beyond the number to ensure focus on the real progress being made across your Scope 3 Emissions
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Mapping your Scope 3 Emissions to prioritise action
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Making the internal business case using both decarbonisation progress alongside data quantification and reporting
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Achieving collaboration across a multi layered supply chain to progress to net zero
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Effectively mobilising and engaging with your supply chain
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Collaborating and knowledge sharing to gain industry support in your Scope 3 emission actions and discussions
Panellists:
12.45 Networking Lunch
13.45 Fireside Chat with Sustainability Leaders
An informal and open discussion between sustainability leaders across key sectors about both the challenges and opportunities encountered on the road to net zero.
Chair: Emma Chynoweth, Editorial Director, Environment Analyst
Panellists:
14.30 Interactive Roundtable Discussions
A. To comply or to leverage - how are businesses actually responding to the CSRD?
Exploring how the CSRD is driving large changes in organisations, and to discuss challenges and solutions to reporting and business transformation.
Facilitated by: Emiliano Micalizio, European Leader for ESG, Ramboll and Andrew Mather, Director, Strategic Sustainability Consulting UK, Ramboll
B. Environmental Destination of the water industry
The National Framework for Water Resources (2020) requires water companies in England and Wales to develop and deliver their plans to arrive at an Environmental Destination in 2050 and beyond. Working with regulators, other water users and stakeholders, water companies have been challenged to maintain economic water supplies and protect and improve aquatic ecology under a changing climate. This roundtable will examine the technical, financial and practical challenges for water companies in delivering Environmental Destination.
Facilitated by: David Bradley, Technical Director Freshwater, APEM Group
C. Creating communities of practice for stakeholder management
For real transformation, sustainability needs to be accessible to all stakeholders. To do this we need to break down the barriers to engagement and tailor sustainability programs to the stakeholders you are working with. This roundtable will discuss strategies to communicate and collaborate with your stakeholders and the role of the sustainability professional in enabling this.
Facilitated by: Jane Wakiwaka, Head of Sustainability, Real Estate Management (UK) Ltd
D. Driving value and innovation through reporting
With the introduction of new legislation, organisations are moving from disclosing against voluntary frameworks like the Global Reporting Initiative to the more comprehensive, mandatory frameworks found in regulation, such as the EU CSRD. Some might see these disclosures as a burden, others see them as an opportunity to move organisations forward, engage a wider stakeholder group, and showcase achievements. This roundtable will discuss the benefits, risk, and opportunities around this new world of reporting and how reporting can create value for practitioners and their organisations.
Facilitated by: Vic Taylor, Vice-Chair, ICRS (Institute of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability)
E. Collaborating for industry-wide sustainability plans
Join this roundtable to explore:
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The value of an industry-wide or sector-wide approach to sustainability
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How organisations can co-create common sustainability goals
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Embedding a consistent approach to sustainability across a whole industry
Facilitated by: Thom Rawson, Sustainable Rail Principal, Rail Safety & Standards Board
F. Changes and impacts of the Government’s proposals on planning reform
Discussing the new Government’s proposals on planning reform, changes to NPPF to fast track planning decision making and its impact on the delivery of sustainability in housing and construction
Facilitated by: Peter Atchison, Chair, Environmental Industries Association
G. Role of value chain in accelerating decarbonisation
According to PAS 2080, value chains are organisations such as asset owners/managers, designers, constructors, and product/material suppliers responsible for delivering built assets and networks. This roundtable will discuss the importance of collaboration across the value chain for effective whole life carbon reduction of concrete construction. It will look at strategies for engaging and aligning stakeholders in decarbonization efforts, set appropriate carbon reduction targets, find collaborative ways of working that promote increase efficiencies in design and construction, determine consistent methods of concrete carbon measurements and reporting, and identify obstacles like financial issues and communication gaps.
Facilitated by: Noushin Khosravi, Head of Sustainability, UK Concrete, Mineral Products Association
H. With much of the low-hanging fruit already picked, what’s the next step for advancing infrastructure development towards Net Zero?
Together we will consider the following:
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Next-Generation Sustainable Materials
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No build solutions/asset sweating
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Nature based solutions, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
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Renewable Energy
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Energy Efficiency and Carbon Reduction
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Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency
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Equitable and Inclusive Infrastructure Development
Facilitated by: Steve Morgan, Director for Planning, Environment & Sustainability, Burns & McDonnell UK & Europe
14.30 Breakout Discussion: Understanding Investor Priorities when Analysing Companies’ Sustainability Performance and Net Zero Climate Actions
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Current investment trends and their impact on sustainability delivery
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Addressing what is needed to align policies, standards and regulations with investors goals
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How is sustainable finance driving better outcomes on projects and changing what is needed?
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Providing the accurate data and information that the financial investor needs
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Ensuring sustainability data meets market standards effectively
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Due diligence on energy consumption and carbon outputs
Chair: Heather Buchanan, Chief Executive Officer, Bankers for Net Zero
Panellists:
15.15 Afternoon Refreshments & Networking
15.45 Panel: Accelerating Nature Positive Solutions to Build Climate-Resilient Projects with Multiple Positive Outcomes
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Recognising the climate resilience benefits of biodiversity and nature based solutions
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Maximising the value of nature challenges and opportunities
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Delivering infrastructure in a biodiverse nature based environment
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Developing the business case for integrating nature, the environment and ecosystem restoration into the project from the start
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Utilising data, metrics and modelling for effective measurement and decision making
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Integrating climate, carbon and nature for resilience
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Understanding supply chain risks
Chair: Samatha Deacon, Principal, Ramboll
Panellists:
16.30 Fireside Chat with Transport for London
Chair: Emma Chynoweth, Editorial Director, Environment Analyst
Sam Longman, Head of Sustainability and Corporate Environment, Transport for London
16.30 Panel: Taking a Multi-Faceted Approach to Planning and Delivering Resilient Sustainable Infrastructure
An honest and collaborative case study-based session bringing together the stakeholders involved in project lifecycles to demonstrate the challenges each part faces and the key steps to success. It will discuss planning next generation infrastructure and investment for future outcomes as well as how projects have taken an holistic approach to embed biodiversity, nature, social considerations and climate change from initial design & planning and throughout the project lifecycle.
Discussion between key project stakeholders including:
Chair: Ross Griffiths, Managing Director, Environment Analyst
Panelists:
17:10 - 18:30 Close of Summit & Networking Drinks Reception