ESG Summit

8:30

9:30

Welcome and introduction

Sara Drake, Chief Executive, The Chartered Governance Institute UK and Ireland

9:35

Keynote: In a world of anti-ESG backlash, where next for companies, their investors and stewardship?

Speaker:
Catherine Howarth OBE, CEO of ShareAction 

9:55

ESG: challenges and trends, risks and benefits

Join us for a lively debate as ESG experts discuss the challenges of prioritising the different aspects of ESG while effectively managing company and stakeholder interests.

• Is ESG a business cost? Or a source of competitive advantage?
• Should firms look to be ESG minimalists? Or ESG leaders?
• What are the major risks associated with getting ESG wrong?
• Will ESG continue to grow? Or have we reached “Peak-ESG”?
• Does current regulation sacrifice the ‘S’ and the ‘G’ for the sake of an overemphasised focus on the ‘E’?
• What elements of an ESG programme are most costly and what can be done to mitigate this?

Panel Chair: 
Peter Swabey FCG, Policy & Research Director, The Chartered Governance Institute UK and Ireland

Speakers:
Lucy Glover, Deputy Secretary, Smiths Group plc
Tim Goodman, Head of Corporate Governance, Schroders
Joanne Sear, Principal Associate, Shoosmiths

10:35

The role of the sustainability committee

More and more organisations are choosing to set up board-level sustainability committees, in an attempt to help the board better use its time. This session will launch CGI’s latest thought leadership paper into these committees to find out what works and what doesn’t.

Speaker:
Emily Ford, Policy Adviser, CGIUKI

11:10

11:45

ESG regulation and reporting update

Over the past few months, we’ve seen major developments with TCFD, TNFD, TPT, IFRS S1 and S2, CSRD and CSDDD – to mention a few. How is this landscape going to evolve going forward? At risk of reporting standards overwhelm, what are the critical topics and deadlines which boards need to focus on?

Speaker:
Mike Ashby, The Department for Business & Trade

12:00

12:50

13:50

Recent court cases have shown that ESG is becoming a larger part of directors’ duties. This session will use a case-study to explore how companies and directors can get better at managing ESG risk.

Speakers:
Zaneta Sedilekova, Director at Planet Law Lab, Biodiversity Risk Advisor at Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative
Jasmin Fraser, Lawyer, Corporate/Finance and Climate Change at Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative

14:30

The new frontiers of boardroom diversity

Whilst UK boards have made much progress on gender and ethnicity; neurodiversity and social mobility are emerging as the new frontiers of boardroom diversity. This panel will review the latest thinking and practice in the value of diversity and how companies can make their boards more diverse.

Speakers:
Mark Freed, Co-founder, Men for Inclusion
Krishna Grenville-Goble, Director, KPMG UK
Charlotte Rees-John, Head of Retail, Leisure & Hospitality Sector, Irwin Mitchell
Rachael Saunders, Deputy Director, Institute of Business Ethics

15:00

Afternoon break - Tea & coffee

15:20

ESG engagement with investors

How do investors analyse firms on ESG? What role does ESG play in investment decisions? And what could new rules for ESG ratings providers mean for the market? Hear from a panel of investors about their perspective on the future of ESG.

Panel Chair:
Sallie Pilot, Senior Advisor, Investor Forum

Speakers:
Nico Aspinall, Sustainability advocate, Newton Investment Management
Archie Cage, Impact Analyst, Tribe Impact Capital
Andrew Ninian, Director, Stewardship, Risk and Tax, The Investment Association

16:00

Plugging the ESG competency gap

This session will give you a skills toolkit that will enable you to identify skills gaps in your boardroom, and apply your ESG knowledge in practice.

Speakers:
Silvana Glibota-Vigo, Group Head of Secretariat, Keller Group plc
Paul Johnston, Associate Director, One Advisory

16:30