About iX Summit Melbourne

Adam Kirkman is a senior executive on ESG, climate change, renewable energy, carbon markets, sustainable finance and responsible investment.  A trusted advisor to Boards, CEOs, and C-Suite navigating the complexities, interconnectedness and materiality of ESG and climate risks across global markets, asset classes, and industrial sectors. 

Adam is passionate about mobilising capital flows for climate risk solutions, renewable energy, innovative investment strategies and products.  His experience spans a 30+-year career in consulting, as Program Manager Energy & Climate at WBCSD, and executive roles in global asset management. He is Strategic Advisor at Xpansiv, the world’s premier infrastructure platform for global environmental markets, alongside portfolio roles in early-stage climate technologies. 

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Amy Hogan is the Head of ESG & Sustainability at Transurban. She has responsibility for Transurban’s sustainability strategy, governance and reporting. Prior to joining Transurban, Amy was the Head of Sustainability at Stockland. With over 25 years’ experience across infrastructure, property, government and manufacturing, Amy is a Director on the not-for-profit board of the Supply Chain Sustainability School (SCSS) and member of the ASFI Taxonomy Advisory Group for Transport. Amy was recently recognised in the FS Sustainability ESGPower50 recognised as one of the 50 most influential corporate ESG leaders in Australia.

Andrew has over 25 years’ environmental and planning law and policy experience as well as 10 years at a CEO and Director level in the not-for-profit sector initiating and driving systems change in policy and sustainable development through project design and delivery.  

He has been a qualified environmental and planning litigation practitioner and policy advisor with roles at Sydney City Council and holding the position of Partner at Gadens Lawyers (1988 - 1995, Dunhill Madden Butler (1995 – 1999) and PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal, where he was also was one of the founders and leaders of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Sustainability & Climate Change practice (1999  - 2010).  

His specialist law and policy expertise in the environmental includes litigation and advisory experience in commercial, residential and infrastructure (water, waste management, renewable energy) project development, resource planning and acquisition, program roll out of energy conservation projects, biodiversity and water market policy and trading market development, as well as environmental protection.

His focuses on the strategic delivery of 6 workstreams (Circular Economy, Cities and Mobility, Energy & Climate, Food, Nature and Water, People, and Redefining Value) for over 70 private, philanthropic, public and academic members at the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia (known prior to 2018 as Sustainable Business Australia) as network partner with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and the Australian focal point of the We Mean Business Coalition and the Business for Nature Coalition.   

He holds a Non – Executive Director role at the Banksia Foundation (2013 – current, Chair from 2021) and is on Board of Advice at the University of Sydney Business School (2016 – current).  His current Government appointments include as a member of the National Advisory Industry Reference Group to the Australian Government’s National Waste Review, the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (2018 – current) and representation on the Sustainability Industry Reference Committee of the Australian Industry Skills Committee (2018 – current), and appointment to the Australian Business and Biodiversity Initiative (2014 – current). He was also member of the 2017 – 2018 co-design group that provided guidance on the delivery of the Australian Government’s Environmental Partnerships Initiative.  In 2020 he was appointed by the Victorian Government to the Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre Expert Advisory Group, and in 2021 the Victorian Government appointed him to the Clean Economy Skills and Jobs Taskforce.  

Dr. Anna Young-Ferris, a pioneer in ESG, sustainability, and climate change, has over two decades of experience in both corporate and academic sectors. She recently joined Elanor Investors Group (an ASX listed property fund manager) as Head of ESG. Anna's award-winning research lies at the intersection of responsible investment and sustainability accounting for positive ESG and financial impact, including carbon risk and opportunity and Indigenous impact. In 2023, she was recognised by the United Nations for her work integrating the SDGs into teaching, research, and organizational practices at her university. Previously, she helped build Ernst & Young's Climate Change and Sustainability practice in Sydney. 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annayoungferris 

Elanor Investors Group

Anthony is a Senior Principal Research Scientist in CSIRO’s Environment business unit based in Hobart Tasmania.  He has over 20 years’ experience in environmental research and its application to Australia’s national challenges.  Over the last decade Anthony has led much of CSIRO’s work on natural capital with a particular focus on application in the private sector.  His research is working on the challenges associated with the application of natural capital accounting and assessment in the agricultural, forestry and resources industries.  He is currently a member on the steering group for natural capital at the World Economic Forum and member of the Australian-New Zealand working group of the Science-Based Targets network 

Website: Environment Business Unit - CSIRO 

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Prior to this, she worked at Treasury for six years on a range of issues, from taxation policy and revenue forecasting, to superannuation and retirement income policy and modelling. She also worked several years at the Reserve Bank of Australia. 

Arianna is passionate about evidence-based public policy. She holds a Master of Economics from the London School of Economics, and an Advanced Science/Arts degree from UNSW. 

Ben Stuart brings more than a decade’s experience in environmental markets, and co-founded CBL in 2009. He designed and implemented the CBL product offering across environmental, energy, and soft commodity products, and was part of the joint government initiative that established the Australian water exchange, H2OX. Stuart coordinated development of the first Australian gas pipeline auctions of storage and physical gas, and oversaw the contract design and implementation for the first exchange traded differentiated natural gas contracts in 2019.

Prior to CBL, Stuart was a broker for Tullett Prebon in London for the EU ETS and the UK Power Markets.

Ben founded Futureproof in 2018 to drive positive social and environmental change by growing sustainable businesses. Ben is an experienced sustainability and ESG consultant, advising micro-caps to ASX100 across industries from resources to education.

Ben has a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) from Curtin University and a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business from the University of Cambridge. Ben is also a GRI-trained professional.

Carly is Senior Analyst - Sustainability & Impact, for global fund manager New Forests, supporting the development and continual improvement of New Forests' group-wide strategies, policies, programs and disclosures related to environment, social and governance (ESG) and impact.  Carly’s career has been defined by working to influence positive social and environmental impacts. She was previously the Impact Investment Forum Program Manager for the Responsible Investment Association Australasia where she drove capacity-building around impact management; a non-Executive Director of B Lab Australia & New Zealand; and before that was the inaugural Director of Engagement and Communications at Impact Investing Australia.  Prior to these roles she worked for the Australian Conservation Foundation and for Oxfam on campaigns spanning climate change, environmental sustainability, Indigenous rights, and social justice. 

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With over 20 years in financial services, Cassandra leads the Climateworks Centre Sustainable Finance team, specialising in climate transition finance across Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. She focuses on mobilising investment capital towards sustainable finance and has a strong interest in Private Equity, Venture Capital, and equities markets for scaling climate innovation.

Previously, she led the Responsible Investment Association Australasia’s certification and ratings program, setting a global standard for responsible investment. Cassandra has extensive experience with global investment banks, fund managers, and fintech's, and serves on the education committee for 100 Women in Finance as an ESG expert.

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https://www.climateworkscentre.org/

Dr. Christoph Nedopil is the Director of the Griffith Asia Institute and a Professor at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. He is also a Visiting Professor at FISF Fudan University, Shanghai, and Singapore Management University (SMU). Christoph provides advisory to governments, financial institutions, enterprises, and civil society on sustainable development issues. He has authored several reports, including the UNDP SDG Finance Taxonomy, and has published articles in leading journals like Science. Christoph serves as a board director in scaling sustainability in businesses and finance and is regularly quoted in major outlets like Financial Times and The Economist. Previously, he worked with the World Bank, German development agency GIZ, and held academic positions at leading universities in China. 

I am a proud Wakka Wakka man born and raised on my traditional homelands of what we now call South Burnett. My values, passion and commitment in working for my people comes from the nurturing, love and support of my family. I have worked in both the private and public sectors including, AIMS, APS, Chamber of Commerce & Industry, ATSIC and NRM bodies. My current role as World Wide Fund for Nature – First Nations Principal Advisor has been an absolute pleasure. WWF-Aust has given me the responsibility to lead our engagement with our communities here in Australia and working across our international network.

Dazzle is a Sustainable Investing advisor and net zero strategist with experience across America, Asia, and Middle East. He supports institutional asset owners and managers in advancing sustainability related investment practices and policies. At Ceres, Dazzle conceptualized and led the Private Equity Working Group that supports general and limited partners with investment frameworks to assess and manage climate risks and opportunities. He has also led management of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.

Prior to Ceres, as a Managing Director at KPMG’s ESG Climate Advisory practice, he supported financial institutions to create and execute tailored ESG programs and decarbonization strategies.

Ed advises some of Australia’s largest superannuation funds and global investors on ESG risk in their portfolios and leads a team that produces research on a range of material ESG risks, including climate reporting in the ASX200 companies. In addition to his role at ACSI, Ed is also a Director of the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC). 

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Fiona Reynolds is an independent director and advisory board member working across the business and investor sectors on ESG and sustainability issues. Fiona served as the CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) for just under a decade, stepping down at the beginning of 2022. 

Fiona is the Chair of the UN Global Compact Network Australia and Chair of Finance for Peace; she also serves on the Board of Frontier Advisor, Australian Ethical Super s and the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute.  She is on the Advisory Boards of Affirmative Investment Management, and ROC Partners. She chairs the ESG Advisory Board for Qualitas and is on the think tanks Climate Catalyst, and the UBS Sustainability and Impact Forum, as well the Advisory Committee for the NSW Commissioner for Anti-Slavery and the Australian Human Rights Institute. 

Fiona has 30 years' experience in the financial services, superannuation and pension sector. She joined the PRI from the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST), where she spent seven years as CEO. 

Helen established the CSR function (now sustainability) at Optus and leads Optus' social impact and environmental sustainability strategy and team. Helen has had over 25 years of experience in the NGO and corporate sectors in developing ESG strategies covering areas such as; human rights, supply chain, strategic social impact, climate change, circular economy and sustainability reporting.  

As a purpose-driven 'intrapreneur', Helen's focus is to integrate ESG within the business and to build strong internal and external stakeholder relationships with the aim of developing innovative programs and partnerships that take a shared value approach across social and environmental sustainability. 

Helen led Optus' Project Zero as part of its decarbonisation strategy and re-validation of it's SBTi targets, the establishment of it's circular economy roadmaps and ESG reporting and governance across Optus. 

Jacquie Fegent-Mcgeachie is a Partner in Deloitte’s Climate and Sustainability practice and advises boards and management teams across multinationals, corporates, and public sector organisations on the integration of climate and sustainability considerations into strategy and how to prepare for the significant climate and sustainability reporting regulatory changes underway.  

Jacquie believes in using the incoming mandatory climate and sustainability reporting requirements as a catalyst to embed ESG considerations into organisational strategy, governance, risk management and culture, and in turn build organisational resilience and trust.  

She is a lead developer of Deloitte’s AI-enabled Sustainability Reporting tool SustainNext™ and is an advocate of using innovation, technology and partnership as an enabler of the transformation required of organisations to adapt to a rapidly changing world. 

Prior to joining Deloitte, Jacquie held senior executive roles in-house including leading global sustainability functions for listed multinationals, run her own for-purpose business and is a qualified company director and of Governor of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and former board director of the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia. 

As Head of Sustainability, Jennifer has been instrumental in AirTrunk’s sustainability success and establishing its ESG strategy and governance. 

  Jennifer engages with AirTrunk’s customers, investors, suppliers, partners, lenders, and government, to elevate AirTrunk’s ESG leadership position across Planet, People and Progress, with the objective to set industry standards and advance it at a global scale. 

Jennifer leads AirTrunk’s ESG performance disclosures, enabling transparency and accountability. AirTrunk has achieved remarkable scores in public sustainability disclosures, including 5-STAR GRESB score (97/100), CDP score of B, and Platinum EcoVadis medal placing AirTrunk amongst the top 1% assessed globally securing AMEA sustainability leadership award in 2024.

Josh is a socially and commercially focused, Worimi (Aboriginal) man with extensive experience across Indigenous affairs, the environmental sector and sustainable agriculture. Josh works across government, corporate and social organisational levels to develop and lead change through sharing the narration of Indigenous identity through agricultural and environmental truth-telling in light of modern contexts. Josh is a deep, strategic thinker and manages business change effectively through empathy. He is passionate about creating change through effective investment and societal understanding.   

Josh is a Senior Researcher at the UTS Jumbunna Institute and is undertaking a PhD at Charles Sturt University, focused on the concept of Indigenous modernity through agriculture. He was recently recognised internationally for his work, announced in the inaugural 50 Next: People Shaping the Future of Gastronomy cohort. Josh is on the board for Indigenous Business Australia, the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office, KU Children's Services and the Australian Conservation Foundation and is the Aboriginal Co-Chair of Reconciliation NSW. 

Julia Tink, the co-founder and marketing visionary behind St Remio, brings over 20 years of expertise in public relations and marketing to the table. Prior to St Remio, Julia successfully ran her own PR and marketing firm for eight years, honing her skills in strategic communication and brand building. Her keen understanding of market dynamics, coupled with a deep passion for coffee, women's empowerment, and positive industry transformation, has been instrumental in shaping St Remio into a brand that goes beyond exceptional coffee – it stands as a beacon of positive change within the industry. 

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Justin is the Managing Director of the Australian Accounting Standards Board. Justin possesses a diverse background, and has worked across multiple countries in roles linked to community, science and professional services. He has been CEO for NFP entities in Australia and the UK, as well as having worked as a Consulting Director. In a previous career, Justin was an environmental consultant working in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems assessing the impact on the environment from operations.   

Justin has been involved in science-led, technology-based businesses from concept development, commercialisation and through to spin-out and funding in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.  

Dr. Kar Mei Tang is Head of Oceania for the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Formerly Chief Circular Economist at NSW Circular, she also held senior executive roles in the NSW Government, including the Department of Premier and Cabinet. She was Head of Policy and Research at the Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association and began her career as a financial services regulator in Malaysia. She is currently Deputy Chair of the Women in Economics National Committee and sits on the International Women’s Development Agency Board, Gateway Bank’s Sustainability Advisory Board, Deakin University’s Real Estate Advisory Board, and the Economic Society of NSW Council.  

 www.unpri.org

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Kate is the CEO/Executive Director of UN Global Compact Network Australia, she lead the Australian Network's Secretariat of the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative. She work with over 300 businesses and stakeholders to advance the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.Kate has over 20 years of experience in strategy, operations, futures, foresight, data, sustainability, urban design, and community development across the public and private sectors. She is a creative and collaborative leader, designer, and strategist, passionate about solving complex problems and creating positive change. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Harvard's Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership program and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufacturing, London.

Kate commenced as an ASIC Commissioner for a five-year term in September 2023. She has more than 25 years’ experience in law and regulation across financial services, markets, and corporations.

Kate joined ASIC from Treasury, where she held senior leadership positions with responsibility for data and digital economic reforms, COVID economic policy responses, small business policy and regulatory frameworks governing market conduct.

Kate previously held senior executive roles at ASIC with responsibility for corporate transactions and governance, and practised in the Sydney and New York offices of the law firm Sullivan and Cromwell.

Kathryn has been working in the ESG, sustainability and corporates affairs area for more than 20 years, holding senior executive roles across multiple industries, for listed and non-listed companies. She has worked for and consulted to some of Australia’s largest companies. Now as Head of ESG at Qantas Group, her focus is on sustainability strategy, governance, investor relations and disclosures, including the annual sustainability report.

Kristy is the inaugural CEO of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute - working with partners across the finance sector to create a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive financial system in Australia. 
 
With a background in sustainable finance and impact investing across the public and private sectors, Kristy led the Australian Government’s work with private and institutional investors to mobilise capital for climate and social impact in Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In this role she established the Australian Government’s first impact investment fund, designed to build sustainable and inclusive financial markets in Southeast Asia. She was also a special advisor on the Prime Minister’s Social Impact Investing Taskforce in 2020. 
 
She has previously worked in Australia, Latin America, the UK and in global roles for large and small organisations, driving global progress on sustainability issues. She holds a BSc (Environmental) and a Masters in Environmental Law from the University of Sydney and an MBA (Social Impact) from AGSM at UNSW. 

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Since August 2019, Leilani has led the development of Rest’s Responsible Investment and Sustainability function, sitting on the Management Investment Committee.  

Leilani’s professional motivation is to drive outcomes across teams; and manage ESG and climate-related factors to reduce risks and enhance investment performance for Rest members. 

She has worked in the U.K., the U.S., in regional and rural Australia, and across a range of sectors - government, corporate and finance. Leilani holds a degree in Environmental Science (Natural Resources) from the University of Queensland, holds the One Planet MBA from the University of Exeter (with Dean’s Commendation), is GAICD, and a Chartered Environmentalist. 

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Lisa Zembrodt is Principal and Senior Director of Schneider Electric’s Sustainability Business. She has nearly two decades of experience advising organisations on energy and sustainability. She is a trusted advisor to some of Australia’s largest companies and is a Certified Energy Risk Professional, holds an MBA, Bachelor’s degree in International Economics with a minor in International Studies, and a Sustainability and Climate Risk Certificate from the Global Association of Risk Professionals. She sits on the Boards of the Energy Efficiency Council, the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity, and the Energy Users Association of Australia. 

Mark joined the Australian Institute of Company Directors as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in 2022. Mark served as the Global CEO at Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) for two terms over 2014-2020 where he was also a Partner. He was also Chair of the firm's Global Executive, Chair of the Global Diversity & Inclusion Group and a Member of the HSF Global Partnership Council. He was responsible for developing and implementing the “Beyond 2020” strategy. Prior to becoming the Global CEO of HSF, he was a member of the management team having led a number of practice groups including the Banking and Finance Group as well as the Corporate Group. He practised as a Partner in the Banking & Finance area. 

Mark is the Chair of Redkite Children's Charity, a Non-Executive Director of Smartgroup Corporation Limited (ASX: SIQ) and a Board Member of the European Australian Business Council. Additionally, Mark is a member of Financial Services Institute of Australia.  

Mark was based in London from 2013 until 2020. 

He is a graduate of the University of Sydney; Melbourne University (Mt Eliza), Harvard University and Singularity University.  

With 25 years of journalism experience, Mathew Dunckley has a distinguished career in business journalism, including a decade at the Australian Financial Review and five years as national business editor for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. After serving as digital editor through the pandemic, Mathew now holds dual roles as deputy editor and investigations editor at The Age. 

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theage.com.au

As a Manager in IGCC’s Corporate Engagement team, Max's primary focus is supporting institutional investors in their corporate engagement efforts as part of Phase II of Climate Action 100+. Previously, Max was a Senior Analyst on the Responsible Investment team at Funds SA in Adelaide, where his primary focus was stewardship. Before joining Funds SA, Max’s responsible investment career began during his tenure as an analyst with BT's sustainability team. 
https://igcc.org.au/ 

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With 15+ years experience in carbon and financial markets under his belt, (including creating & trading the first ever Australian Carbon Credit Unit), as well as a CFA, Michael's experience in carbon markets has led him to one steadfast belief: the financial industry has a big role to play in climate change, and Emmi is the vehicle needed to allow that to happen.  

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Emmi website: www.emmi.io

Munro Partners is a global growth equities manager, investing over $5bn in some of the key structural changes occurring in our world today including decarbonisation. 

Mike is Munro Partners’ Responsible Investment Manager, leading the integration of responsible investment practices into investment decision-making.  

 Mike has over 10 years of experience in responsible investment. He previously worked at the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, which represents asset owners with over $1tr in funds under management. Before ACSI, Mike was at the Future Fund, Australia’s sovereign wealth fund.  Mike also co-wrote and co-lectures a subject called Sustainable Investment at the University of Melbourne. 

Nayanisha is the Head of Policy & Advocacy at the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA). Nayanisha is a former lawyer with extensive federal public sector experience in governance and regulation. Before RIAA, she was a Senior Manager at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and was the project lead on its thematic review into greenwashing by ‘green’ or ‘ethical’ managed funds and superannuation funds, culminating in the publication of industry and consumer guidance. She is also an experienced not-for-profit board member, serving on two charity boards in Australia as well as chairing each Governance Committee.   

Find out more about RIAA

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Nicholas Reece was sworn in as Lord Mayor of Melbourne in July 2024.  He was first elected as a councillor at the City of Melbourne in 2016 and was elected as Deputy Lord Mayor in 2020. 

During this period Nick has served as lead of the City Planning portfolio and deputy lead for the Finance, Governance and Risk portfolio – these cover a range of responsibilities and activities which are core to council business.  As Deputy Lord Mayor, Nick helped steer the city through some of its darkest days during the Covid lockdowns and the subsequent recovery.  With a long history of public service and experience in business, law and journalism, Nick brings a deep understanding of Melbourne life to the role of Lord Mayor.    

Nick is one of the original “Mo Bros” and former chairman of global men’s health charity Movember. Founded in Melbourne, almost 10 million people have participated in Movember and raised almost $1.5 billion for prostate cancer and men’s mental health. For over 10 years, Nick was a director for the street newspaper The Big Issue, Australia’s most successful social enterprise for homeless and vulnerable people.  

Nick has been a senior executive at the University of Melbourne and holds the position of principal fellow at the Melbourne School of Government.​ He has considerable experience in government having worked as a senior adviser to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Victorian premiers Steve Bracks and John Brumby.  

Nick lives in Carlton with his wife and three school age daughters.  He is a paid up and passionate member of the Carlton Football Club and is dreaming of a flag for the Blues in 2024. 

Nick Clare, the General Manager of Product and Insights at the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), brings a wealth of experience in insight development, strategy, growth planning, and commercial execution across product and brands. His diverse background spans Elite Sport (AFL), the Global Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, and digital start-ups, where he has been at the forefront of innovation—especially in the mobile wallet and a digital suggestion box for business. Nick’s passion lies in human storytelling, creative problem solving and driving commercial impact. 

Throughout his career, Nick has made significant contributions in various domains. At VCCI, he spearheads insight development and the deployment of the ESG strategy, supporting businesses of all sizes in navigating this critical topic. Nick leads a passionate team, partnering to address complex challenges and drive positive change, particularly for small and medium businesses. Nick adheres to the principle of making the complex simple and the simple compelling. 

Pablo is a Senior Portfolio Specialist with Stewart Investors. He joined the team in July 2019. Pablo works closely with the investment team to understand and communicate our investment philosophy and to support our corporate engagement and stewardship activities. 

He is also the co-founder and managing director of Altiorem, a not-for-profit library and resource centre dedicated to supporting advocates for a sustainable financial system. Pablo has more than 15 years’ experience in sustainable investment across leading Investment firms and has served on various industry groups and initiatives including as a director and chair of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia.  

Stewart Investors: Adviser (stewartinvestors.com) 

Altiorem: Homepage - Altiorem 

LinkedIn: (1) Pablo Berrutti | LinkedIn 

Paul is a partner within the Climate & Sustainability services practice in Risk Advisory. Paul has over 20 years’ experience working with clients across diverse sectors in Australia and the United Kingdom. Paul lead’s Deloitte’s Climate Risk offerings supporting clients to understand the impacts, risks and opportunities arising from climate change. This includes consideration of physical and transition impacts of climate change and the strategic and financial implications in the long term. Paul also has extensive experience in the provision of a wide range of sustainability services to clients including reporting, sustainability strategy, ESG, sustainability reporting and assurance.

Philip is an experienced environmental manager with expertise in designing, implementing, and evaluating carbon and biodiversity projects. With more than a decade of experience in diverse natural resource management roles, he possesses a breadth of environmental science, governance, and project management knowledge. His current focus is leading delivery of GPT’s biodiversity assessments, biodiversity management plans, and disclosure commitments, and supporting due diligence processes for new developments and nature-related investment. 

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GPT 

Rachel Alembakis is stewardship manager at U Ethical. In her role, she is responsible for managing U Ethical’s active ownership activities including proxy voting, direct and collaborative engagements with companies and engagements with key stakeholders. 

Rachel was the managing editor and founder of FS Sustainability for 12 years. She has more than two decades’ experience as a financial journalist covering a broad range of investment issues. Rachel holds an MSc in Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a BA in journalism and a BS in political science from Boston University. 

Radha has been working for 25 years to accelerate solutions to the challenge of growing business and investments while restoring and protecting nature—in service of a resilient and prosperous future for people and planet. She is an independent director, advisor, and investment committee member to start-ups, fund managers, and NGOs working to deliver net zero and nature positive outcomes. She is also a member of the Australian Government’s Nature Finance Council. Radha spent 17 years at New Forests, building the world’s leading asset manager in sustainable forestry and natural capital. Her achievements include delivering a multi-billion dollar capital base from blue-chip institutional clients, embedding a deep sustainability culture, and driving innovative investments in carbon, biodiversity, and blended finance across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Southeast Asia. While the transformation ahead is tough and the stakes for people and planet are high, Radha draws inspiration every day from the beauty and magic of nature to keep working towards systems change. 

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Rebecca is the Director of the Climate Disclosure Unit at the Australian Treasury, where she leads the team responsible for implementing climate-related financial reporting, investment product labelling and transition planning as part of the Australian Government’s sustainable finance strategy.  

Prior to Treasury, Rebecca worked in the Parliamentary Budget Office, the CSIRO and across the Australian public service in economic analysis and public policy roles. She has a background in economic forecasting. 

Rena oversees the development and execution of IFM’s global sustainable investment (SI) strategy in Australia and leads the Australian SI team.   

 In her prior role as Global Head of Business Development, Rena was responsible for developing a global fundraising strategy, relocating from the US in 2021.  She joined IFM as Director, Business Development in 2012. 

Before IFM, Rena was Principal, Investor Relations with Ares Management LLC, joining from Macquarie Group where, as Managing Director, she led their real estate legal and tax structuring in North America and Europe.  Rena started her career as a chartered accountant with EY. 

Rick Lord is Head of Innovation Methodology at Trucost, part of S&P Global Sustainable1. In this role, Rick specialises in the developing and delivering data and tools to quantify environmental, social and governance risks to assets, projects, companies and investment portfolios. Most recently he has led the development of innovative and market leading analytics focusing on ESG issues including carbon pricing risk, alignment with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, and climate change physical risk. Rick’s work at Trucost aims to link ESG issues to drivers of corporate and investor financial value creation, and to frame material ESG issues in the context of business strategy.

Rick holds a Masters in Environmental Economics from Imperial College London and a Bachelor’s of Science from Queensland University of Technology.

Sally Townsend is Head of Sustainability for Blackmores Group with responsibility for the Group Sustainability Vision. 

Blackmores is committed to Net Zero Emissions by 2030 and has progressed the journey to have a deeper understanding of human rights, climate resilience and biodiversity impacts across their global supply chain. 

Blackmores was one of the first businesses to pilot the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures framework and leads the Australian Climate Leaders Coalition’s Nature working group. 

Sophie leads ANZ’s ESG reporting and ESG market briefings. Sophie holds ESG experience across governance, stakeholder engagement, strategy, corporate reporting and assurance. Sophie is a Chartered Accountant and spent her early career in the Assurance Practice at KPMG. 

Susheela is Principal at the Stewardship Centre and Sustainable Markets consultant to the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation.  She has advised institutional investors on responsible investment governance, strategy, and implementation since 2006, during which time she led Regnan’s stewardship program and served as chair / deputy chair of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia. 

Susheela has driven several developments in the industry’s effectiveness, including Active Ownership 2.0 for the Principles for Responsible Investment; and Definitions in Responsible Investment for the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance.  Her clients have also included some of the world’s most influential banks, pension funds, wealth advisers and asset managers.   

She serves on the investment committee of The Reichstein Foundation and on the boards of Beyond Zero Emissions (Australia), The Shareholder Commons (USA), the Nature Conservation Council (NSW). 

Tamara is a seasoned ESG leader and changemaker, with global experience spanning multiple continents. Tamara joined Xero in 2021 and as General Manager, Sustainability & Impact, she is responsible for managing, monitoring and reporting on Xero's sustainability performance, with a focus on approaching ESG matters through use of whole-of-business initiatives. She’s passionate about embedding ESG in businesses as part of core strategy and organisational DNA. Prior to joining Xero, Tamara worked in ESG reporting and strategy at Telstra and Glencore, was an Australian diplomat, and worked in strategy consulting with Bain. Tamara holds the Competent Boards ESG Designation and a PhD in Arts from Monash University. 

Tania Smith is a Chartered Environmentalist and Executive Director within CBA’s Sustainable Finance & ESG team based in Melbourne. 

Tania has over 20 years of experience advising governments, investors, corporates and non-profit organisations within Australia, the UK and US on sustainability, ESG and sustainable finance. Having worked across the real estate, energy, transport, water and financial sectors, she has a detailed understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced across sectors, especially in regard to climate change mitigation and adaptation, mandatory disclosure and supply chain dynamics 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/smithtania/ 

https://www.commbank.com.au/business/latest/sustainable-finance.html 

Thane Garvey-Gannaway 

Thane Garvey-Gannaway is and Indigenous educator and Wurundjeri man. He has worked for the Wurundjeri Tribe Land Corporation for 13 years in various areas, including Cultural Heritage, land management and conservation, education and more. 

Tim is Chief Impact Officer at Socialsuite and serves as its domain-expert on ESG and sustainability. Sustainability and social impact have always been central to Tim’s career, he brings over a decade of sustainability experience driving ESG strategy, programs, reporting and measurement for organisations in public, private, and social sectors across Europe, North America, Africa, and Oceania.

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Prof. Yao Wang is the Director General of the International Institute of Green Finance at Central University of Finance and Economics (https://iigf.cufe.edu.cn/index.htm).

She serves as the Deputy Secretary-General of the Green Finance Committee, China Society for Finance & Banking, and an advisor to the Green Development Committee of the Securities Association of China. Her research on the green economy and sustainable finance, is highly influential, encompassing over 300 published papers, leading more than 100 research projects, and authoring 34 monographs. Awarded the "Outstanding Contribution Award" in 2019 at the Annual China Excellent Green Finance Awards from "Asian Money." 

Yuki is the Director overseeing the Asia Pacific (APAC) Network for the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) which was launched in June 2022.  She is focused on bringing together the financial sector across developed and emerging APAC to accelerate an inclusive and just transition to a net-zero economy. She assists financial institutions and businesses in planning for their transition to net zero and advocates for the scaling of credible and impactful financing for the transition. 

Yuki is a seasoned sustainable financed expert. Prior to joining GFANZ, she was at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative for 20 years and leading its activities in Asia Pacific for the last four years.  

She is a qualified chartered accountant in the UK (Fellow of ICAEW) and trained and worked at one of the Big Four accountants. She is currently based in Singapore and has worked in Bangkok, Geneva and London.

Yuki has a BSc honours degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford.  

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