ESG Virtual Summit

Tuesday, June 21

Integrated ESG

Keynote:  The Importance of ESG Strategy

ESG and sustainability are certainly the buzzwords of our time. Often used interchangeably and more often in the same sentence, both show the direction in which the world is progressing. Corporate sustainability and climate change mitigation efforts are fast transitioning from voluntary to mandatory.  

Improving Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) transparency and performance bolsters business priorities. Not only is it better for the people and the planet, it’s also good for business. 

Paul Marushka, President & CEO at Sphera, shares insights into why excelling in all three areas boosts a company’s reputation and productivity.  

Investing in the Future

Investors are looking for a strong ESG proposition to protect their interests and the company’s success. The fine line between doing good and doing what is profitable is fast diminishing. Favorable ESG performance is linked to higher investment returns, lower risk, and better resiliency. Investors have taken notice, and they are planning to double down on sustainable assets over the next five years. Join experts as we learn which ESG criteria private equity and investors are applying in their assessments.   

Speakers: Nicolas Bourdier, Partner, PWC/ Elizabeth Lewis, Managing Director and Deputy Head of ESG at Blackstone/ Sandy Smith, VP, EMEA/APAC EHS&S Sales, Sphera.

How to Begin Your ESG Journey

Companies should anticipate greater scrutiny of their ESG performance. They need a strategy built on expertise and technology to support their efforts to reduce risk and enhance brand reputation. Improving ESG transparency and performance may sound daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Successful companies calculate a baseline, identify hotspots, set targets, and use data and software to monitor and improve their ESG performance. Learn how they do it.  

Speakers: Phillippe Guillard, VP, Global Solutions, Sphera/  Sean Daley, Director, Consulting Services, Sphera/ Xavier Stiffel, Senior Solution Engineer, Sphera.

Wednesday, June 22

How to Address ESG Challenges

Keynote: The Need for Global Standards

As ESG investing becomes mainstream in developed and emerging markets, there has been growing momentum related to mandatory ESG reporting unfolding around the world. The emergence of regulations combined with a multitude of competing standards and frameworks that organizations could use, make it difficult for organizations globally to decide which one to use for their reporting. The global push for standardization and transparency on climate disclosures needs to pick up speed. There is a trend toward the alignment of various standards (CDP, GRI, SASB, IR, etc.) and frameworks (TCFD, CDSB,), that help comply with existing and expected regulations (SEC, CSRD, and many more). This has been further conflated with a growing ecosystem of ESG ratings and indices. Learn more about how frameworks and standards come together to help the business community to standardize reporting and tackle the ESG and sustainability regulatory challenges.

Speaker(s): Dr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, Senior Director, Consulting at Sphera.

Panel: How to Solve the Scope 3 Challenge to Improve Carbon Accounting
and ESG Performance

Traditionally, organizations have focused on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions to measure, improve, and report their sustainability and ESG performance. With the growing focus on net-zero and decarbonization targets, Scope 3 emissions are increasingly in the spotlight. The assessment and calculation of Scope 3 emissions are complex and challenging, as these emissions are not under a company’s direct control and lack reliable industry-based data. Our expert panel reviews the most common obstacles faced by organizations and provides guidance on how to overcome them.

Speakers: Laura Hohmann, Manager of the Sustainable Supply Chain, CDP/ John Haeflinger, Senior VP, Sustainability & Maritime Policy, Carnival Corporation/ Mark Evans, Director, Business Development, Sustainability Consulting, Sphera/ Stefan Premer, Senior Consultant-Sustainability, Sphera.

Connecting the Dots: Simplifying Complexity Through LCA Automation

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool that helps companies advance their decarbonization efforts in order to achieve net-zero and improve ESG performance. LCA can provide critical insights about emissions and improve hot spots throughout the product life cycle while addressing Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and identifying opportunities for reductions through a data-driven approach.

Integrated and automated LCA solutions will help companies oversee their complete product portfolios and greatly enhance their sustainability assessment, monitoring, reporting, and performance.

Learn about the business benefits of an integrated and automated LCA technology approach and how it can help your organization address and manage sustainability and ESG challenges.

Speakers: Harald Florin, VP-Sales, Product Sustainability, Sphera/ Sebastian Schulz, Senior Product Manager, PS, Sphera.

Thursday, June 23

Closing the Gap

Keynote: Roadmap to Becoming an ESG Leader

Speaker: Kim Knickle, Research Director, ESG & Sustainability, Verdantix

Customer Conversation for Powerful Reporting and Advanced Performance Analytics

Managing and improving the performance of sustainability data is key to starting ESG reporting and achieving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. Companies need a transparent, auditable trail of climate-related data to ensure the accuracy, consistency, and relevance of reports. Learn from industry-leading companies how they are approaching sustainability and ESG reporting and successfully improving their performance management as a foundation for implementing sound sustainability and ESG strategy.

Speakers: Dr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, Senior Director, Consulting at Sphera/ Dr. Aniruddha Agnihotri, Head-Environmental Sustainability, Health & Safety at Tata Consultancy Services/ Stuart Poore, Senior Director of global ESG at Cognizant 

Key Takeaways for Your Sustainable ESG Success: Challenge Our Experts

After listening to a number of interesting talks and insightful keynotes about ESG and sustainability, we will summarize our experts’ key learnings from the various sessions. Learn what they recommend to start an integrated ESG approach, address ESG challenges and close the gap. Don’t forget to submit your questions before the session so our experts can answer them.