ESG Virtual Summit 2023

Improving ESG Performance Through Decarbonization

All session times are listed in CT: Chicago

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM (15 min)

Keynote: Bridge the Gap Between Data, Investing and ESG Factors​

Companies should continue to anticipate greater scrutiny of their ESG performance. They need a strategy built on expertise and technology to support their efforts to reduce risk, improve performance and enhance brand reputation. It’s not only better for people and the planet, it’s also good for business because there are proven financial benefits.

Paul Marushka, president and CEO at Sphera, shares insights into why operationalizing ESG using a sound strategy to collect data at the product, operational and enterprise level boosts a company’s ability to mitigate their ESG risks, identify opportunities and update policies and procedures. Because without data to measure, there is no data to manage.

9:15 AM – 9:45 AM (30 min)

Panel: The Secret to ESG Is to Measure Then Manage

Customer Stories: Learn how industry leaders collect quality data, calculate a baseline, identify hotspots, set targets and use software to monitor and improve their ESG performance all while confidently communicating with their most important stakeholders.

10:00 AM – 10:30 AM (30 min)

Keynote: How the Evolving ESG Regulatory Landscape Is Impacting Business

2022 brought a flurry of new rules, regulations and frameworks aimed at sustainable investing and the consideration of ESG factors. Learn how these key developments are impacting businesses.

10:30 AM – 11:15 AM (45 min)

Panel: Getting Ready for ESG Disclosures

The development of accounting standards for public companies fundamentally changed the course of capitalism. The shift from voluntary to mandatory disclosures for ESG and climate will likely do the same, transforming corporate sustainability practice along the way.

Europe’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations are expected to bring more focus on climate-related and ESG disclosures as companies will be required to report on Scope 1, 2 and possibly 3. While this will bring the needed transparency and comparability, many businesses might not be ready yet to deliver. Given new regulatory and voluntary reporting guidelines, when, where and how will these disclosures come into force? What role will regulatory bodies play to pave the way to make ESG reporting and investment successful and sustainable? What new tools and expertise will be needed to comply?

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM (30 min)

Panel: Turn Scope 3 Accounting Challenges Into Decarbonization Opportunities

In order to fully deliver on net-zero commitments, businesses must consider emissions of all their scopes. While the measurement of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions has become relatively commonplace, tackling Scope 3—or value chain emissions—constitutes a major data challenge.

Sphera’s experts will share the five best practices of any successful decarbonization program including some guidance about when to use spend-based vs. qualitative data for Scope 3 calculation methods. Additionally, industry leading ESG businesses will provide examples on how they quantified their emissions, how they overcame their data challenges and what solutions they implemented to help manage and improve performance.

Life Cycle Assessment for ESG

All session times are listed in CT: Chicago

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM (15 min)

Keynote: Building a Culture of Action-Oriented Decarbonization Programs Starts With LCAs​

LCA helps identify and deliver environmental savings across your products’ value chains. But it can do more. When applied strategically, LCA can help your company build an actionable corporate decarbonization strategy.​

9:15 AM – 9:45 AM (30 min)

Keynote: How Companies Are Accelerating Sustainability Through LCA Automation ​

Sustainability practices are a key part of an organization’s commitment to meet ambitious climate goals within its industry. In this session, you’ll learn how clients are leading that charge by using Sphera’s Life Cycle Assessment Automation technology to scale up product carbon footprint and LCA data across its entire global portfolio.​

10:00AM – 10:45 AM (45 min)

Panel: How Leading Companies Are Using LCA Data to Drive ESG Performance​

LCA models are no longer just being used as a tool to make material and product comparisons. Organizations are using this method and technology to pinpoint nodes in their supply chain where improvement can have a material effect on their ESG performance. In this session, you’ll learn from a panel of companies and Sphera consultants about how they’re driving innovations in this space.​

10:00AM – 10:45 AM (45 min)

Panel: PCAF and Its Impact on the Financial Industry—How Financial Leaders Can Join the Fight Against Climate Change

Financial services companies exercise considerable influence over the carbon footprints of the companies that they lend to or invest in. And while remediating Scope 1 and 2 emissions is important, cutting Scope 3, or “financed emissions,” is recognized as the biggest contribution that the financial services industry can make to reaching net zero.

Unaccounted emissions are exposing financial institutions to reputational and regulatory risks from an increasingly climate-aware public and carbon disclosure mandates. Collecting this data can be overwhelming as finance institutions have often used proprietary methodologies and tools, resulting in incomparable and unverifiable results. Learn how the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) enables financial institutions to consistently measure and disclose the GHG emissions associated with their loan and investment portfolios and how software can dramatically help organizations reliably measure and manage their portfolio carbon footprint, assess climate-related risks, integrate a climate strategy into their organization and meet ESG reporting requirements.

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11:00 AM – 11:45 AM (45 min)

How to Create the Business Case for LCA Automation

LCA is becoming a critical technology for helping businesses meet ambitious net-zero targets and corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting requirements. However, LCA professionals are often unsure about how to connect LCA automation technology to outcomes. In this session, you’ll hear from Sphera experts about how LCA automation technology can support your organization’s ESG ambitions.

Addressing Supply Chain ESG Challenges & Their Importance

All session times are listed in CT: Chicago

9:00 AM – 9:45 AM (45 min)

ESG, CSR and SCRM: The New Source of Competitive Advantage​

Building better supply chains today requires a new level of awareness for managing ESG and corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements and the risks that accompany them. Presented by leading industry analyst Bertrand Maltaverne, this session will address the factors that are forcing organizations to change supply chain risk management (SCRM) and assess the importance for building C-level alignment to address today’s corporate sustainability goals and regulatory compliance mandates. ​

10:00 AM – 10:45 AM (45 min)

Embedding ESG Into Your ​Supply Chain Risk Program ​
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Join leading practitioners for a panel discussion covering how they are looking at the evolution of CSR and ESG. This session will assess the current state of supply chains in 2023 and the challenges that lie ahead. Panelists will also address how industry and geography affect the ability to build sustainable supply chains​

11:00 AM – 11:45 AM (45 min)

Recipe for Success: Building Resilient Supply Chains That Foster ESG and Sustainability​

Heiko Schwarz, the founder of riskmethods (now Sphera Supply Chain Risk Management), has provided leadership on successfully adopting SCRM technology for over a decade. Based on the quickly evolving ESG landscape, in this session, Heiko will provide his insights on what procurement and supply chain leaders need to do now to adapt their SCRM programs to ensure compliance with emerging regulatory requirements.