Sustainability Delivery Group
Harnessing the industry's expertise to deliver sustainability
ROUNDTABLE BRIEFINGS
Our Sustainability Delivery Group roundtables bring together practice leaders within environmental and sustainability consulting firms with clients, regulators and other stakeholders, giving both parties the opportunity to listen to each other’s perspectives on pertinent issues and discuss solutions and ways forward in an informal setting.
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Roundtables are exclusively for Sustainability Delivery Group members. If you would like to get involved or request an invitation please get in touch with lisa.turner@environment-analyst.com.
PREVIOUS ROUNDTABLE WRITE-UPS
The roundtable saw Guy Thompson, Group Sustainability Director and Matt Greenfield, Director of Strategy and Regulation at Wessex Water discuss the challenges facing the water industry. Specifically, regulatory barriers to diversifying service delivery and greater investment in alternatives to traditional delivery options, such as catchment management, partnership working and the use of nature-based solutions. They also provided insight on options for water industry reform being considered with politicians, regulators and policy-makers and how this might inform future consulting services to the sector.
Wessex Water: Future of the Water Industry
This roundtable was led by Anna Humphries, Head of Sustainability & Social Value, Network Rail and Nicola Martin, Head of Sustainability, TransPennine Express, who outlined the ‘Guiding Compass Strategy’ for sustainability in the implementation of TransPennine Route Upgrade (TRU). The group then explored the opportunities and challenges of the strategy, as well the relationship between consultants and coordinators for large-scale projects.
The Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade: Centring Sustainability
Success in the industrial space over the next 20 years is largely going to fall to the companies that can successfully align their digital and sustainability strategies. With both areas demanding continual improvement, companies that are able to make this transition will find themselves more sustainable. In this session, Dr David Pugh, will share insights into organisations who are already delivering on these promises and discuss how companies can get started on a twin transition.
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A Twin Transition to a Digital and Net Zero Economy
The IFRS Foundation’s new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) is issuing global disclosure standards at the end of June. What does this mean for companies? How are accounting professionals, sustainability consultants and finance executives preparing? In this session, representatives from the IFRS and ISSB discussed the benefits for both companies and investors of a global baseline of sustainability information for the capital markets.
ISSB Standards: Streamlined disclosure at the global level
Following the publication of their research report 'A Challenging Environment: Experiences of Ethnic Minority Environment Professionals', the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) has launched phase 2 of its Diversity Initiatives. In this roundtable discussion, Ethny Childs, Communities & Partnership Lead at the IES, provided an overview of the Initiative, plans for 2023 and ways organisations within the sector can get involved.
IES Diversity Initiatives Phase 2 – From research to action
George Davies, Director of Sustainable Development, Rail Safety and Strategy Board, alongside topic experts Brian Clarke and James Wright, gave an early preview of the Sustainable Rail Strategy, which is the blueprint for a cleaner, greener and more socially positive railway. The roundtable explored social responsibility, emissions and the natural environment, and provided an opportunity to discuss how the industry is coordinating its approach and the challenges it faces.
The Sustainable Rail Strategy: the blueprint for a greener railway
In this roundtable, Jo Gilroy, Head of Sustainability at Kier Group offered insight into the challenges that Kier and the wider construction industry are facing. Jo shared how, amidst the pressures they are facing with supply chains, Scope 3 emissions and Biodiversity Net Gain, she sees collaboration, not competition as a positive way forward, using the UN SDGs as a roadmap.
Challenges facing the construction industry
Matthew Rusk, Head of North America Regional Hub at the Global Reporting Initiative, provided an update on Sustainability Reporting Standards, including new Universal Standards being introduced this month, the current and future reporting landscape, and drivers for further adoption. This led to a discussion on how to reduce confusion in the use and application of standards and increase the availability of transparent, usable metrics for ESG reporting.
Sustainability Reporting Standards: the reporting landscape and drivers for further adoption
Kirsten Spalding, Senior Program Director at Ceres Investor Network, gave a short talk on the growing momentum for ESG analysis and systemic action on climate change. Kirsten looked at how investor demands of corporate leaders are getting clearer and how collaborative actions between investors and companies, policy makers and regulators are having real economy impacts.
Investor Perspectives: Growing momentum for ESG analysis and systemic action on climate change
COVID-19 is delivering the final blow to an economic model that is no longer environmentally or socially sustainable. We have an opportunity to rebuild a more inclusive, just, and sustainable world – with business as the engine of the reset – but greater transparency, guidance, and accountability is needed to enable companies to lead by placing people and the planet at the heart of the recovery. Gerbrand Haverkamp, Executive Director at World Benchmarking Alliance shared his insights with the group.
From SDGs to Action: Benchmarking for a Better World
To achieve wellbeing goals sustainably, organisations need to be armed and fully prepared to make the scale of strategic transformation necessary. In doing this, business leaders need to recognise the scale of change becoming purpose-driven represents Then the ground can be set for deeper, long-term success and not just surface change. Dr Victoria Hurth, Fellow at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) offered her perspectives.
Purpose-Driven Transformation: Delivering Wellbeing over Time
Mark Lewis, Global Head of Sustainability Research, BNP Paribas, discussed how the asset management industry is handling the ESG agenda and outlined the transition from SRI to ESG in the asset management industry. Mark also shared insights on BNP Paribas’ approach to sustainable investing.
Leading the transition to net zero through the lens of COVID-19
The surging interest from investors in the ESG credentials of their portfolios is producing a rapid uptick in companies looking to engage in the ESG ratings process. Jaclyn Bouchard, Director of ESG Products at S&P Global Ratings, joined us at this roundtable and revealed S&P Global’s approach to assessing companies for their ESG rating, and how it differs from a credit rating.
Embedding Sustainability in the Board Room
The coming decade will see a profound market shift that delivers exponential progress in the form of economic, social and environmental wealth creation. Sustainability pioneer and Founder of Volans, John Elkington, known for creating the "triple bottom line" concept, inspired an energised debate on the shift to a regenerative economy, drawing on material from his latest book Green Swans — The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism.
Sustainability Services in the Exponential Decade
EET Hydrogen are at the heart of HyNet, one of two initial ‘Track 1 clusters’ selected by the UK Government for industrial decarbonisation and are developing one of the first large scale, low carbon hydrogen production hubs in the world.
Joe outlines where the HyNnet project fits into the Government hydrogen plan, the status of the project now and future developments.