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Leaders from a diverse range of organisations will be gathering next week to discuss best practice in sustainable business as the Channel Islands look at ways to support the current and future wellbeing of people and the planet.
The inaugural Sustainable Business Conference takes place on Tuesday 15 October in Guernsey and on Wednesday 16 October in Jersey.
It will include a series of keynote speakers, panel interviews and solutions-driven interactive round table discussions with renowned industry experts and thought leaders to inspire positive change for a more sustainable future.
The conference’s headline sponsor is law firm-led professional services business, Mourant. Its Global Managing Partner, Jonathan Rigby said businesses like his need to be involved in these talks.
"As business leaders, we are responsible for the impact of business operations on our people and planet, and have a crucial role to play in promoting sustainability. By fostering collaboration, and sharing cutting-edge solutions, we can drive meaningful change and ensure a sustainable legacy for future generations."
Director of Mourant Consulting, Sally Rochester will be hosting the events.
She thinks it will help businesses - and individuals - make better decisions for the benefit of the wider planet while still encouraging economic success.
Pictured: Corporate and personal sustainability will both be discussed.
"Personally, am I as good as I can be on carbon emissions and sustainable choices? Absolutely not. That's in part because making those decisions is hard, but it is something that I am focused on doing better on in the future, and we're all on a journey on that front."
She added that corporate sustainability is as important as that personal commitment to sustainability.
"My view on this is that there isn't a single lever we shouldn't be pulling. Can we do more, yes. The Nature Commission released their first report...and they look at what you can do individually, what you can do as a gardener and what you can do as a corporate and what government can do. I think they've approached it brilliantly and I think on the broader topic of sustainability which covers nature, carbon, social elements, and governance, we can all be doing something.
"That's why I think looking at corporate sustainability as well as considering my personal journey is the right thing to do so we're pushing forward on all fronts to try and solve this really complicated problem."
Speakers at next week's events include Dr Victoria Hurth; an Independent Pracademic and Fellow from the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainable Leadership, Steve Kenzie; the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network UK, and Dr Marc Kahn; Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer at Investec Plc.
He chairs the group’s ESG Executive Committee and heads the group strategy function. He is also a senior associate at the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership, Cambridge University.
Pictured (l-r): Dr Victoria Hurth and Steve Kenzie.
Estelle Levin-Nally will chair the speaker panel at the Guernsey conference, having worked in sustainability research, advisory and assurance for twenty years. The speaker panel in Jersey will be chaired by Michelle Ryan; Chair of the Jersey Association of Sustainability Practitioners (JASP) and Director of True Limited.
The conferences are being supported by The Institute of Directors branches in both islands as well as by the Jersey Association of Sustainability Practioners (JASP), the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce and the Jersey Chamber of Commerce. Supporting sponsors include Handpicked Hotels, Investec, The International Stock Exchange (TISE) and TPA.
Further information is available HERE.
Dr Victoria Hurth - https://www.victoriahurth.com
An Independent Pracademic and Fellow from the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainable Leadership. Dr Victoria Hurth works at the intersect of academia and hands-on decision-making to help drive long-term wellbeing for all (sustainability). She enables decision-makers to cut through the chaos via operational clarity on purpose, governance, marketing, leadership, culture, sustainability and ESG. Among other achievements Victoria co-led the 5-year development of the first global ISO standard in Governance of Organisations, was Technical Author for the world’s first national standard in Purpose-Driven Organisations and advised the UN on the methodology for SDG 12.6.1 (sustainability reporting). As a Fellow of University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) Victoria is engaged in a range of executive leadership programmes and thought leadership. She has over 25 years’ experience in business transformation, having previously worked for 3M and Accenture and by developing cutting edge theory as a full time Associate Professor of Sustainable Business and Marketing.
Steve Kenzie - https://unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc
Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network UK; a position he has held since 2007. The Global Compact is the UN’s corporate sustainability initiative. It calls upon participants to align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. The UK Network coordinates UN Global Compact activity for 900 UK-based member organisations. The Network facilitates learning, knowledge exchange, and networking, while promoting the UN Global Compact and advocating for business engagement in sustainable development. Previously, Steve was a Programme Director at the International Business Leaders Forum where he contributed to projects across a wide range of themes including: business & human rights, water stewardship, fighting malaria, inclusive business, social enterprise, and climate change. He was also the Managing Director of a successful retail sporting goods venture. Steve attended the University of British Columbia where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce. He also completed Imperial College’s MSc in Environmental Technology programme, completing the Business and the Environment specialisation with distinction.
Dr Marc Kahn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marckahn/.
Dr Marc Kahn is the Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer at Investec Plc where he chairs the group’s ESG Executive Committee and heads the group strategy function. He is also a senior associate at the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership, Cambridge University. Prior to joining Investec in 2008 he led a management consulting firm specialising in large scale change initiatives and executive development. He is a chartered business coach, psychologist, author and teacher. Marc draws on complexity sciences and systems theory in his work and maintains that twentieth century industrial models of organisation are defunct.
Pictured (l-r): Estelle Levin-Nally and Michelle Ryan.
Estelle Levin-Nally - https://www.levinsources.com/who-we-are/team/estelle-levin-nally
Estelle Levin-Nally will chair the speaker panel at the Guernsey conference. Estelle has been working in sustainability research, advisory and assurance for twenty years, beginning her career in shipbroking, gorilla conservation and international trade & development. She is CEO & Founder of B CorpTM advisory firm, Levin Sources, which, since 2010, has helped 160+ clients mine, trade, source, invest in & regulate minerals more responsibly & sustainably through 260+ projects on 150+ minerals in 80+ countries. Besides her role at Levin Sources, Estelle is also Chair (Sustainability Committee) and Member (Leadership Committee) for the Investing in African Mining Indaba (Africa’s largest annual mining and investment conference), Commissioner for the Global Investor Commission for Mining 2030 (with $11trn initial investor support), Judge for the Global Good Awards, Member of the Women in Mining UK’s Policy Committee, and Mentor for the International Women in Mining’s International Women in Natural Resources Mentoring Programme. Estelle moved back to Guernsey in 2019 and co-led the Policy Committee for the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce’s Sustainable Business Group in 2019-20.
Michelle Ryan - https://www.jerseysustainability.com/team
Michelle Ryan is the Chair of the Jersey Association of Sustainability Practioners (JASP) and is a Director of True Limited. She is a passionate leader in sustainability and not-JUST-for-profit businesses and has coupled a Maths degree with 20 years’ experience in Private Banking in both Jersey and London, becoming a Chartered Fellow of the Securities Institute. She has grown her experience, skills and qualifications in sustainability, studying with IEMA, the University of Cambridge and the CFA, and now advises international clients on their sustainability strategies and reporting from a base in Jersey.
Sally Rochester - https://www.mourant.com/profile/view/51510/Sally-Rochester
Sally is a Director of Mourant Consulting with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Previously she was a Director at a Big 4 professional services firm where she led the Guernsey advisory team and the risk and regulatory team across Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man and Gibraltar. During that time, she also supported the delivery of the local internal climate initiative and client facing sustainability services.
She has developed her regulatory expertise over the last decade through delivering engagements both for clients and local regulators and more recently held the role of Executive Director of Supervision for a local regulator. She has also built on her knowledge of sustainability through studying for a Masters of Studies in Sustainability Leadership with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, supporting the delivery of the IOD Guernsey Branch sustainability work and spearheading the development of Mourant's Sustainability Strategy.
This broad base of risk management, regulatory and sustainability expertise means she is well placed to support clients with their sustainability and broader risk management strategies.
Pictured top (l-r): Sally Rochester and Dr Marc Kahn.
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