8:30

OPENING | Remarks from the Chair

Lisa Davies, Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

CLIMATE EMERGENCY

8:40

ADDRESS FROM THE IPCC | The science, the risk, and the opportunities
Please note this is a pre-recorded session

Professor Jim Skea, Co-Chair, Working Group III, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Professor of Sustainable Energy, Imperial College London
Moderator: Nick O’Malley, National Environment and Climate Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE BUSINESS

9:10

EXECUTIVE ROUNDTABLE | The view from the top: transforming business for the better

• Sustainability in culture, strategy and corporate identity: how businesses made the transformation
• How to harness the power of employees
• The perspective of the board
• What courageous leadership looks like

Panellists
Liz Chatwin, Country President, AstraZeneca Australia
Steven Worrall, Managing Director, Microsoft Australia
Sally Reid, Executive General Manager, Global Client Solutions, Institutional Banking & Markets, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Paul Gleeson, Managing Director, Energy, Resources & Water, Aurecon
Moderator: John McDuling, National Business Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

9:50

FIRESIDE CHAT | Google’s most ambitious decade of climate action yet

In September 2020, Google reached an important milestone. It eliminated its entire carbon legacy. This means that as a company, the entire lifetime net carbon footprint is now below zero.
In this decisive decade Google is going even further, aiming to be the first major company to be entirely carbon free. Google will take on the challenge of operating on 24/7 carbon-free energy in all data centres and campuses across the globe. From partnerships, to investing in manufacturing, hear how Google is working to achieve its next sustainability moonshot.

Please note this is a pre-recorded session

Kate Brandt, Sustainability Officer, Google
Moderator: Nick O’Malley, National Environment and Climate Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

10:20

Networking and refreshment break

NET ZERO EMISSIONS

10:50

PANEL | The tools, strategies and capabilities needed for a low carbon transition

• How are companies measuring, estimating and tracking GHG emissions and carbon offsets?
• What are the tools and technologies that the most sustainably-minded companies are using?
• Examining the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer and how it is evolving
• Social license: balancing responsibility and profit
• Learning and engagement beyond the organisation, collaboration with partners
• Linking business strategy, sustainability and SDGs

Panellists
Tom Penny, Head of Environment, Telstra
Janette O’Neill, Group Head of Sustainability, QBE Insurance
Chris Foley, Head of Energy and Environment, Kmart Group
Meredith Banks, Head of Sustainability, Vicinity Centres
Moderator: John Tomac, Partner, PwC

11:30

CASE STUDY

Brad Banducci, CEO, Woolworths Group

11:50

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT | Waste as a renewable resource: a new materials revolution

• Green steel and green tiles: Australian inventions shaking up construction
• The path to commercialisation in Australia and partnership possibilities for corporates
• How companies apply innovative, sustainable materials and processes today
• The need to align recycling and manufacturing through new technologies
• Creating circular economies and turning problematic waste into valuable materials
• Green Steel^TM and Green Ceramics^TM innovations and the need for greater cooperation and partnership with researchers and businesses

Laureate Professor Veena Sahajwalla, Director, Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology, UNSW Sydney
Moderator: Nick O’Malley, National Environment and Climate Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

12:20

Lunch and networking break

ENERGY

13:20

SCIENCE SPOTLIGHT | Australia’s energy transition
Please note this is a pre-recorded session

Dr Alan Finkel AO, Special Adviser to the Australian Government on Low Emissions Technology and Chair, Technology Investment Advisory Council, Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources

13:30

ENERGY EXECUTIVES ROUNDTABLE | Partners and pariahs in the new age of energy

• Stress-testing strategies for different climate scenarios
• The technologies and timeline behind Australia’s energy transition including carbon capture and storage, green hydrogen and gas
• How is the renewable energy sector ensuring supply and price stability?
• How are our energy generators, resource extractors and other heavy emitters reducing their emissions, and is this enough?
• Is Australia the automotive third world? What’s getting in the way? What government regulations and actions are needed for a robust EV strategy?

Panellists
Matthew Halliday, Managing Director and CEO, Ampol
Michael Bartsch, Managing Director, Volkswagen Group Australia
Moderator: Nick O’Malley, National Environment and Climate Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

14:10

MINISTERIAL ADDRESS

The Hon Matt Kean MP, Minister for Energy and the Environment NSW
Moderator: Lisa Davies, Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

14:40

Networking and refreshment break

CIRCULARITY

15:10

PANEL | What will it take to create a self-sustaining circular economy?

• Circularity in product design
• Where are we up to with a circular economy in NSW, and in Australia? What progress can we build on?
• What is the state of recycling infrastructure in Australia?
• Avoiding landfill: Which avenues do specific industries have to reduce waste, particularly industries such as e-waste?
• What is the role of government, industry and brand owners?

Panellists
Sanjay Dayal, Managing Director and Group CEO, Pact Group
Lisa Mclean, CEO, NSW Circular
Richard Smith, Director of Sustainability, Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific
Alex Holt, General Manager of Sustainability, Woolworths Group
Gyanam Sadananda, Director, Government & Public Sector, Supply Chain and ESG, PwC
Moderator: Peter Hannam, Environment Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

CLIMATE FINANCE

15:50

INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE
Please note this is a pre-recorded session

Emily Woodland, APAC Co-Head of Sustainable Investing, BlackRock

16:10

PANEL | Sustainable investment and low-carbon banking

• How can we fast-track a zero-carbon economy through climate finance and responsible investment in Australia?
• Restructuring the financial system: what kinds of reforms are needed? Are Australia’s financial institutions, the government and the market ready? How do we get there?
• Engagement versus divestment and the role of investors
• Expectations from customers, corporates and from within the company
• Applying and using SDGs to develop strategy and engage employers
• Measuring and tracking financed emissions

Panellists
Ian Learmonth, CEO, Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC)
Emma Herd, CEO, Investor Group on Climate Change
Alex Toone, Managing Director and Global Head of Commodities and Trade, Institutional Banking & Markets, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Moderator: John McDuling, National Business Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

16:50

CLOSING | Closing remarks from the Chair

17:00

End of Summit

2020 Promotional video – How Businesses are Spearheading Meaningful Change | The Sydney Morning Herald Sustainability Summit 2020