Asia | Europe Sustainability Dialogue

08:30 AM - 09:00 AM CET

Peer Virtual 'Meet Up'‐ A Cyber Drink and a Nibble

Participants will start by choosing one out of four interviews to join. At any point during or after the interview, participants will have the option to join a discussion table around a topic of their choice by scrolling through the available networking tables. Participants are encouraged to engage each other by sharing a brief, self-intro and ONE thing nobody in the room knows about them.

Lorne Cousins, Program Director, China Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council, The Conference Board Asia-Pacific

Vikas Garg, Founder & CEO, abillion

Richard Brubaker, Managing Director of Collective Responsibility, Collective Responsibility

Christina Lee, Founder & CEO, Global Green Connect

Oliver Baillie, Co-founder and CEO, Plain Tiger

09:00 AM - 10:00 AM CET

Keynote Speaker: Solitaire Townsend, Author of The Solutionists

Conference participants will hear from Chief Solutionist and Co-Founder of Futerra and author of 'The Solutionists' who will share her insights on what some of the world's leading brands are undertaking to drive sustainability across their organisations. This will include a look at how becoming an 'activist' within the company empowers businesses to co-create a better world while simultaneously establishing their positions as 'brands for good' that put them in pole position for a sustainable future. Audience members will be invited to share insights and questions via chat, moderated by session facilitator Lorne Cousins. This will be followed by a panel discussion with Anuj Saush, European ESG Center Leader, experts and business leaders who will explore how companies can enhance their strategic planning to address long-term Social, Environmental, and Economic opportunities to co-create a better world. Following the discussion, Council Director Lorne Cousins will invite audience members to share insights and questions.

Lorne Cousins, Program Director, China Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council, The Conference Board Asia-Pacific

Solitaire Townsend, Chief Executive and Co-founder, Futerra Sustainability Communications

Anuj Saush, Leader, ESG Center, Europe, The Conference Board Europe

Francois Tasmowski, Global Business Operations Climate Director, Unilever

Junice Nicolier-Yeo, Executive Director & Head of ESG Intelligence, Eco-Business

10:00 AM - 10:15 AM CET

Conference Break

We invite participants to take a short break, stretch, grab a drink and then return to the main room.

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM CET

Breakout Session #1 Strategy and Finance‐Keynote Speaker

Theme: In for a Penny, in for a Pound?¯ESG Reporting and Legislation Question to address: What ESG vision/action does the market really need/reward, and what is the impact on finance? Participants will explore the reporting landscape for both corporates and investors in major jurisdictions (EU, US, UK, China, and Asia, ) and the current controversies around ESG investment products, labelling and greenwashing. This will include a look at what ESG means for passive vs active managers and how investors really look at E&S issues, including how they use the data and what metrics matter to them. Finally, participants joining this session will examine some key initiatives to push for better disclosures and support for financially material ESG disclosures such as SASB, with potential implications for organisations.

Carmen Ng, ESG Analyst, SquareWell Partners

Kelly Chan, Program Director, Asia CFO Council, The Conference Board Asia-Pacific

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM CET

Breakout Session #2 Procurement and Sourcing ‐Keynote Speaker

Theme: Clear as mud? Supplier Screening and Audits Questions to address: What are the best screening practices that enable a better understanding of a supplier's ESG status? How can auditing deliver visibility and transparency along the supply chain? In this session, participants will look at what some companies are undertaking to improve supplier screening and increase transparency of their upstream and downstream partners. The guest speaker will shed light on how companies can assess supply chain hotspots and how auditing can be a powerful tool to improve both screening of suppliers as well as enabling them to achieve compliance.

Sylvain Guyoton, Vice President Research, EcoVadis

Eugene Tan, Program Director, Asia Supply Chain Council, The Conference Board

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM CET

Breakout Session #3 HR and Development‐Panel Discussion

Theme: It takes two to tango: How HR partners with the business to embed sustainability on the People Agenda Panel Discussion Scope: How can HR position itself as a critical partner with the business to embed sustainability as part of the corporate culture? What might be some strategies that HR could deploy?

Anu Sridhar, Personnel Director - Africa, India, Middle East, East Asia to Australia, Michelin ROH Co.,Ltd.

Marion Devine, Senior Human Capital Researcher, Europe, The Conference Board Europe

Reddiam Raghu Ram, Head of Recruitmant - Asia Pacific, Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd

Sandhya Karpe, Asia Human Capital Center, Prog Director - Asia DEI Council, The Conference Board Asia-Pacific

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM CET

Breakout Session #4 Communications and Marketing‐Panel Discussion

Theme: The Proof is in the Pudding: Brand Purpose Panel Discussion scope: How can companies go beyond their purpose statement to ensure that purpose is being translated into actions? How can organisations embed purpose into their culture and strategy through the appropriate governance approach?

Kavickumar Muruganathan, Lead Sustainability & Policy APAC, Microsoft APAC

Andy Wilson, Senior Partner, Head of Sustainability, Ogilvy Consulting

Lynn Backe, Sustainability Advisor, The Purpose Business

Esther An, Chief Sustainability Officer, City Developments Limited

Xiaowei Liu, Program Director, Asia Communications Lead Council, The Conference Board

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM CET

Breakout Session #5 Innovation and Digitalisation‐Keynote Speaker

Theme: Bioinspired Principles of Sustainable Design and Innovation. In this session, we will explore a systematic approach to understanding how nature and biological systems can inspire sustainable design and innovation. We will introduce the Efficiency-Resilience-Prominence (ERP) Framework as a foundation for comparing organizational systems to living organisms. Our aim is to illustrate how this framework can serve as a valuable tool for both strategic ideation and product concept generation. Additionally, we will demonstrate how Generative AI can complement and enhance the utilization of this framework within the innovation process.

Shruti George, Vice President, Strategic Innovation Platforms, Avery Dennison

Ravi Arora, Senior Vice President & Head of Group Innovation, Tata Sons Ltd.$

Tojin Eapen, Consultant Sustainable Innovation, Innomantra

John van der Linden, Founder, Becoming-Aware

Lokesh Venkataswamy, CEO & Managing Director, Innomantra

John Metselaar, Economy, Strategy & Finance Center Leader, Europe, The Conference Board

11:30 AM - 11:45 AM CET

Conference Break

We invite participants to take a short break, stretch, grab a drink and then return to the main room.

11:45 AM - 12:30 PM CET

Panel Discussion‒Transforming Businesses by Putting Sustainability First: Insights for What's Next

Panel members will discuss their thoughts and insights on how companies, regardless of size or industry, can place sustainability at the heart of their business. Conference participants will also have the opportunity to share their views via chat.

Julie Greene, CSO, Olam Group Ltd

Martin Rich, Sustainable Investment Specialist, The Conference Board

Chandni Khosla, Director | Neo Securities and Advisor, Old Bridge Capital Management

Anke Schrader, Research Director, Asia, The Conference Board, Inc.

12:30 PM - 01:00 PM CET

Room 1: 'The Jolly Taxpayer' for Finance and Strategy

This session is dedicated to enabling Conference participants to connect or reconnect in a designated room with each other or one-on-one in a sub-breakout room. Each room will have a designated 'bouncer' to ensure ease of entry and exit.

Lorne Cousins, Program Director, China Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council, The Conference Board Asia-Pacific

12:30 PM - 01:00 PM CET

Room 2: 'The Grinning Radical' for Procurement and Sourcing

This session is dedicated to enabling Conference participants to connect or reconnect in a designated room with each other or one-on-one in a sub-breakout room. Each room will have a designated 'bouncer' to ensure ease of entry and exit.

Lorne Cousins, Program Director, China Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council, The Conference Board Asia-Pacific

12:30 PM - 01:00 PM CET

Room 3: 'The Fightin' Do-Gooder' for HR and Development

This session is dedicated to enabling Conference participants to connect or reconnect in a designated room with each other or one-on-one in a sub-breakout room. Each room will have a designated 'bouncer' to ensure ease of entry and exit.

Lorne Cousins, Program Director, China Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council, The Conference Board Asia-Pacific

12:30 PM - 01:00 PM CET

Room 4: 'The Cat's Meow' for Marketing and Communications

This session is dedicated to enabling Conference participants to connect or reconnect in a designated room with each other or one-one-one in a sub-breakout room. Each room will have a designated 'bouncer' to ensure ease of entry and exit.

Lorne Cousins, Program Director, China Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council, The Conference Board Asia-Pacific

12:30 PM - 01:00 PM CET

Room 5: 'The Green Guerilla' for Innovation and Digitalisation

This session is dedicated to enabling Conference participants to connect or reconnect in a designated room with each other or one-on-one in a sub-breakout room. Each room will have a designated 'bouncer' to ensure ease of entry and exit.

Lorne Cousins, Program Director, China Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council, The Conference Board Asia-Pacific