Sustainability Speakers

Dame Frances Cairncross

The ex-Management Editor at The Economist surveys the landscape. Frances argues that the pace and stability of UK recovery will be held back until we make real progress on deficit reduction. She also suggests that we may find we haven’t measured productivity very well, complicated by the proportion of GDP coming from services – and the difficulty of calculating the impact of the digital world.

Dr Bertrand Piccard

Bertrand made history when he circumnavigated the Earth in the Breitling Orbiter balloon. He continued his pioneering work with Solar Impulse, successfully completing the first ever entirely solar-powered round-the-world flight by aeroplane: “If we can fly day and night without fuel, everybody could use these same technologies on the ground to halve energy consumption.” As a trained psychiatrist Bertrand talks about changing behaviours and overcoming neighsayers in pursuit of a cleaner, sustainable future.

Dr Gabrielle Walker

Gabrielle has dodged icebergs and pulled fresh lava from a volcano. She’s one of few strategists equipped to focus on the nexus between scientific, economic and political aspects of climate change, and how businesses achieve responsible resource-efficient growth. The ex-Princeton academic uncovers the latest research data and offers leadership tools to bring stakeholders and customers on board. She also explores how the circular economy affects investment, reputation and long-term risk.

Ben Fogle

Since he first appeared on our screens in Castaway, Ben has rowed an ocean with James Cracknell, lived in Scott’s hut and joined Prince William in Botswana. He has also driven in Peru with a tense Hugh Dennis. The self-styled Accidental Adventurer has one big ambition remaining – to swim the Atlantic.

Leo Johnson

Alongside his PwC role Leo presents the BBC’s Future Proofing and Hacking Capitalism. The only one of three Johnson brothers not to go into politics, he champions ‘good capitalism', bold leadership and partnerships with start-ups. Leo argues that disruptive events from pandemics to new technologies give us the opportunity (even the duty) to consider, with a new perspective, environmental, social and capital imbalances. The goal has to be inclusive growth and a 'triple bottom line'.

Michael Pawlyn

The lead Eden Project designer believes lessons can be learned from nature in how we conduct business and construct our buildings. He points to technology that mimics natural eco-systems, like the remarkable Namibian beetle that creates its own fresh water. In presentations Michael shows how restorative design borrowing from 3.6 billion years of R&D now makes it possible for manufacturers and retailers to achieve zero waste – as Millennial consumers expect.

Lewis Pugh

Lewis is the first to complete long distance swims in each of the world’s oceans. He has also swum in Arctic and Antarctic waters, and the length of the Channel. His aim is to raise global awareness of a fragile maritime environment – one with retreating glaciers and increasing levels of plastic pollution – and he has negotiated official protected status for over two million square kilometres of ocean (equivalent to the size of Western Europe). As well as highlighting the urgent plight of the world’s seas, Lewis also reflects on his mindset and the vision, preparation and teamwork required when undertaking his marathon swims.

Professor Suzie Imber

Associate Professor of planetary science, Suzie has climbed some of the world’s highest and most challenging mountains, programmed supercomputers, helped develop space tourist training programmes, and won the BBC’s search for a future astronaut. Covering everything from satellites to teamwork, the future of science to dealing with risk, she looks at the lessons from all aspects of her work.

Marga Hoek

Taking a wide ranging look at both the challenges and opportunities of sustainability, Marga focuses on the changes business can make. By exploring the power of innovation to transform and react, she reveals how every sector can play their part in shaping a sustainable future whilst also driving forward new business models, new products and services, and new sources of revenue. From reputation to regulation, employee and customer expectations to business strategy, Marga considers how sustainability is now fundamental to any business.

Dr Leyla Acaroglu

Combining design and creative thinking with sustainability and insights into behaviour and social conventions, Leyla explores some of the assumptions around sustainability and questions how we can do things better by doing things smarter. By asking the right questions and being innovative, she considers how design-thinking can help solve the most complex and urgent of problems.

Ed Gillespie

Ed is a communications specialist, sustainability futurist and investor in projects from carbon free food to packaging. He sets out the business case for flattening the climate curve: higher margins, lower input costs and economies of scale. With insurgents leading the way we will be charging our homes from our cars, replacing big tractors with little robots, and eating 0% cow.

Paul Polman

In a decade at the top of the global food and consumer products giant, Paul made Unilever a widely admired leader in sustainability and responsible business. He put tackling climate change, inequality, and employee and customer concerns central to the culture and goals of the company whilst also improving financial performance.

Dr Sally Uren

As the Chief Executive of the Forum for the Future, Sally is an expert in helping organisations transform their practices to have a positive impact socially, environmentally and economically. Working across industries from clothing to agriculture, she helps reshape global supply chains and coordinate industries to work together to create a sustainable future for themselves.

Natalie Campbell

The co-CEO of ethical water company Belu Water has a portfolio career ranging from setting up a company to a global social innovation consultancy and encouraging insight and innovation within The Royal Foundation, to hosting her own show on Badass Women's Hour on TalkRadio. Natalie shares how to disrupt business practices for the better.

Desiree Fixler

When Desiree was Group Sustainability Officer at DWS Group, she exposed what she considered to be extensive greenwashing. She highlighted the discrepancies between the firm’s public ESG claims and its internal statements and actions and called for greater transparency and accountability in ESG investing. Now as an advisor to regulators and NGOs, she is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle greenwashing and raise the bar in the practice of sustainable finance.