Our Speakers & Experts
Description
The Hon Matt Kean
Chair
Climate Change Authority
Sue Lloyd
Vice-Chair
International Sustainability Standards Board
Sue Lloyd’s appointment as Vice-Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), effective 1 March 2022, was announced in January 2022.
She served as a member of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) from 2014 and as IASB Vice-Chair from 2016. She also served as Chair of the IFRS Interpretations Committee from 2017.
In addition to her IASB responsibilities, she played a leading role in the establishment of the ISSB from 2020, including as a member of the Technical Readiness Working Group, which was created by the Trustees to give the ISSB a running start.
Prior to becoming an IASB member, Ms Lloyd worked for the IFRS Foundation as a senior technical director, leading the development of new IFRS Accounting Standards, and as director of capital markets with responsibility for the IASB’s reform of accounting for financial instruments. She also worked for the IFRS Foundation from 2002 to 2004 as a technical project manager.
Ms Lloyd has held various positions in investment banking both in the UK and in Australia and has served as a member of the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB). She has a Master’s degree in accounting and finance from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Dr. Matthew Bell
Group CEO
Anthesis
A career‑long sustainability professional and published scientist, Matthew brings over two decades of private and public sector leadership, advising multinational corporations and governments on sustainability strategy, decarbonisation, reporting, and long‑term value creation.
Dr Saul Griffith
Founder
Rewiring Australia and Rewiring America
Mark McKenna
Global Sustainability Director
Arcadis
Mark is the Global Sustainability Director for Arcadis. He leads Arcadis Global Sustainability, driving the development and implementation of global sustainability programs that deliver on our strategy and purpose: accelerating a planet-positive future and ensuring quality of life for all.
As Chair of the Arcadis Sustainability Management Board, Mark oversees
sustainability performance, reporting to the Group Executive and Supervisory Boards. He also represents Arcadis in global sustainability partner forums, leading key advocacy initiatives in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Climate Group.
A highly respected sustainability expert, Mark brings extensive international and cross-sector experience in sustainability advisory, masterplanning, design, and engineering. With a deep passion for collaboration, he works closely with fellow Arcadians to seamlessly integrate sustainability into client projects, delivering meaningful impact on a global scale.
Ronni Kahn AO
Founder
OzHarvest
Ronni Kahn AO is a social entrepreneur and founder of Australia’s leading food rescue charity, OzHarvest. Ronni is a passionate advocate and activist renowned for disrupting the food waste landscape in Australia. She leads with purpose and conviction in the spaces of food security and sustainability while also appearing regularly in national media. Her mission to fight food waste and feed hungry people is supported by some of the world's finest chefs. Ronni is an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) and was named Australian Local Hero of the Year. Her journey is the subject of feature film, Food Fighter directed by Dan Goldberg. In 2020 she co-authored her biography; A Repurposed Life, which was nominated for an ABIA award for Biography Book of the Year.
David Young
Director of Sustainability
Accor
David is the Director of Sustainability for Accor. His role is focused on developing and delivering the Accor Group Sustainability and ESG strategies across its over 400 properties in the region. Carbon Emissions Reduction , Single Use Plastic removal, Food Waste & Sustainability , Eco Certification and Diversity & Inclusion are the key programs David is leading across stakeholders including owners, franchisee’s, government, suppliers and guests. Prior to joining Accor David was the Sustainability Program Director for the oneworld alliance and Executive Manager Sustainability for Qantas . He has extensive aviation and hospitality, loyalty, catering and operations experience in Australia, New Zealand and Asia with Qantas , Air New Zealand and the Journey Group Plc in the UK. His governance experience includes current Board roles with YHA Australia and the Golden Stave Foundation. He is a former Vice President of the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, Director of Bio Energy Australia and sat on the IATA Sustainability Council and oneworld Environment & Sustainability Boards. Trained as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young, David holds post graduate degree’s in Hospitality Management and Commercial Law and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Prof Rod Sims
Chair
The Superpower Institute
Prof Rod Sims is one of Australia’s most influential economic thinkers and policy leaders, with decades at the forefront of competition, regulation, and market reform. As former Chair of the ACCC and now a leading voice on climate and economic policy, Professor Sims is helping redefine how markets respond to environmental risk. In this keynote, he will make a compelling business case for why pricing pollution is essential to driving efficiency, innovation, and long-term profitability. This is a must-see session for executives, investors, and policymakers serious about navigating the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Andrew Petersen
CEO
Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia (BCSD Australia)
Andrew is CEO of the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia (BCSD Australia). He is also a Board Director of the Banksia Foundation, on the Board of Advice of the University of Sydney Business School, and on the Board of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, the national co-regulatory, not-for-profit organisation that partners with government and industry to reduce the harmful impact of packaging on the Australian environment. In 2014 Andrew secured BCSD Australia’s partnership with the world’s largest global CEO-led organisation on business sustainability, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. In 2018 the Natural Capital Coalition named BCSD Australia its Australian Focal Point; and the We Mean Business Coalition (comprising CDP, the Climate Group and WBCSD) welcomed BCSD Australia as its Australian Business Partner. In 2019 Andrew signed up BCSD Australia as the Australian Partner to the BusinessforNature Coalition, calling for action to reverse nature loss and restore the planet's vital natural systems on which economies depend.
Emily Whelan
ESG, Investments
National Reconstruction Fund Corporation
Emily is an Associate Director at the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF), responsible for leading the Fund’s approach to ESG integration across investment activities. In her role, she works to ensure that environmental, social and governance considerations are embedded in both investment due diligence and portfolio management, with a specific focus on identifying material risks and opportunities that can contribute to investment value creation. Emily has deep expertise in ESG and sustainable finance, having previously led ESG Advisory at UBS, where she supported institutional investors on ESG integration.
Emma Forster
Climate Innovation and Sustainable Development Lead
City of Melbourne
Emma Forster is a collaborative leader with a diverse background spanning project
management, marketing and communications across the circular economy, smart
cities, technology and innovation ecosystems. She brings deep experience in
designing and delivering programs that connect content, community and
commerce to drive real-world outcomes.
Having created and executed hundreds of initiatives supporting Melbourne’s startup
and innovation ecosystem, Emma is passionate about open and inclusive innovation
as a way to engage citizens in solving complex challenges. Her expertise includes
stakeholder engagement, human-centred design, open innovation and agile product
ownership, making her a practical and highly engaging speaker at SBLive2026.
Scott Edwards
Sustainability Lead
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Australia
Scott is the Sustainability Lead for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in Australia. With 15 years' experience in environment and sustainability and over 20 years in FMCG he’s well versed in decarbonising supply chains, packaging circularity and water stewardship. Scott was formerly a chemical engineer out of Sydney University and has successfully blended his technical background and significant industry knowledge to engage everyone from the Board room to customers and those on the factory floor in the CCEP sustainability strategy. He lives in Sydney with his wife and two boys, loves to travel and yes has a house full of Coke paraphernalia.
Sarah McElholum
Environment and Sustainability Manager
Lactalis Australia
Sarah is a dynamic leader in sustainability and ESG strategy with over a decade of experience spanning the retail, food, beverage, and manufacturing sectors. As the Group ESG & Environment Manager at Lactalis Australia, she leads national initiatives in decarbonisation, waste reduction, and circular economy transformation across multiple manufacturing sites. Her work is grounded in both strategic vision and practical implementation, driving measurable impact across complex supply chains. Sarah’s career began at Coles, where she laid the foundation for the Liquor team’s sustainability efforts, and later played a pivotal role in supporting Endeavour Group’s ESG transition during its demerger from Woolworths. One of her most innovative projects was the launch of ReCork, Australia’s first national cork recycling initiative. Sarah holds a Master of Sustainability, a Master of Journalism, and a Bachelor in Climate Science—a rare combination that reflects her ability to communicate complex environmental challenges with clarity and purpose. She’s also known for building robust ESG data systems from the ground up and aligning sustainability frameworks with both regulatory and commercial priorities.
Matthew Nicholas
Director of Sustainability
Tennis Australia
Matthew Nicholas has been with Tennis Australia for over 12 years. Originally a lawyer, Matt is now Director of Sustainability, leading delivery of Tennis Australia’s climate action strategy: “Maximum Play, Minimum Footprint”. Tennis Australia owns and operates the Australian Open, one of four global tennis Grand Slams. The 2026 Australian Open was attended by 1,368,043 fans.
Gordon Noble
Associate Director Membership and Impact
Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA)
Patrick Viljoen
Sustainability Leader
CPA Australia
Speaker Bio coming soon
Karen McWilliams
Sustainability and Business Reform Leader
Chartered Accountants ANZ
Nishi Vissamraju
Head of Sustainability
NextDC
Nishi is Head of Sustainability at NEXTDC.
Tamara Somers
General Manager, Sustainability & Impact
Xero
Tamara, Xero's Group General Manager of Sustainability and Impact, drives global initiatives to advance Xero's ESG goals, as well as managing reporting on progress towards implementation of the company's sustainability and impact strategies.
Barbara-Anne Bensted
Non-Executive Director
The Asset Institute
Barbara-Anne Bensted is the Non-Executive Director of The Asset Institute. She is recognised as an industry recognised technology influencer with more than 20 years’ experience leading digital transformation programs across Energy, Mining and Government organisations in Australia, USA, Southern Africa, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
Barbara-Anne is passionate about the role technology can play in advancing sustainable practices in the public and private sectors. She is a Foundation Board member for WaterStart, a Nevada-Queensland State to State initiative and the Founder of Women in Energy & Water (Qld).
Prior to joining The Asset Institute, Barbara-Anne has held executive positions at KPMG, Origin Energy, Capgemini, Rio Tinto and Energy Queensland.
David Kennedy
CEO
Science Based Targets initiative
speaker bio coming soon
Dr Anne Kovachevich
National Sustainable Buildings and Precincts Lead
Mott MacDonald
Anne’s focus is on helping design and deliver sustainable buildings and precincts. Working closely with clients and design teams, typically starting close to the inception of a project, she sets sustainability vision and designs systems that result in successful and sustainable precincts.
She often uses rating tools including Green Star, LEED, WELL, LBC and NABERS to benchmark projects and guide sustainable outcomes.
Mohy Sharifi
Technical and Energy Engineer
TLV Pty Limited
speaker bio coming soon
Emma Cowan
General Manager, Strategy & ESG
NRMA
Emma Cowan is General Manager, Strategy & ESG at the NRMA, where she shapes the organisation’s long‑term strategy and sustainability agenda across transport, travel, electric mobility and membership.
She has helped shape the NRMA’s role in electrifying Australia’s transport sector, including building a national EV charging network, advocating for EV policy reform, educating 3.4 million members on the benefits and practicalities of transitioning to electric vehicles, and partnering with industry to accelerate progress on game-changing technologies such as vehicle‑to‑grid.
Leading the NRMA’s corporate sustainability function, Emma led the roll‑out of group‑wide climate targets and the transition to 100% renewable electricity from 2026.
Prior to joining the NRMA, Emma was a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company, advising Australia’s largest organisations on growth and transformation.
Dr Hadi Vandchali
Consultant, ESG and Procurement Services
Local Government Procurement (LGP)
Dr Hadi Vandchali is an ESG and procurement services consultant with over 15 years of experience in ESG, research, and procurement, spanning both supplier and customer environments. His blend of academic research and hands-on industry experience enables him to lead innovative programs that embed sustainability practices across the procurement lifecycle. With proven expertise in procurement, Circular Economy, stakeholder engagement, and policy integration, he helps organisations achieve long-term value while driving measurable social and environmental outcomes. Hadi is an industrial engineer with a PhD in supply chain management.
Carol Adams
Chair of Global Sustainability Standards Board
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Carol’s work is concerned with the role of accounting and reporting in the relationships between business, society and the environment. She has sought to advance practice and policy with respect to integrating sustainability considerations into organisations through applied research, leadership, voluntary work, standard setting, advisory work and educating the next generation of business leaders. Carol is currently Chair of GRI’s Global Sustainabilty Standards Board and a member of the A4S Technical Expert Committee. She is author of The Sustainable Development Goals, integrated thinking and the integrated report and the SDGD Recommendations.
Suzie Retschko
General Manager Customer
SEC
As General Manager of Customer at the SEC Suzie heads up SECs Commercial and Industrial retail electricity business, providing 100% renewable electricity and Distributed energy solutions to Victorian businesses. Suzie has over two decades of experience in the energy industry in leadership positions across transformation programs, product development, Distributed energy solutions and retail operations in both commercial and industrial and consumer markets. She has a passion for helping businesses to decarbonise and transition to renewable energy, integrating flexibility into their energy solutions. Prior to joining SEC Suzie was a Senior Leader at Baringa Partners and before that at EnergyAustralia.
Tennant Reed
Director Climate and Energy
Australian Industry Group
Tennant is Director - Climate Change and Energy at the Australian Industry Group.
He has worked on these issues since 2008, advising Ai Group’s Leaders’ Group on Energy and Climate Policy; coordinating joint research and advocacy with wider energy stakeholders; facilitating the Australian Climate Roundtable; developing reports on energy prices, carbon border adjustments and business energy use; reviewing emissions targets for the State of Victoria and closely observing international climate negotiations.
Heather Bone
Director Sustainability
Team Global Express
Heather is the Director of ESG for Team Global Express - Australia’s largest intermodal business. She’s also the chair of the National Freight Industry Reference Panel, providing independent advice to the federal and state Ministers for transport and logistics, specifically around renewable and alternative fuels. Heather is also a board member of the Heavy Vehicle Industry Association and sits on the Audit and Risk Committee for Queensland's Transport and Main Roads Department.
Stan Krpan PSM
CEO of Solar Victoria
Department of Energy, Environment & Climate Action (Vic)
Stan, CEO of Solar Victoria, is responsible for the delivery of the Victorian Government’s flagship $1.3 billion Solar Homes Program and a range of household incentive programs.
Prior to this, Stan was the CEO of Sustainability Victoria for eight years, where he led a significant expansion and grew the agency’s footprint and impact in the areas of climate change, renewables, energy-efficiency, and waste and recycling.
Stan has undertaken high-profile reform roles for the Victorian Government in building and planning, most recently as the Co-Chair of the Building Victoria’s Recovery Taskforce and as CEO of the Victorian Cladding Taskforce. In 2010, Stan undertook an independent review of EPA Victoria’s compliance and enforcement activity.
Jo Hynes
Manager Sustainability
Atlas Arteria
Jo heads Sustainability at Atlas Arteria in Australia. In 2024, she was names one of 50 most influential ESG corporate professionals in Australia. Atlas Arteria, an ASX100 company and a global owner, operator and developer of toll roads with a portfolio of five toll roads in France, Germany and the United States.
Kurt Gruber
Founding Director
WV Technologies
ACT Australian of the Year
Speaker Bio coming soon
Lee Stewart
CEO & Founding Director
ESG Strategy
Lee is the author of "How to Build Sustainability into Your Business Strategy." With over 20 years of experience in sustainability across Australia, the UK, Japan, and New Zealand, Lee has worked in startups, consulting, and as Head of Sustainability for large billion-dollar multinationals Fujitsu and Fonterra. His current clients include large manufacturing, retail, infrastructure and hospitality organisations across Australia, New Zealand. And the Pacific. In 2022, Lee founded his own consulting business, ESG Strategy, where he advises boards and senior executives on sustainability and ESG strategies. He also provides pro bono strategic advice on sustainability, circular economy, and climate change to the Kingdom of Tonga.
Linda Romanovska
Founder
Melomys Advisory
Linda Romanovska is a highly regarded senior expert on climate change, sustainability and sustainable finance. Co-author of climate change policies and several sustainable finance and corporate sustainability reporting frameworks and standards locally and internationally. A senior advisor with almost 20 years of experience, past senior leadership roles at PwC and RSM and Materra, Founder and Principal of Melomys Advisory, and doctoral researcher at the University of New South Wales.
Linda's key topics of expertise are: compliance with sustainable finance and sustainability disclosure regulations (ISSB/AASB, CSRD, SFDR, CSRD, Green Taxonomies and others) as well as voluntary frameworks (TNFD, SASB, GRI, PRI etc.), mobilising investments for climate change and environmental goals, climate change policies, understanding and management of environmental and social risk - exposure/vulnerability assessments, adaptation and resilience planning and implementation, socially just transitions, and natural capital accounting, valuation and reporting.
Magali Wardle
Head of Market Development
NABERS
Magali is the Head of Market Development at NABERS. She is a skilled professional with over 20 years of experience in Sustainability, Engineering, Project Management and Climate Change. Her work at NABERS is focused on building partnerships to influence the uptake of NABERS ratings. Her role covers a vast portfolio of project teams dedicated to supporting customers in their sustainability journey. This encompasses energy, water and waste efficiency as well as sustainable finance across several different building asset types.
Bernard Wiley
Sustainability Director
Who Gives A Crap
Speaker Bio coming soon
Jackie Spiteri
Managing Director
SESG
Jackie is an experienced Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) professional with a history of working in the maritime and infrastructure sector bringing a wealth of knowledge on sustainable development and operations.
With over 15 years’ experience and a gift for creating collaborative partnerships, alongside a strong ability to recognise and cultivate the potential in others, Jackie has a proven track record of accelerating organisational sustainability through strategy development, implementation, communication, and education.
In 2022, Jackie became the founder and Managing Director of ESG advisory company Sustainable ESG (SESG). SESG are focused on supporting organisations navigate the evolving ESG imperative. Helping organisations to understand their current state and develop relevant and tailored strategies that build upon existing foundations.
Jackie has sat on the Board for PIANC ANZ, a global not-for-profit body that brings together experts on technical, economic, environmental and planning issues pertaining to waterborne transport and infrastructure and is a former Chair of the Ports Australia Environment Planning and Sustainability Working Group and sits on the Mayor of Newcastle’s Sustainable Development Collaborative, an active group focused on localising the United Nations SDGs to the region.
During her career Jackie has been responsible for the development of a number of Sustainability Financing Frameworks in the export/import infrastructure sector, enabling over $750million of sustainability linked debt to be realised through a series of innovative sustainability financing transactions. More recently Jackie has been deeply involved in the development of the ASEAN Taxonomy V3, that has seen the introduction of the Transport & Storage and Construction & Real Estate sectors.
Paolo Bevilacqua
Group Head of Sustainability
Frasers Property Group
Paolo is Group Head of Sustainability at Frasers Property, overseeing its sustainability strategy across its multinational and multi-asset class portfolio in 20 countries. He has delivered industry leading programmes and solutions at both project and organisational levels across real estate and energy sectors in multiple markets. Prior to his current role, Paolo was the founding General Manager and Chair of Real Utilities, a green energy retailer and utilities business of Frasers Property. Before joining Frasers Property, Paolo held various sustainability and renewable energy roles at Lendlease.
With two decades of experience in the real estate sector, Paolo’s sustainability leadership credentials include serving as former Vice Chair of the International Living Future Institute and former Chair of the Property Council of Australia’s National Sustainability Roundtable.
Doug Niven
Chair
Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
Doug is full-time Chair and CEO of the Australia's Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB). He was previously Chief Accountant at ASIC, where he was responsible for financial reporting and audit strategy and policy, complex accounting and audit matters, stakeholder liaison and international. He also had operational responsibility for reporting and audit surveillances from 2008 to 2021 and continued to have a key role in those programs.
Doug has been a member of the International Organisation of Securities Commission's (IOSCO's) Committee 1 on Accounting, Audit and Disclosure, Auditing Subcommittee (past Chair), Accounting Subcommittee, IFRS Information Sharing Subcommittee (Chair), Sustainability Technical Review Coordination Group, Sustainability Assurance Working Group and ISSB Protocols Working Group.
He was also a member of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR), its Board, Global Audit Quality Working Group, Standards Coordination Working Group, Enforcement Working Group, International Cooperation Working Group (Chair), Inspection Survey Task Force and Sustainability Task Force.
Prof Deo Prasad
CEO
NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub, UNSW
Deo is among the internationally recognised Australian experts in the field of environment and sustainability with a focus on net zero carbon innovations. His experience covers practice as a consultant, long standing experience as a thought leader and a distinguished academic, significant leadership and governance expertise, all with notable recognition from all levels of government and professions. His expertise is very much in science and evidence-based approaches with a very high level of understanding of the innovation processes, the energy and carbon ecosystem with a high level of understanding of the human behaviour and social change dimensions. He has published around 400 peer reviewed papers including 12 books on low carbon, sustainable and regenerative built environments.
Michael Elias
Founder and CEO
Upparel
Michael Elias is the Co-Founder and CEO of Upparel, Australia’s foremost textile recovery, repurposing, and recycling organization. Committed to driving innovative change for future generations.
Upparel is a Certified B Corp and recognized as one of Australia’s Sustainability Champions. The company is the partner of choice for retailers, global fashion brands, and organizations aiming to eliminate textile waste and enhance their ESG impact.
Upparel's proprietary product, Uptex, crafted from repurposed textiles and manufactured locally, is making significant strides across various industries, including packaging, signage, furniture, and commercial fit-outs. The company's board is dedicated to achieving Australia’s highest acoustic and thermal ratings.
Central to Upparel's mission is the Farm to Fiber to Future technology, which ensures unparalleled transparency and traceability in the textile lifecycle.
Outside of his professional endeavors, Michael is a devoted husband and father of three. He is recognised as one of Australia’s Top 20 Sustainability CEOs and serves as a prominent advocate for textile waste solutions, innovation, and circularity.
Kiarne Treacy
CEO
Sustainable Choice Group
Kiarne is the Founder and CEO of Sustainable Choice, a digital platform where brands can publish their environmental actions and impact with full transparency, to help consumers make more informed sustainable choices.
Thierry Lotrian
CEO and Founder
Climate Decisions
Thierry is an energetic climate and sustainability data, AI and technology leader and disruptor with a focus on innovation and making an impact that matters for his clients and the community. An Executive Leader with over 20 years’ experience working with CxO’s to drive business-led transformations, enabled by data, AI, performance management and risk management capabilities across multiple industries. Thierry started his career with Capgemini in France, he has spent over a decade with Deloitte and 6+ years with SAP. He has worked with a client base across Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe.
Thierry is passionate about successful market Alliances to help have a bigger impact to solve client issues. He built and led Deloitte’s national Climate & Sustainability alliance program in Australia. Previously Thierry was the national leader for Deloitte's Data and AI Alliance program and had multiple direct Alliance leadership roles such as Anaplan, Workiva, Google and IBM.
Thierry is determined to make an impact in the world when it comes to climate and sustainability. The time is now and we all need to take responsibility for this
Dr Michael Battaglia
Mission Lead – Towards Net Zero Mission
CSIRO
Michael is the Mission Lead for Towards Net Zero Mission which looks to build capability to assist Australia's transition to net zero with particular focus on hard to abate sectors (like steel, agriculture, food supply chain and transport), regional economies and scaling negative emission technologies.
John Pabon
Founder & Chief Advisor
Fulcrum Strategic Advisors
John is Australia’s Leading Voice on Greenwashing! He’s a sustainability author, consultant, and content creator. Over his 20-year career, he’s had the privilege of working with the United Nations, McKinsey, A.C. Nielsen, and as a consultant with BSR, the world’s largest sustainability-focused business network. He is the founder of Fulcrum Strategic Advisors, Chair of The Conference Board’s Asia Sustainability Leaders Council, and advises the UN on issues of internet governance and greenwashing. John is also the author of “Sustainability for the Rest of Us: Your No-Bullshit, Five-Point Plan for Saving the Planet” and “The Great Greenwashing: How Brands, Governments, and Influencers are Lying to You.
Alex Kelly
Zero Emissions Delivery Lead
IKEA
Alex has been working in the electric vehicle industry in Australia since 2019. Currently, she is leading IKEA’s zero emission delivery strategy – with a target of 100% by 2025. IKEA’s ambitious target aims to reduce transport emissions for truck deliveries for a people and planet positive future.
Prior to this, she was Policy Manager at the Electric Vehicle Council advising government, the EV sector, and the broader sustainability sector on electric vehicle policy, with a focus on commercial fleets and heavy vehicles. During this time, Alex co-authored the EVC/ATA report Electric trucks: keeping shelves stocked in a net-zero world.
Tony Circelli
Head
Recycling Victoria
Tony has over 30 years of experience in government and private sector with specialist expertise in modern regulatory practice and in the waste and resource recovery sector. He has held a number of senior leadership positions during this time including over eight years as Chief Executive of the South Australian EPA. For the last 15 years, he has led the policy design and implementation for resource recovery reforms in South Australia, and national leadership in areas such as waste to energy design principles, and leading national consistency and reform for container deposit systems and expansion.
Morgan Cleland
Global Sustainability Lead (Sustainable Procurement)
Asahi Group
Speaker Bio coming soon
Andrew Richards
CEO
Energy Users Association of Australia
Speaker Bio coming soon
Andrew Davies
CEO
B Lab Australia and New Zealand
Andrew joined B Lab as CEO after a career spanning commercial law practice and executive management roles, and most recently running a family office and his own businesses in the finance and recreation industries. With experience across large and small business, in ASX-listed, family-owned and start-up models, Andrew is passionate about the role business can and should have in improving the world, contributing positively to change, and enriching the lives of everyone in our community.
B Lab is the organisation behind B Corp, transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. A leader in economic systems change, their global network creates standards, policies, and tools for business, and they certify companies—known as B Corps—who are leading the way.
As CEO Andrew is responsible for the growth of the B Corp community in Australia and New Zealand.
Marissa Meyers
Head of Safety & Sustainability
Monde Nissin Australia
Marissa is a safety professional with 15 years’ experience across public and private sectors, including emergency services and global FMCG companies. Four years ago, Marissa took the same mindset and strategic risk management skills that drove long-term success in safety, to lead the development and implementation of Monde Nissin Australia’s sustainability strategy. Along the way Marissa had to rapidly adapt to just how broad sustainability can be, learn a lot, engage widely, then look for where the opportunities are. Approaching this challenge by identifying smart, practical wins that benefit the business, the environment, our people, and of course the bottom line has laid the path for success.
Toby Kent
CEO
Infrastructure Sustainability Council
Speaker Bio coming soon
Afonso Firmo
Co-founder and Director
NetNada
Speaker Bio coming soon
Travis MacLachlan
Commercial Solutions Manager
Flow Power
Speaker Bio coming soon
Paul Dunne
Director – Sustainability
Clean Energy Finance Corporation
Paul Dunne is Director of Sustainability at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Paul has over 25 years of experience in sustainable investment and development across property, infrastructure, and sustainability. Paul specialises in developing climate, ESG, and net zero strategies at a corporate level, supporting investment frameworks, and leveraging innovative technologies to secure long-term value for stakeholders. Prior to joining the CEFC, Paul held senior roles with the Google/Lendlease partnership in the USA, Lendlease Australia and Bank of Scotland, where he developed sustainable solutions for cities, including Barangaroo and the Google campuses in Silicon Valley. Paul is a Chartered Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Engineering from the University of Dublin, Trinity College, and an ACCA Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management.
Maria Sykes
CEO
The Jane Goodall Institute Australia
Maria is a seasoned CEO and COO with 30+ years across iconic organisations. She brings strategic vision, proven growth, and lifelong passion to lead JGIA in protecting animals, people and environment.
Justin Merrell
Sustainability Director
Lion Co
Justin is the Sustainability Director at Lion and responsible for setting Lion’s ambitious Force for Good strategy focusing on environmental leadership and long-term positive social impact. Prior to Lion, Justin held various roles in Qantas for 6 years and was Operations Manager at the Koppers chemical plant in Kurnell for 11 years. Justin has a Chemical Engineering Degree and Master of Environmental Management.
Dr Steve Newman
Chief Sustainability Officer
EarthCheck
Steve has been a sustainability leader within the hospitality industry in SE Asia for the past decade. He presently heads technical advisory services for ESG, climate, carbon, and nature measurement, strategy and reporting. Prior to this, he spent a decade in academia specialising in ecological and climate change modelling, sitting on government advisory committees to advise SIDS on natural resource management. Combining academic and industry expertise, Steve employs a science-backed and stakeholder engaged approach to empower sustainable business operations.
Dr Aida Golneshin
Business Innovation Manager
Eldyn Foods
Dr Aida Golneshin is an executive innovation leader with over 20 years of global experience in innovation, R&D, new product development (NPD), and sustainability. She currently leads the Innovation and Sustainability strategy at Edlyn Foods, a national foodservice manufacturer, where she has spearheaded the launch of over 1,000 products and led more than 1,500 projects that have delivered significant commercial outcomes. Aida brings a deep understanding of how to embed innovation into business operations—from rethinking packaging systems to enabling waste upcycling and circular product development. With a PhD, multiple patents, and academic publications, Aida combines scientific expertise with commercial insight. She collaborates regularly with universities and industry partners to deliver high-impact, scalable solutions.
Scott Maynard
Managing Director
Polestar Australia
Scott is the Managing Director of Polestar Australia, bringing more than 25 years of experience in the automotive industry to his role.
Scott has walked a unique path through the Australian automotive industry.
He’s worked in sales, aftersales, and executive roles at retailers and OEMs, across some of the world’s best-known luxury carmakers and some of its newest, most innovative brands.
From the world of dealership aftersales departments to the boardrooms of luxury brands, he has a deep understanding of the Australian automotive industry and its evolution towards electrification.
Scott’s career started as a technician in a dealership and worked his way through various roles to be Service Manager in Launceston, Tasmania, before joining Audi during 2005 as Regional Aftersales Manager in Sydney.
During his 12 years with Audi, he served as Regional Aftersales Manager and Regional Sales Manager, before being promoted to Sales Director in Australia.
His time at Audi included the local debut of the mid-engined R8 supercar, the launch of a hero factory showroom, and the challenge of helping Audi Australia navigate the global Dieselgate crisis.
Scott took on the role of Aftersales Director at Jaguar Land Rover Australia in 2017, before moving to national Sales Director, and subsequently spending nine months in an interim position as Managing Director of JLR Australia.
More recently, Scott was a key part of the team driving BYD’s rapid growth in Australia as Executive General Manager of retail operations.
He joined Polestar Australia in July 2024 as Managing Director, since which point he’s overseen the launch of two new models: the Polestar 3 luxury SUV, and the innovative Polestar 4 coupe-SUV.
Brad Scott
Director
Transmutation
Brad is the founder of the recycling company Transmutation. He is a former Australian Army Captain who is now an entrepreneur focused on the circular economy. He developed a world-first process for upcycling waste materials like plastic bread tags and expanded polystyrene into valuable products, such as food-safe bowls and construction-grade materials.
Dilan Jayasekara
Chair, ESG Special Interest Group
Australian Computer Society
Consultant (Data and AI)
Pitcher Partners
Speaker bio coming soon
Patrick Manley
CEO
Cercle
Speaker Bio coming soon
Jackie McKeon
Program Director
Business Renewables Centre Australia
Jackie is Program Director at BRC-A. She has over 15 years’ experience in carbon and energy management, project development management, renewable energy procurement, decarbonisation strategy, strategic planning, corporate advisory and stakeholder engagement. Her career experience spans energy, property, infrastructure, retail, finance and government sectors.
Sasha Courville
CEO
Carbon Market Institute
bio coming soon
Daniel Bleakley
Co-Founder and Co-CEO
New Energy Transport
Speaker bio coming soon
Samantha Sing Key
Partner in Sustainability Reporting Advisory
Grant Thornton Australia
Samantha is a Partner in Sustainability Reporting Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia and a sustainability reporting technical specialist. She’s spearheading the interpretation and implementation of Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards, and is a member of the AASB S2 Implementation Advisory Panel. Sam is focused on helping her clients with technically sound solutions that are right-sized for their unique circumstances.
Jarrod Leak
CEO
Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity (A2EP)
After 20 years in industry working for Swedish engineering company, Alfa Laval, Jarrod has been the CEO of A2EP over the last 5 years. Over this time, A2EP has become Australia’s main industry association supporting energy productivity and renewable heating for the commercial and industrial sectors. A2EP has delivered industry defining publications, tools and webinars that are guiding the adoption of heat pumps, thermal energy storage systems, electric boilers and many other renewable heating solutions. With around 100 members and an audience of several thousand, the alliance plays a key role in supporting businesses to reduce their energy costs and decarbonise.
Ben McArthur
CEO
ARC Projects
Speaker bio coming soon...
Dermot O’Gorman
CEO
WWF
Bio coming soon
Shaun O'Flaherty
General Manager, Global Fleet Management,
Toll Group
As GM of Global Fleet Management, Shaun leads a team of over 160 professionals, including fleet, design, maintenance, project management and mechanics across Australia.
He oversees Toll’s fleet, maintenance, manual handling equipment, supporting customers and divisions through an extensive network of workshops. He also manages
third-party service providers and strategic partnerships with key Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
Shaun brings a wealth of experience from 3PL environments, where he supported various business units, customers, and stakeholders, including executive leadership teams and boards.
Currently, Shaun reports to the Chief Enterprise Services Officer (CESO) and is part of the Enterprise Services leadership team, contributing to Toll's strategic direction.
Before being appointed to his current role, Shaun served as the General Manager of Toll’s Supply Chain Solutions team for three years, supporting customers and the business with supply chain network design, transport design, distribution centre initiatives, and project management.
Prior to joining Toll in 2017, Shaun spent seven years at Linfox Logistics based in Melbourne and nearly four years at Coles Group in leadership roles including supporting Coles Online with their home delivery rollout.
Katy Barfield OAM
Founder & CEO
Yume Food
Speaker bio coming soon...
Jeremy Mansfield OAM
Founder & Director
Mansfield Advisory
Jeremy Mansfield OAM is the Founder and Director of Mansfield Advisory. He advises government, industry, and projects on sustainable construction practices and decarbonisation and serves as an expert advisor to the Supply Chain Sustainability School. With over three decades in the sector, his work focuses on providing independent advisory support to guide the Australian construction industry’s transition to sustainable practices.
Haris Murtaza
Energy & Utilities Manager
Alsco Australia
Haris is the Energy & Utilities Manager at Alsco Uniforms, working to decrease the businesses environmental impact and energy usage across Asia Pacific. Haris holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) and Master of Engineering Management from the University of Auckland. He has been actively involved in Alsco Uniforms transition away from coal, heat pump integration and uptake of solar energy for their facilities.
Rachel Alembakis
Stewardship Manager
U Ethical
and Director
Responsible Investment Association Australasia
Rachel Alembakis is stewardship manager at U Ethical. In her role, she is responsible for managing U Ethical’s active ownership activities including proxy voting, direct and collaborative engagements with companies and engagements with key stakeholders.
Rachel was the managing editor and founder of FS Sustainability for 12 years. She has more than two decades’ experience as a financial journalist covering a broad range of investment issues. Rachel holds an MSc in Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a BA in journalism and a BS in political science from Boston University
Marc Sibbald
Managing Director
Fleet News Group
Marc Sibbald is Managing Director of Fleet News Group, Australia’s leading source of independent news for the fleet management and leasing industry. He is also Director – Fleet at IPWEA FLEET & Plant Management where he is accountable for strategic development, and works closely with IPWEA FLEET members and the Fleet Council to develop industry-relevant training and education programs.
Barry Cosier
CEO
Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia
Barry Cosier has over 30 years’ experience in both the Resource Recovery Industry and in the Food and Grocery Industry. Like many, he started his working career packing shelves in
supermarkets while at university. Since then, he has worked for multinational grocery companies, was CEO of a privately owned Australian food manufacturing company and represented small to medium enterprises on the Australian Food and Grocery Council board.
He then moved into the Resource Recovery industry and was involved in Council contracts, collections, MRF processing and was a member of the NSW EPA Industry Advisory Panel for the China Sword Taskforce. Most recently he became the Director of Sustainability at the
Australian Food and Grocery Council and a member of the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Resource Recovery Reference Groups. Currently he is on secondment as Co-CEO of Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia, a recently established entity he has been leading the development of since 2021.
Geoff York
CEO
Crystalbrook Collection
Geoff York is the CEO of Crystalbrook Collection, Australia's most innovative portfolio of upscale and sustainability-focused hotels and resorts. Since co-founding Crystalbrook Collection in mid-2017, Geoff has spearheaded the company's growth from its inception, expanding the group to include ten hotels, 16 bars and restaurants, Eleme Day Spa and managing over a billion dollars in assets. Geoff’s extensive industry experience includes key leadership roles across Asia Pacific with leading hospitality groups such as Accor, Hilton International, and Event Hospitality & Entertainment. Recognised with multiple awards for excellence, Geoff's distinguished career is marked by his contributions to various hospitality groups including his role as National Board Member of Tourism Accommodation Australia.
Sara King
GM, Purpose,
Intrepid
Sara King is Intrepid’s General Manager of Purpose and is responsible for delivering the company’s environmental, social and governance commitments, including as a signatory to the UN Global Compact and a certified B Corp. Her remit includes stakeholder engagement, social and environmental impact, and the B Corp certification . Prior to joining Intrepid, Sara held a number of roles at the International Finance Corporation, which is a member of the World Bank Group, including working on inclusive tourism development and sustainability in the Asia Pacific region. Sara holds a Master’s in International Relations and Affairs from Macquarie University and a Graduate Certificate of Management from the UNSW Business School.
Cameron Rimington
Senior Policy Officer – Heavy Vehicles
Electric Vehicle Council
bio coming soon
Martin Gleeson
Co-founder and Managing Director
Serversaurus
Martin Gleeson has been designing and building software for more than 25 years. He was one of the first to help harness the power of the Web at the University of Melbourne in the early 1990s, before moving through the internet bubble relatively unscathed and co-founding the web hosting company Serversaurus in 2005. Australia's first carbon-neutral web hosting company, Serversaurus has been planting trees since 2007 to mitigate their carbon footprint, leading the way for other companies in the sector. Marty's passions include changing both the face and the DNA of business in Australia, to have social and environmental responsibility at the core of what we do every day.
Amarjot Bagga
Head of Environmental and Social Impact
Iress
Bio Coming Soon
Troy Pickwick
Co-Founder
Good Energy Minds
Bio coming soon
Tia Collings
CEO & Founder
Enaxiom
Tia Collings is the CEO and co-founder of Enaxiom, a climate-tech company building HydroCool — a next-generation cooling system that radically reduces energy and water use in AI and cloud infrastructure. With a background in circular economy design and scaling deep-tech startups, Tia is passionate about solving the environmental footprint of artificial intelligence — from data centre sustainability to water-positive infrastructure. HydroCool is already unlocking new pathways for AI data centres to become regenerative — reusing waste heat, conserving water, and even producing fresh water for local reuse.
Marian Gruber
Managing Director
ZooiD
Marian Gruber is the founder and Managing Director of ZOOiD, one of Australia’s longest standing sustainability focused consultancies, established for over 20 years. Marian is a veteran of the sustainability reporting industry, and has collaborated with numerous companies across many sectors, including aquaculture, forestry, higher education, mining, transport, asset management, manufacturing, finance and others.
Marian is a specialist director with a focus on sustainability reporting and serves on the Board of the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia (BCSDA) – the Australian chapter of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). ZOOiD is the Reporting Exchange Partner for (BCSDA). ZOOiD is the first Certified Training Partner of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in Australia/New Zealand and is certified to hold GRI training across the Asia Pacific region.
Rishi Tirupari
Group Executive General Manager, ESG
Crown Resorts
Bio Coming Soon
Rose Gooding
Group Sustainability Lead
Goodman Fielder
Bio Coming Soon
Josh Begbie
CEO
GECA
Josh joined the GECA team in 2023, bringing a breadth of experience from the not-for-profit, corporate and government sectors and a track record of creating lasting impact for organisations and communities. Having worked extensively across countries, cultures, and industries, Josh believes that inclusive and courageous collaboration is the best way to get things done. He is thrilled to be using this passion to develop partnerships within the GECA Family and beyond for the good of people and planet. Whether you're a business, not-for-profit, community organisation or in the public sector, Josh is eager to connect with you to improve social and environmental outcomes. Josh is proud to be leading an organisation that delivers positive environmental impact using globally-recognised best practice standards.
Jim Bulling
Partner
K&L Gates
Megan is a Partner of the Sydney Assurance practice and has more than 20 years’ experience with multinational companies both in Australia and North America.
Megan’s international audit experience focuses on the larger ASX clients. Megan has significant experience in dealing with complex accounting matters including large transactions, including acquisitions, demergers, debt raising and goodwill impairment both in Australia and overseas. Megan has served as Oceania US Capital Market Leader as well as Oceania Real Estate Assurance Leader. Megan is currently Oceania Service Line Market Segment Leader – Assurance, Built Environment and Resources.
Natalie Kyriacou OAM
Author, Environmentalist, Board Director and
Founder of My Green World
Natalie is an award-winning environmentalist, presenter, and charity director on a mission to spark curiosity about the natural world. She is the author of Nature’s Last Dance.
Natalie was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia and the Forbes 30 Under 30 Honour for her services to wildlife and environmental conservation in 2018. She was a United Nations Environment Programme Young Champion of the Earth Finalist. She is one of LinkedIn’s 2022 ‘Top Green Voices’ and named as one of The Australian’s 2022 ‘Top Innovators’. In 2025, she was named as a Marie Claire “Women of the Year” nominee.
Natalie is the Founder and Chair of My Green World, a Board Director at Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife, a former Board Director at CARE Australia, a W20 Delegate (official G20 engagement group), a UNESCO Green Citizens Pathfinder. She sits on the XPRIZE Global Brain Trust for Biodiversity and Conservation. She is a National Ambassador for the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Philip Graham
Co-Founder & CEO
CleanPeak Energy
Philip is the co-founder and CEO of CleanPeak Energy, an Australian renewable energy company. CleanPeak specialises in designing, building, owning, and operating renewable energy assets and associated infrastructure and currently operates over 40 MW of rooftop solar, 100 MW of utility solar projects and 35 MWh of battery projects as well as Sustainable Utility Precincts, with a further 100 MW of solar and 300 MWh of battery projects in the pipeline. In 2025, it was announced that global investment firm KKR had entered into a strategic partnership with CleanPeak and committed A$500 million to support the growing pipeline in Australia’s commercial and industrial sector.
Philip has more than 25 years of experience in investment working with Merrill Lynch, ABN Amro and Citi, and completed over $50 billion of financing and M&A transactions in the Power, Energy & Infrastructure Sector.
Tony Hunter
World Renowned Food Futurist
Tony is a Food Futurist Speaker, food scientist, author and strategic foresight consultant specialising in the future of the food, beverage and agriculture industries.
He has spoken on four continents and regularly appears on podcasts, webinars, TV, radio and print as an expert on the Future of Food. He consults globally to food companies from PepsiCo to KFC, VC investors and top four global consulting companies on the impact of food technology and consumer trends.
He delivers a unique perspective on the Future of Food using his distinctive combination of scientific qualifications, business experience and detailed understanding of food technologies.
Megan Wilson
Partner
EY
bio coming soon
Len Luxford
Founder
Matter
Speaker Bio Coming Soon
Miriam Pape
Manager, Sustainability & Impact
Victorian Convention & Event Trust (VCET)
Miriam is a sustainability leader with experience supporting ASX‑listed companies, global brands, and Australian organisations to embed sustainable into their operations. She currently leads the sustainability and impact program across two major venues - the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre. In this role she works to connect environmental, social and economic outcomes for the regions in which the two venues operate.
Miriam’s expertise spans strategic sustainability/ESG planning, program design, governance, and reporting. Before joining VCET, Miriam held senior advisory roles at Edge Impact and earlier sustainability positions at Diageo, Telstra, and Treasury Wine Estates. She is a 2025 participant in The Observership Program and the Williamson Community Leadership Program and holds a Master of Sustainability from Monash University.
Lochie Burke
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
NetNada
Lochie Burke is a technology entrepreneur and sustainability leader with over a decade of experience building and scaling data-driven platforms across climate tech and advanced systems. As Co-Founder and Co-CEO of NetNada, he has grown the company into a leading sustainability analytics and compliance platform supporting more than 1,000 organisations across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the US and the UAE. NetNada helps businesses manage carbon accounting, supply-chain transparency, certifications and ESG reporting aligned with frameworks such as AASB and CSRD.
Previously, Lochie co-founded JAR Aerospace, commercialising AI-driven unmanned systems technology. He is also Founder and Chairman of The River Rangers, a not-for-profit tackling river pollution while creating local employment opportunities.
Nathan Juchau
Manager Sustainability
Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG)
Nathan joined NCIG in 2007 and his current role is Manager Sustainability, responsible for overseeing NCIG’s sustainable business practices, relationship with the surrounding environment and broader community.
Nathan has 30 years of experience in engineering, environmental and safety roles on projects in the Hunter Valley region, and holds degrees in Civil Engineering and Natural Resources Management, together with a Masters in Environmental Engineering.
Mick Liubinskas
Director
Climate Salad
As Co-Founder of Climate Salad, Mick Liubinskas supports Australia’s fast-growing climate tech ecosystem, helping companies accelerate the path to a carbon-negative future.
With over 20 years in the technology sector, Mick has built and scaled products reaching millions of users and generating significant revenue, while advising, investing in and mentoring hundreds of startups locally and globally.
Through Climate Salad, their mission is to strengthen Australia’s climate tech landscape by mobilising investment, delivering impactful programs and fostering collaboration between entrepreneurs, researchers and investors.
They believe tackling climate change is the defining challenge — and greatest opportunity — of our generation.
Peter Shelley
Senior Manager Decarbonisation
Australia Post
Peter Shelley is the Senior Manager for Decarbonisation at Australia Post , with a passion for turning climate ambition into improved sustainable outcomes. His sustainability journey of more than twenty years covers strategy, energy management, stakeholder engagement, environmental reporting and the delivery of initiatives that reduce emissions while supporting business performance. Recent highlights have included largest solar panel deployment over 2MW on a commercial roof in Australia, and leading the achievement of the 2025 science-based targets for emissions reduction for Australia Post.
Megan Fisher
CEO & Director
EnergyLab
Bio coming soon
Geoff Gourley
Co-Founder & COO
All Natural Capital
&
Founder & Chairman
Impact Investment Fund
Bio coming soon
Martina Hadzialic
Head of Pacific, Climate & Sustainability Services,
S&P Global Sustainable1
Martina Hadzialic is a seasoned professional in sustainability and corporate finance, currently leading the Pacific Climate and Sustainability Services team at S&P Global. In her role, she provides expert guidance to corporates and financial institutions, helping them navigate the complexities of sustainability regulations and ESG strategy development.
Prior to joining S&P Global, Martina honed her skills in Project Finance Advisory at UniCredit, within their Corporate Investment Banking division, as well as Financial Institutions Group (FIG) and Debt Capital Markets (DCM). Martina holds a Bachelor of Science from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of London.
David Baggs
CEO, Technical Director & Cofounder
Global GreenTag International
David Baggs is a globally recognised sustainability and materials expert, Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects, and recipient of the Institute’s prestigious National Leadership in Sustainability Award. David has led GreenTag to become one of the world’s most advanced product certification and ecolabelling systems. An innovator in the development of product certification frameworks, including a NaturePositive+ Products Standard and NaturePositive+ Declaration, David is currently pioneering development of a Recycled Content and Traceability Certification, alongside a Circularity Declaration - both initiatives aimed at further strengthening product transparency and accelerating the transition to a more circular and nature-positive economy across industries worldwide.
Melissa James
Data Scientist
CSIRO
Melissa James is a CSIRO data scientist, project leader, and communicator with more than fifteen years of experience in residential building energy efficiency research. She delivers science, data, software, and communications that support the shift towards energy efficient housing in Australia. Ms James is currently exploring ways in which data collected as part of the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) can be integrated and used for research which contributes to reducing energy consumption in Australian households.
Leonard Tham
Director, Innovation
Custom Fleet
bio coming soon
Shaun Cameron
Director, Talent, Culture, Sustainability & Strategy
Custom Fleet
bio coming soon
Shaun Drylie
Co-Founder and CEO
Carbn
bio coming soon
Dr Tse-Ling Teh
Manager Environmental Market Analysis
Clean Energy Regulator
speaker coming soon
Peter Castellas
CEO
Climate Zeitgeist
Peter is CEO of Climate Zeitgeist, a company he founded to work with key global partners in finance and investment to accelerate meaningful action on change. He is the Founder of the Climate Investor Forum, the premier climate finance and investment platform in APAC to connect investors, corporates and climate solutions companies. Throughout Peter’s career he has worked at the leading edge of the climate change and sustainable development agenda. He has advised and influenced key decision makers at the highest levels of business, finance and government.
Katharine Mitchell
Operations Transformation Manager
SmartestEnergy Australia
Kat leads SmartestEnergy’s retail operations helping corporates to mitigate their cost risks while achieving their clean energy and net zero goals. Kat and her team of experts work across the breadth of energy and certificate requirements, delivering all market, billing, environmental certificate and customer engagement activities. With more than 15 years of industry experience, primarily in large market retail operations, she has detailed knowledge of the full operational delivery requirements of complex structured contracts and can help corporates which require tailored, risk managed retail services.
Charlotte Connell
Director Innovation and Investment
Greenhouse
Charlotte Connell is an ecosystem architect for climate innovation and investment, recognised for her ability to connect ideas, capital and people to accelerate climate solutions. As Director of Innovation and Investment at Greenhouse, she leads initiatives designed to unlock Australia’s potential as a global climate superpower, including programs focused on catalysing climate capital.
Lincoln De Kalb
Corporate Mobility Product Development Manager
SG Fleet
Lincoln De Kalb is the Corporate Mobility Product Development Manager at SG Fleet, with a career spanning innovation and the automotive sector. Over his seven years at SG Fleet, Lincoln has played a key role in helping organisations transition to electric vehicles, providing strategic guidance, developing end‑to‑end transition plans, leading employee change management, and delivering practical EV charging solutions for the workplace, home, and on‑the‑go through SG Fleet’s eStart and eManage platforms.
Lincoln was a member of the ARENA‑funded REVS project, working with an industry consortium to prove the use of B2G vehicles in supporting grid resilience.
His current work focuses on leveraging the Connected Mobility ecosystems to support customers across sustainability outcomes, enhanced driver safety, and data‑driven fleet management.
Beyond SG Fleet, Lincoln serves as a Director of Narara Ecovillage and Head of its embedded energy network, where he led the deployment of one of Australia’s first community‑scale batteries and microgrids.
Brooke Donnelly
Founder & CEO
Catalyst
Brooke Donnelly is a sustainability and circular economy leader working across industry, government, and the not-for-profit sector to transform Australia’s supply chains. Brooke is best known for her leadership in advancing product stewardship and responsible supply chains in Australia. She has played a pivotal role in establishing nationally significant stewardship initiatives and in building collaboration across industry sectors to address waste, resource recovery, and sustainable product design.
Her career has focused on designing and scaling collaborative solutions that transform how products are designed, used, and recovered across supply chains. Brooke has played a significant role in advancing product stewardship in Australia, working with major brands, industry sectors, and policymakers to develop nationally significant stewardship initiatives and drive practical progress toward a circular economy.
A respected voice in sustainability strategy and systems change, Brooke is focused on building the conditions for change — developing the next generation of circular economy opportunities — including new stewardship and EPR models, supply-chain collaboration and elevating the role of business in building commercial, resilient, risk adjusted, low waste economic systems.
Chris Uhlmann
Journalist & Political Commentator
The Australian / Sky News
Chris Uhlmann is a journalist who was political editor for both the ABC and Nine News. His three co-authored works of political fiction were adapted into the mini-series Secret City, which screened on Foxtel and Netflix. He has written and presented documentaries on the Ukraine war, The Real Cost of Net Zero, the Dismissal and John Howard. He is a columnist with The Australian, a political contributor on Sky News and publishes on Substack under Powerlines. He won a Walkley Award for broadcast interviewing, and was part of the Four Corners team that won a Gold Quill for an investigation into Chinese Communist Party influence in Australia. In 2023, he collaborated with his artist brother, Paul, to produce the children’s book The Useless Tune.
Lobaba Idris
Manager - Sustainability, Portfolio Management
Clean Energy Finance Corporation
Lobaba is a manager specialising in sustainability at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, focusing on decarbonisation, climate resilience and social impact. Lobaba works closely with the Investment team to set ambitious decarbonisation and ESG targets and ensures the ongoing management and monitoring of ESG commitments in the Portfolio Management team. Prior to joining the CEFC, Lobaba worked in sustainable development at Landcom, the NSW Government’s land and property development organisation. Lobaba has worked as a consultant on sustainability, and is experienced in shaping ESG strategies, driving impact and achieving sustainability targets in residential, commercial and infrastructure projects. Lobaba holds a Master of Sustainable Built Environment from the University of New South Wales.
Rick Lord
Global Head of Research and Innovation
S&P Global Sustainable1
Rick Lord is Head of Innovation Methodology at Trucost, part of S&P Global Horizons. In this role, Rick specializes in the developing and delivering data and tools to quantify environmental, social and governance risks to assets, projects, companies and investment portfolios. Most recently he has led the development of innovative and market leading analytics focusing on ESG issues including carbon pricing risk, alignment with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, and climate change physical risk. Rick’s work at Trucost aims to link ESG issues to drivers of corporate and investor financial value creation, and to frame material ESG issues in the context of business strategy. Rick holds a Masters in Environmental Economics from Imperial College London and a Bachelor’s of Science from Queensland University of Technology.
Beth Dowe
Executive Director
Climate Leaders Coalition
Michael Kilgariff
CEO
Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia
Michael Kilgariff is Chief Executive Officer of Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia, the national voice of Australia’s heavy construction materials industry. Michael Kilgariff has a strong background in transport and infrastructure associations, stakeholder engagement and collaboration. He brings deep expertise in stakeholder engagement and understanding of economic, social and policy drivers affecting industry.
Michael holds an Economics degree from Australian National University, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and completed the Advanced Leadership Programme at University of Cambridge Judge Business School in 2017.
Danielle Welsh-Rose
Independent Advisor
Sustainable Investment
Danielle Welsh-Rose is a seasoned sustainable investment and strategy executive with more than two decades of expertise across asset management, consulting and asset ownership. Danielle has held various senior leadership roles including Head of ESG at VFMC, and most recently global Deputy Chief Sustainable Investment Officer at Aberdeen Investments, with global responsibility for sustainability commercialisation. Danielle holds a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Environment, Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance, and a Juris Doctor (JD).
David Puxty
Head of Sustainability
Waste Options
David is the Head of Sustainability at Waste Options, assisting our customers to achieve their sustainability goals in resource recovery. Customers include Commonwealth and State Governments, and multinational organisations in the energy, food, retail, retirement and banking sectors. With 270 contractor partners, Waste Options helps innovative contractors and ambitious customers benefit from each other sustainably and economically.
David's sustainability roots are in Landcare, facilities management and 12 years focusing on improving the resource recovery options available to businesses.
Brad Esmore
National Fleet & Safety Coordinator, Logistics Specialist
OzHarvest
Brad Esmore is a dedicated logistics and operations professional known for his long-standing commitment to food rescue and sustainability. As the National Fleet Coordinator and Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) Coordinator for Victoria at OzHarvest, Brad plays a pivotal role in managing the complex transport logistics required to redirect surplus food to those in need. His work is defined by adaptability and a hands-on approach to problem-solving. Whether navigating the unpredictable nature of food donations or managing the safety standards of a growing national team, Brad focuses on streamlining systems to maximize social impact.
Alex Geddes
Executive Director, Programs & Innovation
NSW EPA
Alex is the Executive Director, Programs & Innovation at the NSW EPA. In this role, Alex leads teams that deliver impactful, data-driven programs and foster innovation pathways.
Key programs in this portfolio include Return & Earn, Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO), and a range of programs that support stewardship, waste avoidance, resource recovery and climate change actions. These programs are enabled by functions dedicated to excellence in environmental intelligence, analytics and digital innovation.
Alex’s focus is on developing strong partnerships with stakeholders to drive outcomes that support the circular economy, a sustainable future and improve human health.
Prior to joining the EPA, Alex held many senior executive roles across government, including in digital delivery, designing community-focused initiatives and leading strategy, advocacy and communications functions. She has also advised Premiers and Ministers across a range of portfolios. Alex started her career as a corporate lawyer for an international law firm.
Alex has a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) / Laws and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. She is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Jason Zhang
Co-Founder & CEO
Low Carbon Materials Hub
Adam Culley
CEO
Planet Ark
As CEO of Planet Ark Adam is proud to be leading an organisation with a 34-year history of providing positive environmental actions to all Australians. His motivation is to help support Australia’s transition to a circular economy, to create a world where we thrive in balance with nature.
Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology and Oceanography as well as an MBA from Bayes Business School. Prior to joining Planet Ark in 2020 Adam spent 15 years working in the science, energy and banking sectors in the UK and Australia in a range of commercial and project management roles. He also launched a social enterprise focussed on supporting the homeless in London. Adam is thrilled to be using the combination of this experience in an area that is ultimately decisive
Brett Giddings
Head of Product, Innovation & Partnerships
TEM (Tasman Environmental Markets)
Brett Giddings is Head of Product, Innovation& Partnerships at TEM (Tasman Environmental Markets), where he helps organisations navigate and support next‑generation carbon and nature solutions. His work sits at the edge of sustainability, product and innovation in environmental markets.
Roland Simpson
Head of Transport Networks
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Australia
Sarah Casey
Regional Director APAC
Tangelo Software
speaker bio coming soon
David Law
Integrated Sustainability Practice Leader
Aurecon
David is a professional building designer, structural engineer of over 20 years, and Fellow of the IStructE. Now a Technical Director at Aurecon in Melbourne, he leads the Global Sustainable Structures Capability Group, and the Integrated Sustainability Practice in Victoria and South Australia - a collaborative effort of sustainability and building envelope professionals. Passionate about decarbonisation, David is deeply involved in industry advocacy through MECLA and DBI, championing the integration of research and practical application to achieve net-zero goals. With a focus on practical solutions and collaboration, he delivers newbuild and reuse building designs with measurable sustainability outcomes.
Kieran Leong
Director, DesignInc
& Co-Chair
MECLA
Kieran is a Director at DesignInc Melbourne and an architect with over 20 years of experience across health, community, education, and residential sectors. He leads sustainability within the practice and focuses on creating healthy, regenerative, and nature-connected environments.
Kieran currently co-chairs the Material and Embodied Carbon Leaders Alliance Working Group 7, focusing on designing out carbon in building projects. His industry involvement includes roles with the Living Futures Institute of Australia as a member of the Biophilic Design Advisory Panel, and the Australian Passivhaus Association as an educator and regular presenter. Kieran views every project as an opportunity to improve industry benchmarks and deliver high-performance architecture that provides a measurable, positive impact.
Georgia Broderick-Crawley
Senior Manager, Policy and Research
National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC)
Georgia Broderick-Crawley is a Senior Manager, Policy and Research at the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), where she leads the organisation’s approach to encouraging and improving economic participation by historically underrepresented groups, including women, First Nations Australians, people with disability, and people of culturally and linguistically diverse background.
She works across policy, research, and strategy to address structural barriers to economic participation, with a focus on embedding inclusion into economic and investment systems. She brings deep expertise in social policy and economic inclusion, with experience spanning policy analysis and development, engagement with diverse stakeholders, and strategy development.
Prior to joining the NRFC, Georgia was an Assistant Director at the Australian Financial Security Authority, where she led strategic initiatives to strengthen protections for Australians at risk of financial vulnerability.
Harman Josan
National ZEB Infrastructure Manager
Transit Systems
speaker bio coming soon
Yonis Dawd
Sustainability Projects Officer
Brimbank City Council
speaker bio coming soon
Jurre Smits
Head Sustainable Finance Wholesale and Food System Transitions - Australia & New Zealand
Rabobank
speaker bio coming soon
Justin Williams
Managing Director
Australian Accounting Standards Board &
Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
Anna Haynes
Independent ASRS S2 Consultant,
Former Head of Climate Transition
Bupa APAC
