Next Event: 20th June 24 | Virtual

Virtual Speakers

20 June 2024 | Online

JANA PLATAU-WAGNER

Head of CSRD Policies & Engagement
Zurich Insurance

Melissa Goncalves Ferreira

Global Head of Sustainability
Experian​

Sarah Schaefer

VP of Sustainability Europe
Electrolux

Florian Abel

Sustainability Officer
Hermes Germany GmbH

THORSTEN MEBS

Director of Supply Chain Sustainability
Tata Consultancy Services

KAI ZENNER

Head of Office & Digital Policy Adviser (MEP Axel Voss)
European Parliament

Heather Buchanan

Chief Executive Officer
Bankers for Net Zero​

Jamie Rusby

Sustainability Advisor & former Group Director Sustainability
VELUX Group

ANNE HUANG

Advisor
Loyal VC

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Jana Platau-Wagner

Head of CSRD Policies
& Engagement

Zurich Insurance

Jana Platau-Wagner is currently the Head of CSRD Policies & Engagement at Zurich Insurance, where she is instrumental in driving Europe’s largest GI insurer’s sustainability reporting strategy. Additionally, she is a lecturer for sustainable finance and regulation in various capacities. She has also been actively involved in the European Banking Federation and UNEP-FI working groups on sustainable finance regulation for banking. With over 13 years of experience in sustainability, climate risk, and ESG, Jana’s expertise is underpinned by a robust academic background, including an MBA and an MSc in Sustainable Development. Her professional journey has encompassed a variety of roles in financial services, technology startups, and large corporations, significantly enhancing corporate ESG impacts, performance and ratings.

Jana is also a member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals and the Strategy and Advocacy Sustainability Working Group at Insurance Ireland. Furthermore, she is an alumni of Trinity Business School at Trinity College Dublin, as well as the Copernicus Institute of Eindhoven University. Her career is marked by noteworthy contributions, including her service as a Non-Executive Director at Global Action Plan Ireland and her pivotal role in ESG Risk Strategy at Bank of Ireland, focusing on amongst others CDP, TCFD and on EU taxonomy alignment.

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Featured On


1:30 – 2:10 PM

Panel: Beyond compliance – leveraging policy for transformative sustainability

Heather Buchanan

Chief Executive Officer

Bankers for Net Zero​

Linkedin

Heather Buchanan is the Chief Executive Officer of Bankers for Net Zero, an initiative that brings together banks, businesses and regulators to support the financial sectors transition to net zero in the UK. She has extensive experience advising Government, trade bodies and civil society on the commercial relationship between banks and their customers. In 2021, Bankers for Net Zero was announced as the UK Country Chapter of the UN Convened Net Zero Banking Alliance, the first initiative of its kind in the world, to provide the bridge between the high level commitments that banks have made and implementation on the ground.

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Virtual-Melissa Goncalves Ferreira

Melissa
Goncalves Ferreira

Global Head of Sustainability

Experian

Melissa Goncalves is the Global Head of Sustainability at Experian, she leads the companies’ environment and community investment programmes and commitments, and works with multidisciplinary teams on social impact, ESG compliance, internal and external sustainability reporting and stakeholder management. 

 

Melissa is from Venezuela and is currently based in the UK.  She holds a MPhil in Environmental Policy from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the Simón Bolívar University (Venezuela).  Prior to Experian, she held various sustainability roles at multinationals CEMEX and Energizer. Melissa is passionate about sustainability and creating shared value for business and communities.  

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Speaking at

10:45 – 11:10 AM

Presentation: Experian


11:45 – 12:25 PM

Panel: Data-driven sustainability – leveraging technology for actionable insights

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Sarah Schaefer

Sustainability VP

Electrolux Group

Sarah Schaefer is the Sustainability VP at Electrolux. She previously held senior leadership roles in sustainability both at Unilever and Mars. Prior to that she was a Special Adviser in the British Government for David Miliband, first at the Department for the Environment and then the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

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Speaking at


02:15 – 02:40 PM

Presentation: TBC

Virtual-Florian Abel-Hermes

Florian Abel

Sustainability Director

Hermes Germany

At Hermes Germany, Florian leads the charge on sustainability initiatives as the Sustainability Officer. He spearheads the development of the company’s sustainability strategy, setting clear goals and measures. Implementation of this strategy is a joint effort with various departments within Hermes Germany.

Prior to his current role, Florian honed his strategic thinking and consulting skills at Otto Group Inhouse Consulting for seven years. He joined Hermes Germany three years ago. He has a double degree in the study of International Management at ESB Business School Reutlingen and Dublin University.

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Speaking at


11:15 – 11:40 AM

Presentation: Decarbonization of parcel delivery at Hermes Germany

Virtual-Thorsten Mebs

Thorsten Mebs

Director of Supply Chain Sustainability

Tata Consultancy Services

Director of Strategic Partnerships

ISCEA-EMEA

Thorsten Mebs advances growth and development of Strategic Partnerhips for ISCEA in EMEA Region. In addition to his role at ISCEA, Thorsten is currently the Director of Supply Chain Sustainability at Tata Consultancy Services.

Based upon broad experience along the entire Logistics & Supply Chain within the Chemical & Pharmaceutical Industry, Thorsten successfully developed strong and passionate capabilities in strategic and conceptual design approach, also in terms of the execution of the digital transformation, along with high intercultural and social leadership skills (e.g. Organisation, Processes, People). Passionate about creating outstanding, innovative & new solutions based upon a creative and innovative mindset, ensuring long-term success. Guiding, mentoring, coaching and motivating professionals on all levels of hierarchy and function, to achieve best in class performance level and consulting the business accordingly.

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Speaking at

11:45 – 12:25 PM

Panel:Data-driven sustainability – leveraging technology for actionable insights

Kai Zenner

KAI ZENNER

Digital Policy Adviser 

MEP Axel Voss (European People’s Party Group) 

Kai Zenner is Head of Office and Digital Policy Adviser for MEP Axel Voss (European People’s Party Group) in the European Parliament. Describing himself as a digital enthusiast, he focuses on AI, privacy and the EU’s digital transition. Currently, he is involved in the political negotiations on the AI Act, AI liability directive, eprivacy Regulation and GDPR revision. In his individual capacity, he is pushing for reforms within the European Parliament and for bringing back the Better Regulation agenda to EU policymaking.  

Mr Zenner graduated in political science (M.Sc. at University of Edinburgh, B.A. at University of Bremen) and in law (State Exam at University of Munster). Before moving to the European Parliament, he worked as a research associate at the European office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Brussels. 

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Speaking at


Virtual Expo

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Heather Buchanan

Chief Executive Officer

Bankers for Net Zero

Heather Buchanan is the Chief Executive Officer of Bankers for Net Zero, an initiative that brings together banks, businesses and regulators to support the financial sectors transition to net zero in the UK. She has extensive experience advising Government, trade bodies and civil society on the commercial relationship between banks and their customers. In 2021, Bankers for Net Zero was announced as the UK Country Chapter of the UN Convened Net Zero Banking Alliance, the first initiative of its kind in the world, to provide the bridge between the high level commitments that banks have made and implementation on the ground.

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Speaking at


01:30 – 02:10 PM

Panel: Beyond compliance – leveraging policy for transformative sustainability

Virtual-Jamie Rusby

Jamie Rusby

Sustainability Advisor & former Group Sustainability Director

VELUX Group

Jamie Rusby is a purpose driven leader, with 20 years experience advancing solutions to problems of people & planet.

His track record includes successful integration of sustainability into large corporations, delivery of carbon reduction, circularity and biodiversity programmes and campaigns to lift up the positive voice of business.

Jamie was most recently Group Director for Sustainability at VELUX Group where he was responsible for developing and driving implementation of the Group’s 2030 sustainability strategy, including commitments to halve value chain emissions and to capture the Group’s historical emissions (scope 1 and 2).

Before joining VELUX, he held different leadership roles in sustainability at IKEA, including leading sustainability communications and engagement (IKEA Group) and most recently heading Sustainability Policy and Strategy (Ingka Group).  

Jamie is a British and Swedish citizen and lives in southern Sweden with his wife and three children.

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Speaking at

01:00 – 01:25 PM

Presentation: Beyond business as usual – building a Net Zero roadmap and leading transformational change

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Anne huang

Advisor

Loyal VC

With almost 15 years of professional experience in Europe, North America, and Asia, of which 10+ years were spent at various Sustainability service providers to help companies understand their own sustainability footprint and those of their value chain. Experiences at KPMG, EcoVadis, Bureau Veritas, and Dun & Bradstreet gave Anne a broad perspective on how companies can work with different service providers in building up a robust sustainability management system, and continue to leverage these service providers to reach the right breadth and depth of information they need to advance their sustainability agenda. Currently she’s an advisor at Loyal VC, a global venture fund.

 

Anne is from Taiwan and lived abroad more than two thirds of her life in the US, Germany, France, and now the UK. Anne received her Bachelor of Urban & Environmental Planning from University of Virginia (USA), Master of Public Administration from Columbia University (USA), and MBA from INSEAD (France). She also holds the Sustainability Accounting Standard Board (SASB) Fundamental of Sustainable Accounting (FSA) credential, CFA ESG investment certification, and is part of the GITEX Impact Leaders.

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Speaking at


11:45 – 12:25 PM

Panel: Data-Driven Sustainability – leveraging technology for actionable insights