8:00
Registration opens
8:55
Chair’s opening remarks
9:00-10:00
MEET THE STANDARD SETTERS - THE EVOLVING GLOBAL LANDSCAPE OF SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING: FIRESIDE CHATS
9:00 - 9:20
Fireside Chat 1: The EU sustainability reporting environment
- Latest developments on EU process to simplify sustainability reporting and due diligence rules – what should companies be doing to prepare for the changes?
- To what extent will these changes increase interoperability with other global sustainability reporting standards?
Moderator: Richard Howitt, Strategic Advisor on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Business and Human Rights
Patrick de Cambourg, Chair of the Sustainability Reporting Board, EFRAG
9:20 – 9:40
Fireside Chat 2: ISSB current and future priorities
- Progress on adoption of IFRS S1 and S2 – what different approaches are we seeing across jurisdictions? Do these differences create fragmentation and does this affect the standard's overall useability and comparability?
- What are the ISSB's next priorities: sectoral standards, BEES?
Moderator: Vincent Huck, Editor, Corporate Disclosures
Richard Barker, ISSB Member, International Sustainability Standards Board
9:40 – 10:00
Fireside Chat 3: GRI overview of sustainability reporting initiatives
- The GRI's updated climate change standards and the requirement to publish climate transition and adaptation plans – what are the implications for companies?
- How is the GRI working to increase harmonisation with other sustainability reporting standards?
Moderator: Sam Groves, Reporter, Corporate Disclosures
Robin Hodess, CEO, GRI
10:00
Panel discussion: Latest updates on the revised ESRS and CSRD - Implications for preparers and users
- Do the proposed changes achieve the goal of simplification?
- How will the changes simplify the double materiality assessment?
- What is the impact of the 'fair presentation' requirement?
- How are companies managing the regulatory uncertainty around the likely changes to the CSRD and preparing for these?
- What about changes to CSRD scope – what are the implications for companies and the wider reporting ecosystem (systems providers, data providers, assurance providers etc)?
- What level of sustainability assurance will be required?
- How are companies responding to the proposed changes? What should wave 2 companies be doing now to prepare?
- How do investors view the changes and the drive towards simplification and reduced scope?
Moderator: Richard Howitt, Strategic Advisor on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Business and Human Rights
Adrian Kyburz, Executive Director, ESG & Corporate Reporting Strategy, Novartis
Claudia Hügel, Senior Director, Corporate Responsibility – Head of ESG Rating & Reporting, Lufthansa Group
Charlotte Bartels, ESG Materiality and Ratings Specialist, Deutsche Bank
Fiona Watson, Vice President, Corporate Performance & Accountability, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
10:45
Coffee and networking break
11:15
‘How to’ session 1: Conducting a double materiality assessment
- How will this change under the revised ESRS and CSRD?
- How do these changes impact companies?
- Practical steps to conduct double materiality assessments under the revised standards
Moderator: Donato Calace, Senior Vice President, Market Leader Partnership and Accounts, Datamaran
Ash Jordan, Head of Global ESG, SoftwareOne
Marie Corger, Head of Sustainability Strategy & Reporting, Philip Morris International
11:45
Panel discussion: How are investors and other capital markets participants using sustainability reports and what are the implications for reporting companies?
- How are investors using the information in sustainability reports - are they getting the consistent and comparable information they need?
- What are their perceptions of the reporting they have seen so far under the different standards (including GRI, ISSB and CSRD)? How useful have they been?
- Are the leaders in sustainability reporting being rewarded for their efforts - what premium do investors place on companies with high quality sustainability reporting?
- How might investors use the information to drive business change in companies?
- How are investors managing divergent approaches to mandatory reporting across different regions?
Moderator: Harpal Singh, Principal, Small & Medium Size Practices and Thought Leadership, International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
Harry Ashman, Senior Engagement Specialist, Robeco
Lisa Beauvilain, Global Head of Sustainability & Stewardship, Co-Head Sustainability Centre, Impax Asset Management
Nadège Tillier, Senior Sector Strategist & Head of Corporate Research, ING Bank
Phil Cliff, Director of Sustainable Investing, Fidelity International
12:30
‘How to’ session 2: Data governance and effective integration of digital tools in reporting
- What internal controls and processes need to be in place for optimal collection and reporting of sustainability data? How do you address internal data silos?
- Developing systems that are flexible enough to adapt to different reporting standards
- Integrating emerging digital tools - Impact of AI and technology on sustainability disclosure and assurance (how to provide assurance when AI is embedded in reporting process, does it impact trust in data?)
Moderator: Mardi McBrien, Senior Director, Enhancing Transparency, Corporate Performance & Accountability, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
John Turner, CEO, XBRL International
Kai Zinn, Head of Sustainability Management, Group Financial Reporting, Merck
13:00
Lunch break
14:00
Fireside chat: Climate risk and financial reporting - When and how should companies report climate-related information in financial statements?
- Impact of inconsistencies between climate disclosures and information provided in financial statements
- How should companies assess what climate-related risks should be disclosed in financial statements? How is this affected by their business activity and sector?
- What are the main areas of concern for investors and how to address these?
- What steps can be taken to improve the overall connectivity and consistency between sustainability reporting and financial reporting?
Natasha Landell-Mills, Partner and Head of Stewardship, Sarasin & Partners
14:20
Panel discussion: Perspectives of companies reporting under CSRD Wave 1 – What can we learn from them given the changes to the standards that are underway?
- What were the key take-aways and lessons learnt by reporting companies?
- What were the most challenging aspects for preparers and what changes are they making for the next round of reporting?
- Which indicators were most helpful for internal purposes around corporate strategy discussions?
- How were the reports received by investors and other stakeholders – what aspects generated the most interest and questions?
Moderator: Peter Paul van de Wijs, Independent Sustainability Consultant
Alexander van den Hoek, Lead Finance & Operations, Global Sustainability, ING
Liz Chesculescu, Sustainability Reporting Manager, CVC Capital Partners plc
Michael Evans, Group Sustainability Reporting Manager, International Airlines Group (IAG)
15:00
‘How to’ session 3: Preparing for and managing the sustainability assurance process
- Critical steps in the pre-assurance process to ensure you are ready (including ensuring high quality auditable data, the role of internal audit and other functions)
- What are the most important areas for companies to focus on when preparing for assurance? What discussions are they having with assurance providers on this?
- What does the revised ESRS mean for sustainability assurance (from the perspective of companies, assurance providers and report users)?
- What trends and expectations are we seeing in jurisdictions where assurance is not yet mandatory?
- What are the implications of the International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000 – how should companies and assurance providers prepare?
Moderator: Hilde Blomme, Deputy CEO, Accountancy Europe
Asif Chowdhury, Partner - Assurance, EY
Olga Mayorova, ESG Reporting Manager, Kingfisher Plc
15:30
Coffee and networking break
16:00
Panel discussion: Integrated reporting - Moving from a compliance mindset to good corporate governance and value creation
- What is integrated reporting and what are the benefits for companies?
- How to embed integrated reporting into your processes and eliminate silos - what are the parts of the reporting ecosystem that need to come together to achieve integrated reporting?
- How do you connect sustainability data with the narrative senior management is communicating and ensure the two are consistent and credible?
- What role does integrated reporting and management commentary play in helping companies and investors to understand sustainability data?
- How to link sustainability reporting and the data and insights it produces to tangible company value creation?
Moderator: Paul Druckman, Non-Executive Chairman and Director of organisations in multiple sectors
Christoffer Paur Knudsen, Director Integrated Reporting, Yara International
Giulia Scanferla, Head of Sustainability Reporting, BAT
Gladys Naylor, Group Head of Sustainable Development, Mondi
16:45
Roundtable discussions:
- RT 1: Data governance - Who owns, and who should own, data for sustainability reporting?
- Moderator: Mardi McBrien, Senior Director, Enhancing Transparency, Corporate Performance & Accountability, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
- RT 2: CSRD wave 2 companies – how should they prepare for reporting under the revised standards?
- Moderator: Adrian Kyburz, Executive Director, ESG & Corporate Reporting Strategy, Novartis
- RT 3: Biodiversity and nature – evaluating and reporting dependencies and risks
- Moderator: Carlos Martin Tornero, Lead Associate, Europe Strategy & Engagement, International Division, Financial Conduct Authority
- RT 4: Climate transition plans - how to move from compliance to business resilience
- Moderator: Giulia Scanferla, Head of Sustainability Reporting, BAT
- RT 5: Changes to the scope of CSRD and implications for companies -
- Moderator: Peter Paul van de Wijs, Independent Sustainability Consultant
- RT 6: Monitoring the volatile policy landscape for sustainability reporting
- Moderator: Donato Calace, Senior Vice President, Market Leader Partnership and Accounts, Datamaran
- RT 7: Responding to ethical and independence challenges in sustainability reporting and assurance
- Moderator: Mark Babington, Member, International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants and Executive Director, Regulatory Standards, Financial Reporting Council
- RT 8: Practical guidance for Double Materiality Assessments
- Moderator: Marie Corger, Head of Sustainability Strategy & Reporting, Philip Morris International
- RT 9: Sustainability assurance
- Moderator: Hilde Blomme, Deputy CEO, Accountancy Europe
17:15
Chair’s closing remarks
17:20
Drinks reception