On Monday 25 February 2019, one day in advance of GreenBiz 2019, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) will hold its annual Member Meeting in North America. This invitation-only event brings together over 100 company executives and industry experts to learn about the newest business solutions that drive long-term value creation and that improve Environmental, Social and Governance practices.

During the event, members and other businesses active in North America will have the opportunity to learn more about WBCSD’s global actions to accelerate the pace and scale of systemic transformations. Attendees will also gain a better understanding of how WBCSD member companies collaborate to advance sustainable business solutions that reduce risk and improve the bottom line.

Register for GreenBiz 19 to unlock special registration instructions for this meeting on the final confirmation page.

This half-day, invitation-only working session will address the disconnect between publicly held companies and their investors regarding environmental, social and governance metrics, and how to ensure disclosure is decision-useful and relevant to stakeholders to successfully manage risks and seize opportunities in investment decision-making. Trucost, part of S&P Global, and GreenBiz Group are pleased to join forces to create the Summit, bringing together publicly traded companies, mainstream investors and other to align their understanding and use of ESG data.

In Indonesia, forest conservation goes hand in hand with cleaning plastic pollution to support livelihoods and reduce palm oil conversion.  Join us to learn more about how GreenBiz is supporting the communities most impacted by climate change through its carbon neutral program.

GreenBiz Chairman and Executive Editor Joel Makower, CEO Eric Faurot, and VP, Conferences Ellie Buechner welcome GreenBiz 19 participants to the conference.

Since the inception of the SDGs, CSOs have grappled with how best to address these goals in their sustainability strategies. This conversation will explore emerging trends, best practices, standards, and stakeholder expectations, highlighting the efforts that both corporates and investors are making to integrate the SDGs into their strategic thinking. In addition, SDG metrics are becoming increasingly material to the investor community. How are investors working to integrate the SDGs into their analysis – and what trends are we likely to see moving forward? Are companies giving stakeholders, including investors, the information they need on the SDGs? And how should companies be communicating their efforts to fully capture their impacts and give an accurate and comparable demonstration of their efforts? Hear how businesses and investors can come together to most effectively advance this agenda.

Companies that integrate environmental, social and governance issues into how they operate can benefit from lower risks, lower costs, and the ability to drive higher returns. How can companies lead with their values to drive success, both financially and reputationally? What are the drivers of the shift towards sustainable investing? What role can companies have in capital investment that creates true positive impact? Hear from Audrey Choi, Morgan Stanley’s Chief Marketing Officer and first Chief Sustainability Officer on harnessing finance to address global challenges and deliver social and environmental benefits.

ESG data is moving increasingly to the forefront with the emergence of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), set up by the Financial Stability Board, whose members include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Treasury. The TCFD recommends that companies and investors publish forward-looking information on the financial implications of climate change in annual reports and financial filings. And the TCFD is not concerned only with carbon. The recommendations state that the financial performance of organizations also may be affected by other climate-related environmental impacts, in particular water scarcity and water quality, and that organizations should report on these as well. Join this session to learn what your company needs to know about TCFD and how this disclosure can actually benefit your sustainability efforts.

In sustainability circles we talk a lot about the voice of “the investor” – but what does an investor look like and what information do they seek? The diversity of types of investors offers an opportunity for companies to consider engagement, but presents a challenge in focusing information that a variety of investors will find “decision useful”. How do we balance diverse needs for information with the risk of information overload? This session will review work by the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative, World Federation of Exchanges and even state-level initiatives that are driving data availability for investors.

In Indonesia, forest conservation goes hand in hand with cleaning plastic pollution to support livelihoods and reduce palm oil conversion.  Join us to learn more about how GreenBiz is supporting the communities most impacted by climate change through its carbon neutral program.

GreenBiz President Pete May kicks off the second day of GreenBiz 19.

What if we could accelerate the rate of change needed to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals? What if, in the light of the scale and urgency of the sustainability challenges we face, there are practical ways of making sure everything we do in business drives change that is catalytic and transformative, not incremental? This is the potential of system change for sustainability. And we begin to unlock it by understanding the problem we are solving for using a systems lens, and ensuring our strategies deliver systemic, pioneering interventions, from new market mechanisms to harmonised criteria for sustainability standards. Rethinking corporate sustainability strategies to not only transform your organisation, but the system around you, is how we will deliver the SDGs.

Fred Krupp has guided the Environmental Defense Fund for three decades and is a leading voice on climate change, energy and sustainability, and a champion for harnessing the power of the marketplace to protect our environment. Through his leadership, EDF has set the bar for corporate-NGO partnerships that move markets and transform industries. In this conversation, we’ll look at the state of the art of such partnerships, and their untapped potential to take on the big challenges ahead.

Sustainability is increasingly been seen as a differentiator for corporates and investors alike. To demonstrate this, we need robust, relevant, comparable and forward-looking measurement, management and reporting of data, as well as the assurance of such data. Keryn James, CEO of ERM, the world’s largest pure-play sustainability consulting firm, will share a global perspective on what it will take for corporates and investors to succeed in this evolving context.

ASU, with the help of some special guests, previews the Sustainability Solutions Celebration, presented as part of the Sustainability Solutions Festival hosted by the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability.

Sustainability practitioners are no strangers to alphabet soup, but as SASB, TCFD, ESG gain momentum, Investor Relations teams need to be well-versed in how corporate sustainability initiatives can translate to long-term shareholder value. Hear from CSOs and investor relations executives as they share the lessons learned and big wins that can be uncovered when sustainability strategy is fully integrated with investor communications.

Organized by GreenBiz 19 Host Partner Arizona State University Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, the sixth annual Sustainability Solutions Celebration brings together audiences from the business and academic worlds to celebrate young innovators, thinkers and designers who have reimagined global challenges to make the world a better home for all of its inhabitants.

Corporate boards are increasing their oversight of societal and environmental trends that put their operations and value chains at risk. There is now an emerging set of best practices in board sustainability oversight that investors and governance professionals expect. With the risk and business case for sustainability established, it is a fiduciary responsibility of directors to build their sustainability capacity and know-how to responsibly govern their organizations. This session will describe the standards that will impact company boardrooms and enable sustainability practitioners to elevate these governance practices with their boards and C-suites. It will delve into the drivers, trends and best practices of board sustainability governance, and how sustainability practitioners can influence the board agenda from investors, raters, corporate directors and sustainability leaders.

GreenBiz Group CEO Eric Faurot kicks off Day 3 of GreenBiz 19.