Perspectives on Sustainability, Climate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility and the Role of the Board and Governance Professional

Monday, September 14, 2020 | 10:00am – 5:30pm (EDT) | ONLINE

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

GPC has returned with another one-day virtual deep dive on critical issues in ESG, kicking off with key findings and take-aways from its first and well-received event in 2019, as well as a focus on the current challenges.

With the current and changing landscape, the program agenda has been designed to address the most timely and important ESG issues, including the impacts of COVID-19 and systemic racism on organizations.

A superb line-up of expert panels and discussions will lead the audience through the rapidly transforming environment vis-à-vis the current practices and insights on ESG, sustainability and climate governance, and the role of the board and the governance professional.

This full-day online conference will bring you up to speed with global thought leaders, experts and practitioners representing the full ecosystem around the board and governance professionals, in Canada as well as internationally.

Wes Hall, ICD.D
Executive Chairman, KSS Group of Companies

Keynote Speaker:
Wes Hall, ICD.D
Executive Chairman, KSS Group of Companies

Wes is Founder and Chairman of The Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism and the BlackNorth Initiative, a council dedicated to holding corporations accountable for ending anti-Black racism in their organizations. He was also named one of Canada’s most powerful business people in 2016.

Who Should Attend

This session is appropriate for all sectors and industry participants, all governance professionals, board members or leaders who have a key role in their board’s oversight and accountability of ESG and climate risks. It is also relevant for investors, owners, and professionals involved in sustainability, CSR, risk, strategy, investor relations, or capital markets who seek to better understand and be on top of this trend.

Agenda:

• What is ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and Climate Governance and how does this relate to the board’s role?
• What lessons can boards learn from COVID-19 and the calls for racial justice and Indigenous reconciliation, to improve their governance of social and environmental trends and risks going forward?
• What else is rising to the board agenda? What new issues are boards facing and why? What can we expect in the coming decade?
• What are the legal, investor and business cases driving boards to adopt best practices in ESG and climate governance and oversight?
• What should sustainability practitioners, governance professionals and corporate directors know about ESG and Climate Governance?
• What practices should competent boards have in place to build ESG and Climate Governance in their organizations from the perspective of directors and corporate secretaries?
• How is the rest of the world responding? What are international developments and perspectives on ESG Governance and the implications for Canadian governance?
• How are capital markets making use of ESG information and how does it affect investor decision-making?

Access the full agenda HERE!

Speakers include:

• Ravipal Bains, Associate, McMillan LLP
• Kim Baird, Board Member
• Helle Bank Jorgensen, CEO & Founder, Competent Boards Inc.
• John Bell, Director, Strategic Planning, BC Housing
• Stephanie Bertels, Director, Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability, SFU Beedie School of Business and Founder, Embedding Project
• Jamie Bonham, Director, Corporate Engagement, NEI Investments
• Blythe Clark, Engagement & Stewardship Analyst, Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd.
• Jennifer Coulson, Vice President, ESG, Public Markets, BCI
• Robin Cox, Professor, School of Humanitarian Studies, Director, ResilienceByDesign Research Innovation Lab (RbD), Royal Roads University
• Roopa Davé, Partner, Sustainability Services, KPMG
• Michelle De Cordova, Principal, ESG Global Advisors
• Wes Hall, Executive Chairman, KSS Group of Companies and Founder and Chair of The BlackNorth Initiative
• Gary Hawton, Senior Director of Client Relations, Sustainalytics
• Lisa Hayles, Investment Manager, Trillium
• Argiro Kotsalis, Vice President, Legal and Chief Governance Officer, Vancouver Airport Authority
• Carol Liao, Assistant Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia
• Karina Litvack, Non-Executive Director, Eni S.p.A. and Founder/Executive Director of Chapter Zero
• Will Martindale, Director of Policy & Research, PRI
• Penny McIntyre, Corporate Director, PVH
• Margie Parikh, Principal, On Governance Consulting, and Board Director
• Ian Robertson, Vice President, Director, Portfolio Manager, Odlum Brown Limited and Chair of the Board, Responsible Investment Association
• Shannon Rohan, Chief Strategy Officer, Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE)
• Dottie Schindlinger, Executive Director of the Diligent Institute, Diligent
• Christie Stephenson, Executive Director, Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics, UBC Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
• Coro Strandberg, President, Strandberg Consulting and GPC advisor on Sustainability Governance
• Andrew Sweeney, Vice President & Portfolio Manager, PH&N Institutional, RBC Global Asset Management
• Bob Walker, International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN)