What We Do

Ceres' Projects

Connect with Ceres

Tuesday May 4, 2010

6:00 pm   Joan Bavaria Awards and Welcome Reception

8:30 pm   Movie Screening - Carbon Nation

7:00 am   Conference registration begins and will remain open throughout the day

8:30 am   Opening Plenary

Conference Opening - Mindy Lubber, President, Ceres

Keynote - H. Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO, S.C. Johnson & Son

10:00 am   Morning Workshops

Copenhagen to Congress: Recent policy developments on energy and climate change
In recent months energy and climate change policy has been hotly debated by government leaders at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen and in the U.S. Congress. This session will feature leading experts offering their insights on current and future prospects for energy and climate policy in the United States and worldwide.

• David Gardiner, Senior Advisor, Ceres
• Michael Northrop
, Program Director, Rockefeller Brothers Fund (moderator)
• Jerome Tagger, Chief Operating Officer, Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI)
  
• Betsy Taylor, President, Breakthrough Strategies & Solutions; Board Director, Ceres.
  
• Anna Walker, Senior Manager, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Levi Strauss & Co.
  

Canaries in the data mine: The information boom in ESG data
Thousands of companies around the globe issue sustainability reports through mechanisms like the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Investors persistently ask for more and better disclosure of ESG risks, and the SEC recently issued guidance on climate risks in company filings. Data providers are quickly being consolidated in the race to capture the ESG data users, with acquisitions of Innovest, KLD, and New Energy Finance just in the past year. What does this mean for investors and companies? Who's using this data, and how are they using it? Where are the gaps, and how could the information be more useful.

• Chris McKnett, Vice President, Senior Produce Engineer, State Street Global Advisors
• Curtis Ravenel, Global Head, Sustainability Initiatives, Bloomberg
• Meg Voorhes, Deputy Director and Research Director, Social Investment Forum
• Sharon Walck, Senior Vice President, Corporate Sustainability, HSBC North America
• Allen White, Senior Fellow, The Tellus Institute (moderator)

The 21st century utility: An emerging business model for a low-carbon economy
To achieve necessary GHG emissions reductions, the 21st century electric utility will likely undergo a fundamental transformation – away from large fossil-fired power plants and increasingly toward energy efficiency and clean and distributed resources – and in the process will play a key role in our society’s transition to a low-carbon economy. This workshop panel will explore what it means to be a leading electric utility in a carbon-constrained world. What key characteristics define leading utilities? How should traditional business and regulatory models evolve so that utilities can make the necessary transformation? How should utilities manage risk? How can utilities effectively finance the transition to clean energy without jeopardizing their credit ratings? What are the most important priorities for state regulators and legislators who want to enable their utilities to become leaders?

• Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director, Green America (moderator)
• Jim Hempstead, Senior Vice President, Global Infrastructure Group, Moody's Investors Service
• Anne Hoskins, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Sustainability, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG)
• Parker Weil, Co-Head of Energy & Power, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
  
• Tim Woolf, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
  

Tiers of influence: Driving change throughout the supply chain
On average, 40-60% of a manufacturing company's carbon footprint stems from its supply chain. This workshop will explore how relationships between suppliers and buyers can drive improved sustainability in core business practices and will address several key questions, including:

• How can businesses throughout the supply chain influence one another to recognize and achieve greater social and environmental performance?
• How are best practices between buyers and suppliers being redefined?
• How can companies at different levels of the supply chain address the short-term financial barriers to sustainable business practices and strengthen long-term financial performance?

The panel will also discuss how corporate culture, communication, and governance structures can influence sustainable performance throughout the supply chain. Collaborative opportunities will be a key theme, focusing on the potential for business relationships to drive sustainable improvement at all levels of the supply chain, and across different sectors.

• Margot Brandenburg, Associate Director, Rockefeller Foundation (moderator)
• Caterina Conti, Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, Anvil Knitwear, Inc.
• Patricia Jurewicz, Director, Responsible Sourcing Network, a project of As You Sow
• Amy Kleiner-Roberts, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Outdoor Industry Association
• Stefanie Zeldin, Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations and Sustainability, Jimtex Yarn

11:30 am   Networking Break

12:00 pm   Luncheon and Plenary Session

Optional Discussion Tables

Networking Luncheon

Ceres - ACCA North American Awards for Sustainability Reporting

Plenary Panel - 21st Century Corporation
What does it mean to be a sustainable corporation? In the 21st century, expectations for business leaders are growing and more attention is being paid to how companies manage and disclose information about issues like governance, supply-chain management, human rights, material risks posed by climate change, and much more. This panel of experts from the corporate, investor, and NGO worlds will take an in-depth look at why these new management standards are so important to the health of a company and how business leaders are meeting sustainability challenges along the way.

• Gil Casellas
, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Dell
• Jack Ehnes, CEO, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS); Board Director, Ceres (moderator)
• Tom King, Executive Director, President, National Grid USA
• Andrea Moffat, Senior Director of Corporate Programs, Ceres
  

2:30 pm   Networking Break

3:00 pm   Afternoon Workshops

The Ripple Effect: Exploring financial risks along the water value chain
Water is crucial for the global economy – driving every industry from agriculture to mining to silicon chip manufacturing. Water availability is also a critical determinant of the United States' energy security, given that transport and treatment of water takes up a growing proportion of the country's kilowatt hours, and electric power production accounts for nearly half of water withdrawals. Climate change and economic growth mean water supplies are tightening, yet some U.S. water users and investors still regard the resource as cheap and unlimited. This workshop will explore this seeming disconnect and highlight how corporate water users, water utilities and investors are assessing and addressing water risk, including recommendations from Ceres' new report on water risk in the debt market.

• Bart Alexander, Vice President, Global Corporate Responsibility, Molson Coors
• Matt Diserio, President, Water Asset Management
• Leslie Lowe
, Director, Energy and Environment Program, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) (moderator)
• Debra Vernon, Manager, Corporate Responsibility, American Water

Friend me? Can social media be used for effective stakeholder engagement?
The Internet has changed the way the world communicates, including the way corporations engage with their consumers, shareholders and other stakeholders. No longer a one-way street, Web 2.0 provides new channels for communication, but also new challenges for corporations. How are companies using social media to engage stakeholders? And how effective are these tools for discussing sustainability initiatives and performance? This workshop will explore the hits and misses of using social media to dialogue with stakeholders on corporate responsibility.

• Christine Arena, Author, Blogger, and Founder, Arena Eco-Strategies
  
• Bill Baue, Executive Director, SeaChange Media (moderator)
• Beth Holzman, Manager, CSR Strategy and Reporting Manager, Timberland
• Amy Skoczlas-Cole, Director, eBay Green Team

Climate change and ESG disclosure: Views from the SEC and investors
Recent guidance from the SEC on climate risk disclosure and shareholder proposals go a long way toward addressing certain environmental, social and governance risks, but can and should investors and companies expect more? Hear from experts about the developing issue of ESG disclosure regulation and how investors and analysts could use the new information.

• Stephen Davis, Executive Director, Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance, Yale School of Management (moderator)
  
• Michel Di Capua, Associate, Carbon Markets, North America, Bloomberg New Energy Finance
• Adam Kanzer, Managing Director and General Counsel, Domini Social Investments
• Howard Rifkin, Deputy Treasurer, Connecticut Treasurer's Office
  

Boosting the bottom line: Energy efficiency and corporate real estate portfolios
Investing in energy efficiency has two intertwined virtues that make it particularly attractive in a world with a changing climate and a destabilized economy: It cuts greenhouse gas emissions and saves money by reducing energy consumption. As companies are called upon to reduce their climate impacts — whether by investors, consumers, or regulators — placing focus on energy efficiency in the buildings they manage, own and/or occupy is often the easiest and lowest-cost opportunity with the potential for big impact. Hear about current best practices from leaders in the field, and learn about some of the tools and incentives that can boost your bottom line as you make your operations lean and green.

• William H. Anderson, Principal, Prudential Real Estate Investors
• Susan Chapman, Chief Administrative Officer, Corporate Realty Services, Citigroup, Inc.
  
• Jean Lupinacci, Director, Commerical and Industrial Branch, ENERGY STAR
• Peter Miscovich, Managing Director, Corporate Solutions, Jones Lang LaSalle (moderator)

Follow the money: Redefining responsible political engagement in the 21st century
A divided Supreme Court ruled in January that the government cannot ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections. The ruling comes at a time when companies are involved in an ever-widening array of public policy issues. This workshop will explore how the Citizens United decision is reshaping the campaign-finance landscape and what companies can do to engage in public policy in a responsible manner. What checks and balances are needed to ensure corporate accountability, and where should companies go for guidance? What kind of disclosure will investors be expecting and what systems need to be implemented to create transparent corporate political engagement?

• Bruce Freed, President, Center for Political Accountability
  
• Michael Garland, Director, Value Strategies, Change to Win Investment Group
  
• Tim Smith, Senior Vice President, Environmental, Social and Governance Group, Walden Asset Management (moderator)
• Dennis Welch, Executive Vice President, Environment, Safety & Health and Facilities, American Electric Power
  

4:30 pm   Break

6:00 pm   Networking Reception

8:30 pm   Movie Screening - The Burning Season 

Thursday May 6, 2010

7:00 am   Conference registration begins and will remain open throughout the day

7:00 am   BICEP Breakfast

Join members of Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP) for an in-depth review of the cutting-edge issues surrounding the current federal debate. In particular we will examine the current legislative proposals and discuss how to effectively move them through Congress. Multiple roundtable discussions will allow participants to zero in on their particular area of interest.

8:30 am   Morning Plenary

Welcome — Anne Stausboll, CEO, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS); Co-chair, Ceres

Plenary – Solutions for a Resource-Constrained World
We are facing an ever-growing threat to our long-term sustainable prosperity as the global supply of essential natural resources drastically declines, often exacerbated by climate change. As more resource constraints are anticipated – such as shrinking water supplies, deforestation, depleted fisheries, and declining nonrenewable energy resources – those companies that anticipate these risks and take advantage of new business opportunities will fare far better than those that do not.

This session will examine the sustainability risks facing investors and corporations today and explore how business leaders must incorporate these issues into their day-to-day and long-term decision making.

Keynote — Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, Council of Canadians; Chair, Food and Water Watch

Plenary Conversation

• Aron Cramer, President and CEO, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) (moderator)
• Bill Green, Senior Managing Director, Macquarie Capital
• Abyd Karmali, Managing Director and Global Head of Carbon Markets, Bank of America
• Dorjee Sun, CEO, Carbon Conservation; 2009 TIME Magazine Hero for the Environment

10:00 am     Networking Break

10:30 am   Morning Workshops

Sustainable governance: The top governance issues investors want companies to address to build long-term value
As more corporations adopt comprehensive sustainability strategies and embed sustainability from the boardroom to the copy room, what are the top five governance practices investors expect companies to address? Be part of an important dialogue with investors, governance experts and companies to explore how 21st century companies can meet expectations around board oversight, management accountability, compensation, corporate policies and management systems, and public policy engagement.

• Wayne Balta
, Global Vice President for Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety, IBM
• Julie Fox Gorte, Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing, PaxWorld Management, LLC
  
• Robert A.G. Monks, Founder and Principal, Lens Governance Advisors
• Anne Simpson, Senior Portfolio Manager, California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) (moderator)
• Kenneth Sylvester, Assistant Comptroller for Pension Policy, New York City Comptroller's Office

Competing by leading: How comprehensive energy and climate legislation will enhance U.S. competitiveness and create jobs in the U.S. and abroad
The transition to a clean energy economy is upon us and the U.S. is trailing behind nations that have already scaled clean technologies and policies to encourage development in these new industries. Which countries currently hold the competitive advantage and how can we learn from their example? Which companies are at the table and staying ahead of the policy game? What is a company’s responsibility when it comes to policy engagement?

• Jeff Anderson, President, Clean Economy Network
• Jonathan Jacoby, Senior Policy Advisor, Oxfam America
• Anne Kelly, Co-Director, Ceres' Policy Program; Director, Business for Innovation, Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP) (moderator)
• Robert McGarrah, Counsel, AFL-CIO Office of Investment

Can the oil sands industry come clean?
The oil sands of Canada represent the world’s second-largest oil reserves, and are projected to provide as much as 20 percent of U.S. supply within the next several decades. However, the environmental and social impacts of oil sands extraction are significant, and investors have begun to express concerns about how various factors – including carbon constraints, water scarcity, and aboriginal legal claims – might impact the financial viability of these multi billion-dollar investments. In addition, corporations are experiencing increasing pressure to stop using fuel derived from oil sands. Can technological innovation and improved regulation put the oil sands on a more sustainable path?

• Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
  
• Doug Cogan, Director, Climate Risk Management, RiskMetrics Group (moderator)
• Jennifer Coulson, Manager, Shareholder Action Program, Northwest & Ethical Investments
• Gordon Lambert, Vice President, Sustainable Development, Suncor
• Yulia Reuter, Head of Oil and Gas Research, RiskMetrics Group

Risky business: Putting human rights on the map of key business risks
What does it mean for a company to "address human rights"? Respect for human rights involves positive obligations that are integrally tied to material risk. This workshop will explore recent efforts to better define expectations for corporate awareness, due diligence, performance and disclosure by highlighting the interconnectivity between "human rights" issues and more narrowly defined financial and business risks.

• Christine Bader, Advisor to the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Business & Human Rights, United Nations Human Rights Council
• Dan Bena, Director, Sustainability, Health, Safety, and Environment, PepsiCo
• Bastian Buck, Technical Development Coordinator, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
• Bennett Freeman, Senior Vice President of Sustainability Research and Policy, Calvert Investments (moderator)
• Mike Vaudreuil, Ethnical Sourcing, Hewlett Packard

Innovating business models for the 21st century: From information technology to energy technology
Technology companies stand in a unique position in a carbon-constrained world: their operations and products are both a significant contributor to climate change and a key solutions provider to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The world’s computer networks consume more than 100 billion kilowatts of electricity annually and the IT sector is expected to be responsible for almost 4 percent of global GHG emissions by 2020. Yet it is estimated that the tech industry can put its expertise to use to cut emissions by as much as five times that amount in the same timeframe. This workshop will explore how leading companies are rapidly expanding capabilities in energy services and blurring the boundaries between traditional technology companies and energy companies, why such business model innovation is a smart business move for the 21st century, and the potential business and environmental benefits for companies seeking to provide market solutions to sustainability challenges.

• Stephen Doig, Program Director, Rocky Mountain Institute
• Steve Fludder, Vice President, Ecoimagination, General Electric
• Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor, Greener World Media (moderator)
• Chris Mines, Senior Vice President & Research Director, Forrester Research
• Lorie Wigle, Eco-Technology General Manager, Intel Corporation; President, Climate Savers Computing Initiative
  

12:00 pm   Break

12:30 pm   Luncheon and Plenary Session

Building the clean energy economy: What is needed from the U.S. Senate?
Many observers have noted that weak clean energy and climate policies are undermining America’s global competitiveness. The lack of strong legislation has created a clean energy investment gap— capital is not moving fast enough to clean energy markets in America because U.S. policies are too weak and create too much risk for investors. This session will feature investor and business perspectives on what is needed in Senate legislation to make America competitive and to close the clean energy investment gap. Panelists will discuss the proposal being developed by Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman to put a price on carbon, advance energy efficiency and renewable energy, and provide businesses and investors with greater certainty. As President Obama said, “The nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy." This session asks: What Senate action is needed for America to be that nation?

• Steve Corneli, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Climate Policy, NRG Energy
• Gregg Dixon, Senior Vice President of Marketing, EnerNOC
• Kevin Parker, Global Head of Asset Management, Deutsche Bank
• Sarah Severn, Director of Stakeholder Mobilization, Sustainable Business and Innovation, Nike, Inc.
• Betsy Taylor, President, Breakthrough Strategies & Solutions; Director, Ceres (moderator)

 2:30 pm    Conference Closing - Mindy Lubber, President, Ceres