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Center for Sustainable Business | Annual Practice Forum

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Annual Practice Forum

A hands-on exchange of the latest research and innovation in corporate sustainability with the vision of creating a better world through better business.


Sustainability in Practice: Applying the Financial Case for Sustainability Investment

 

Practice Forum 2023

The annual Practice Forum hosted by the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business is an industry-leading event convening investor and corporate sustainability leaders to discuss the latest research and insights on operationalizing and monetizing sustainability. This year’s event was generously sponsored by Glenmede, Investindustrial, KPMG, and Qintess, with media partner Financial Times.

To date, CSB’s Practice Forum stood out from similar events by focusing on the financial case for sustainability, demonstrating why it’s good for business. For our sixth annual event, we applied these learnings to how to realize these opportunities in performance and profit.

Sustainability in Practice: Applying the Financial Case for Sustainability Investment

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

VIEW THE VIRTUAL PROGRAM

VIEW THE PRESENTATION SLIDES

AGENDA
Opening Remarks

Raghu Sundaram, Dean and the Edward I. Altman Professor of Credit and Debt Markets at New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business


Applying the Financial Case for Sustainability Investment

Keynote address presenting the latest research from CSB on how to operationalize sustainability in practice

Tensie Whelan, Founding Director, NYU Stern CSB


ESG in Black and White: Media’s Role in the Sustainability Culture Wars

A panel of journalists were on the receiving end of the interview, discussing the recent ESG backlash, and providing insights on how to manage communications in a polarized environment

Heather Clancy, Vice President and Editorial Director, GreenBiz

Amy Cortese, Editorial Director, ImpactAlpha

David Gelles, Climate Reporter, The New York Times

Gillian Tett, Chair of the editorial board and editor-at-large, US, Financial Times

Moderated by Mindy Lubber, CEO and President, Ceres


Fireside Chat with Roberto Ardagna

Roberto Ardagna, Managing Principal and Head of North America and Growth Investments, Investindustrial in conversation with Patrick Temple-West, Financial Times


ROSI Roundtable: Monetizing Sustainability Initiatives Across Industries

Practical learnings from how to monetize the Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI) across industries 

Gary Cohen, President, Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth

Virginia Covo, Head of Sustainability, North America, AB InBev

Michael Tears, Senior Director of Energy & Environment, Kimberly-Clark

Moderated by John Platko, Managing Partner, ALO Advisors


Trends in Technology

TED-style talk on how information and data management technologies can improve decision-making related to complex sustainability issues

Nana Baffour, Chairman and Chief Culture Officer, Qintess


2022 Sustainable Market Share Index Report

The highly anticipated annual update of CSB's analysis of consumer purchasing of sustainability-marketed products during an inflationary period

Randi Kronthal-Sacco, Senior Scholar, NYU Stern CSB

Nishat Mehta, President, Global Products & Solutions, IRI


Fireside Chat with Paul Knopp

Paul Knopp, Chair and CEO, KPMG in conversation with Gillian Tett, Chair of the editorial board and editor-at-large, US, Financial Times


NYC's Carbon Transition

Remarks by Rohit Aggarwala, Commissioner and Chief Climate Officer, NYC Department of Environmental Protection


Capital for Climate Commitments

Climate finance professionals discussed the mechanisms to provide capital for the low carbon transition, including fixed income, venture capital, and green banking

Andrew Kessler, President, NY Green Bank

Lindsay Luger, Co-Founder and Partner, Energy Impact Partners

Priscilla Lu, Partner/Managing Director, Head of Sustainable Investments for APAC, DWS

Moderated by Kenza Bryan, Moral Money Reporter, Financial Times


Practitioners' Guide to Embedding Sustainability

Unveiling the NYU Stern CSB guide to embedding sustainability into a company's business strategy.  The guide provides practical guidance, cases, and a self-assessment tool to help companies develop effective sustainability strategies supported by strong governance, culture and communications.

Chisara Ehiemere, Senior Research Lead, ROSI, NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business


The following programming exclusively available to in-person attendees and does not have recordings.

Embedded Sustainability Workshops

Following the presentation of the new Practitioners' Guide, in-person attendees had the unique opportunity to engage with one chosen section through interactive case studies and exercises that help apply the concepts to your role and industry. Topic areas included:

  • Embedded Sustainability Strategy with Tensie Whelan, Founding Director, NYU Stern CSB
  • ROSI & Circularity with Chisara Ehiemere, Senior Research Lead, NYU Stern CSB
  • ROSI & Sustainable Sourcing with Elyse Douglas, Senior Research Scholar, NYU Stern CSB
  • Stakeholder Mapping & Materiality with Sophie Rifkin, Senior Director of Sustainability, Banza
  • Marketing & Communications with Raphael Bemporad, Founding Partner, BBMG

Networking Happy Hour

In-person attendees enjoyed beverages and an opportunity to connect and reflect with fellow participants


See below for recordings of this year's programming and more information about previous Practice Forums. Previous speakers include:

  • Adi Ignatius, Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Business Review
  • Rina Kupferschmid-Rojas, Group Head of Sustainable Finance at UBS
  • Paul Polman, Co-founder of IMAGINE and former CEO of Unilever
  • Michael Roberts, President and CEO of HSBC Bank USA
  • Tim Ryan, US Chairman of PwC

Please reach out with any questions at sustainablebusiness@stern.nyu.edu.


Explore materials from past Practice Forums

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2022 Practice Forum: The Financial Case for Return on Sustainability Investment: Measure, Market and Monetize Sustainability

See program, speakers, videos, and more from our fifth annual Practice Forum, sponsored by Glenmede, Investindustrial, JLL, and SAP and our media partner, Harvard Business Review (HBR).

2021 PF Cover Photo

2021 Practice Forum: Working Together to Build the Financial Case for Sustainability

See program, speakers, videos, and more from our fourth annual Practice Forum, sponsored by Glenmede, Investindustrial, and Qintess and support from our media sponsor, Harvard Business Review (HBR).

2020 PF Cover Photo

2020 Practice Forum: Building the Financial Case for Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI™)

See program, speakers, videos, and more from our third annual 2020 Practice Forum, sponsored HSBC Bank USA, Glenmede, Investindustrial, and Harvard Business Review.

PRACTICE FORUM SPONSORS

CSB is grateful to the following sponsors of our Practice Forums. To inquire about future sponsorship, please reach out to sustainablebusiness@stern.nyu.edu.
Glenmede
Investindustrial
KPMG
Qintess
FT
Bloomberg
domtar
HBR
hsbc
JLL
SAP