Agenda

Here's what's scheduled for the event. All times are in GMT.

8:20 AM
Registration, networking & morning coffee
 
9:00 AM
Chair’s opening remarks

Catalina Jugravescu, Director, Pollination

9:05 AM
Keynote address: The growing importance of climate and ESG legal risk management

Ana Carolina Salomão Queiroz, Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Pogust Goodhead

9:25 AM
Panel I - Key trends in climate and ESG litigation

Moderator

Matthew Townsend, Partner, Global Co-Head Environment, Climate and Regulatory Law Group and the International Trade Group, Allen & Overy

Panellists

Paul Benson, Senior Lawyer, ClientEarth

Mike Clark FIA, Founder Director, Ario Advisory

Dr Kate McKenzie, CEO and Director, Climate Change Legal Initiative (C2LI)

10:15 AM
Directors’ duties, derivative claims and personal liability

Professor Jeff Twentyman, Chair of Sustainability and Responsible Business, Slaughter and May

10:40 AM
Networking & morning coffee break
 
11:05 AM
Environmental ‘whistleblowing’ – having the correct processes in place

Bob Matheson, Associate Solicitor, Leigh Day

11:30 AM
Managing potential exposure to human rights claims

Sarah Ellington, Partner, Dispute Resolution, Watson Farley & Williams

11:55 AM
UK company directors and nature risk: A new legal opinion

Thea Philip, Associate Director, Pollination

Sharif A. Shivji KC, Barrister, 4 Stone Buildings

12:20 PM
Networking & lunch break
 
1:45 PM
The role of the board: minimising the risk of ‘greenwashing’ claims through effective governance

Vesselina Haralampieva, Head, Sustainable Finance Governance & Regulation, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

2:10 PM
Activism as a driver of change for business

David Hamon, Head of Research, SIGWATCH

Catalina Becerra Trujillo, Research Associate, SIGWATCH

2:35 PM
Potential legal risks from reporting standards, such as the ISSB Sustainability Standards

Melissa Murphy KC, Barrister (King’s Counsel), Landmark Chambers

3:00 PM
Networking & afternoon tea break
 
3:25 PM
The rise of litigation funding for environmental damage and climate-related claims

Steven Friel, Chief Executive Officer, Woodsford

3:50 PM
Panel: The next frontier: nature-impact and biodiversity loss-related litigation

Moderator

Professor Ben Groom, Dragon Capital Chair in Biodiversity Economics, University of Exeter Business School; Member of the HM Treasury Biodiversity Working Group

Panellists

Jake White, Head of Legal (Advocacy & Campaigns), WWF-UK

Zaneta Sedilekova, Director, Planet Law Lab and Biodiversity Risk Advisor, Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative

Leon Kamhi, Head of Responsibility and EOS, Federated Hermes Limited

4:35 PM
Chair’s closing remarks

Catalina Jugravescu, Director, Pollination

4:40 PM
Close of proceedings