Clifford Chance offices, London
As the momentum behind ESG continues to grow, so too does the challenge of keeping up to date with growing regulatory and market demands.
This year, in the context of global market volatility and continued supply chain disruption, companies in Europe need to respond to these demands in a way that also meets the short and medium term financial needs of their business.
The ESG Integration Forum – Europe 2024 is designed to provide you with the tools and knowledge to ensure you are ready to meet investors’ expectations and make ESG central to your business strategy.
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We will be announcing our 2024 agenda shortly. In the meantime please see below for our 2023 agenda.
Click here to view the 2023 agenda.
Timings on the agenda are shown in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
08:00 AM
Registration, breakfast and morning networking
08:50 AM
Welcome to the ESG Integration Forum – Europe
Jeroen Ouwehand, partner, Clifford Chance
09:00 AM
What 2024 has in store: ESG trends to prepare for
Our opening session takes a birds-eye view of the constantly evolving world of ESG, inviting our expert speakers to share their predictions for the year ahead. This session will situate the context for the forum and prepare delegates for a deeper dive into the current ESG landscape throughout the day.
• Reflect on the key ESG takeaways of 2023 including supply chain challenges, increased shareholder scrutiny, the impact of ESRS adoption and the future of AI integration
• Hear about the wider regulatory landscape, how it’s set to evolve over the coming year and how it will alter your disclosure requirements
• Learn where investor sentiment currently stands on ESG and which issues shareholders really want to know more about
Moderator: Hemma Visavadia, reporter, IR Magazine and Governance Intelligence
David Alfrey, lawyer, Clifford Chance
Justin Kew, senior ESG analyst, Balyasny Asset Management
Jan Sohlmann, senior management ESG investor engagement, Bayer
09:45 AM
ESG Compliance: Balancing priorities in a dynamic regulatory environment
The European Commission released its much-anticipated ESRS guidance in July and with the UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards and France’s Say on Climate Law, companies face a complex task when it comes to sustainability reporting and data collection. This panel will offer a high-level approach to understanding the myriad differing and converging regulatory standards that exist for public companies across Europe and how to navigate them. Join this session for an update on the latest changes and take a fresh look at how your IR team is balancing different compliance priorities
• Learn how to remain focused and consistent on your specific ESG narrative amid multiple varying frameworks
• Get to grips with what data your company needs to be collecting, synthesizing and sharing with stakeholders
• Learn how to navigate varying regulations such as ESRS, UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards and France’s Say on Climate Law
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine and Governance Intelligence
Margot Fransen, general counsel sustainability, global general counsel oral care, Unilever
Simon O’Brien, investor sustainability, BAT
Nuno Teiga Vieira, head of investor relations, CTT
10:30 AM
Morning refreshments and networking break
11:00 AM
Crafting your ESG comms: How to decide on, distill and deliver your message
With sustainability reports growing exponentially, the question of what ESG information to share with stakeholders is a pressing one. This panel will discuss how to prioritize the right messaging and how to craft it into a simplified, yet persuasive narrative
• Learn how to select the most relevant and material ESG information for your stakeholders
• Discover which tools can help you distill your ESG information into a concise, clear, and consistent message
• Discuss when and how to deliver your ESG message to different stakeholder groups
• Learn how to measure and improve the effectiveness and impact of your ESG communications and how to address feedback and challenges
Moderator: Laurie Havelock, editor-at-large, IR Magazine and Governance Intelligence
Angela Catlin, head of investor relations, The Co-Operative Bank
Kim Dabbs, global vice president, ESG & social innovation, Steelcase
11:35 AM
Roundtables: Exchange ideas with your peers
How the roundtables work:
• Choose any of the following topics –the power is in your hands!
• Join the relevant roundtable and discuss with your peers
• At the end of the session, hear a quick roundup from each table on what was discussed
Topics:
• How do you manage ESG data within your supply chain?
• How do you communicate ESG to retail investors?
• How do you balance Environmental, Social and Governance factors in your reporting?
• How do you master your materiality assessment?
Meritxell Soler Farrés, head of retail shareholders relations, CaixaBank
Manuel Taverne, head of investor relations, Knaus Tabbert
Devin Weiss, ESG lead of the sustainability group, Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge Trust
12:10 PM
Lunch
13:05 PM
Roundtable recap
13:15 PM
Activism 101: How to spot the warning signs and prepare a robust response
With shareholders taking action on climate and making news headlines around the world, companies must recognize that ESG activism is not going away. In this session we will discuss how to spot the warning signs of a shareholder activist threat and how to respond effectively.
• Learn how to identify and assess the warning signs of shareholder activism
• Discover which factors could be making your company vulnerable to ESG activism
• Discuss how to prepare a vigorous response to ESG activism and how to keep your board and stakeholders appropriately informed
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine and Governance Intelligence
Jana Jevcakova, managing director, head of ESG international, Morrow Sodali
Roger Leese, partner, Clifford Chance
14:00 PM
Ratings agencies and reporting frameworks: Understanding the Venn diagram of disclosure requirements
In this session, we will return to the regulatory changes of 2023 and consider how your company should approach reporting and disclosures within this ever-evolving landscape.
• Learn how to align your ESG metrics and indicators with the most relevant and influential ESG reporting frameworks and rating agencies
• Discover how to engage with these reporting standards to improve your ESG ratings and rankings
• Discuss how to communicate your ESG value proposition to your stakeholders through effective reporting and disclosure
• Hear how to benchmark your ESG performance within these frameworks against peers
Moderator: Laurence Taylor, senior conference producer, IR Magazine and Governance Intelligence
Enrico Filippi, ESG and planning director, Technogym
Punam Mehta, assistant general counsel, Mercer
Eva Pekárková, stakeholder dialogue expert, ČEZ Group
14:45 PM
AI and ESG: Game-changing opportunity or risk?
With constant developments in the capabilities of artificial intelligence, businesses globally are considering how and when to adopt AI-powered strategies into their IR programs. In this session, we will look at how to make this transition effective while safe-guarding against the ethical and legal risks inherent to this new technological frontier.
• Learn how AI can enhance your ESG strategy and performance, and how to adopt AI-powered solutions for your IR program, such as data analysis, reporting, engagement, and communication.
• Discover which AI applications and tools are most suitable and beneficial for your ESG goals and challenges, and how to evaluate and select them based on their features, functions and costs.
• Discuss when and how to use AI ethically and responsibly for your ESG activities, and how to safeguard against the potential risks and pitfalls of AI, such as bias, privacy, security, transparency, and accountability
Moderator: Steve Wade, head of content, IR Magazine and Governance Intelligence
Alex Tselentis, partner, Finex
15:30 PM
Group discussion: Overcoming today’s ESG challenges
Please join us for this highly interactive session where we will have an open conversation about the ESG challenges that people are facing and collaboratively work through solutions before we head into networking drinks.
We will be using Slido for this session so please do submit your biggest challenges to the word cloud and discover tips and advice from your peers.
Moderator: Steve Wade, head of content, IR Magazine and Governance Intelligence
16:15 PM
End of conference and networking drinks
Our attendees are leading governance, IR and sustainability practitioners with an established track record and strategic governance or IR role within their company.
Below is a sample of some of our past attendees:
Job title | Company | Job title | Company | |
Assistant general counsel | Mercer | Head of ESG transformation | Upfield | |
Associate general counsel | AvePoint | Head of IR | Barry Callebaut | |
CEO, founder | Competent Boards | Head of IR | Plus500 | |
CFO | Enteq Technologies | Head of IR | Rubis | |
Chief ESG officer | Non-Standard Finance | Head of legal, company secretary | Ten Lifestyle Group | |
Climate change specialist | Robeco | IR | Seplat energy | |
Company secretarial assistant | Henry Boot | IR manager | Atenor | |
Corporate analyst | Kooth | IR, ESG manager | Rolls-Royce | |
Director business compliance | Serco Group | Managing director, legal group | Accenture | |
Director, IR | Babcock International | NED, company secretary | Sirius Petroleum | |
ESG engagement manager | Kingfisher | Senior IR, ESG manager | BAT | |
ESG governance | HSBC Holdings | Stakeholder dialogue specialist | CEZ Group | |
Group head, sustainability | Entain | Sustainability finance manager | Burberry | |
Group M&A legal counsel | ArcelorMittal | Sustainability officer | Arion Bank | |
Head of capital markets | AEDAS Homes | VP, general counsel EU and Asia | ICL Group |
Why partner with us?
The ESG Integration Forum – Europe brings together some of the most influential people in the IR and governance communities.
The event offers an effective approach to targeting clients when they are exploring how they can improve their ESG practice. Through our unrivalled knowledge of the subject matters and commitment to in-depth agenda research, our events are guaranteed to attract a qualified audience.
The unique buzz we create at our in-person events – a far cry from a traditional conference – makes them multi-faceted and highly interactive with great engagement in particular from heads of IR and governance teams. This allows our partners to have meaningful conversations with corporates who are deciding which parts of their ESG program to invest in, which service providers to engage and which consultants to retain. By partnering with us on an event, you can generate leads, showcase your thought leadership and position yourselves as the partner of choice to the IR and governance communities.
We’d love to have a chat with you about how you can get in front of a truly engaged and motivated audience. Get in touch with Henry Wright or call on +44 20 8004 5337.
In Association with
Clifford Chance is one of the world’s pre-eminent law firms with significant depth and range of resources across five continents. We provide our clients with the highest-quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise. We advise clients the world over on sustainable business transition and transformation, offering global coverage and technical excellence in the major aspects of ESG. The climate emergency, imperative social issues, and increased importance of effective governance require advice and support from the forefront of ESG developments, as part of achieving the Just Transition. Our team is on hand to enable business transition and to protect and create your sustainable growth.
For more information, please visit our website.
Supporting Partners
For 12 years now, the Association of Bulgarian Investor Relations Directors /ABIRD/ has been actively working to unite the interests and improve the qualification of local Investor Relations Directors – members of the organization, to improve the investment climate in Bulgaria and introduce high standards for presentation of the Bulgarian public companies to investors in the country and abroad.
We unite more than 110 Investor Relations Directors of public companies and other issuers of securities, and in 2016 we opened the doors of ABIRD for all colleagues who disclose information in accordance with the Bulgarian and European legislation, and communicate with institutions such as the Financial Supervision Commission, BSE – Sofia and the Central Depository.
ABIRD is an active participant in the Bulgarian capital market, a basic corrective in terms of amendments to the regulation and implementation of the European legislation. Our activities are focused on enhancing the professional qualification of Investor Relations Directors and all of the other officials engaged with investor communication and communication with the institutions on the capital market with the purpose to improve the best disclosure and transparency practices in the activities of public companies and other issuers of securities. We actively cooperate with all institutions and participants in the Bulgarian capital market.
The Association of Bulgarian Investor Relations Directors is a collective member the National Corporate Governance Commission, the Capital Market Development Council in Bulgaria, the Corporate Social Responsibility Council to the Minister of Labor and Social Policy, the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association. Together with our national partners we strive to make Bulgaria a more attractive place for investments.
Contacts: +359 2 9882413 and [email protected]
Web: www.abird.info
For more information, please visit www.ir-romania.ro.
About DIRF
The Danish Investor Relations Society (DIRF) was established by investor relations officers, financial and communications executives in a few Danish companies in 1988. The objective was and still is to promote communication between listed companies and their investors thereby increasing investor interest in Danish shares and company bonds.
DIRF represents some 270 members from approximately 100 companies. Members are primarily listed companies, and the member base represents about 95 per cent of the Danish market cap. However, also not-listed companies, organisations, service providers and consultants working with financial communications are represented, cf. DIRF members list.
DIRF activities
The DIRF network seeks to meet its objectives by arranging members’ meetings and conferences dealing with current IR-topics, sessions with academics researching in IR-related areas, trends and new ways of performing the IR-profession, new media developments, new evaluation methods, and once a year the Copenhagen Stock Exchange hosts a network meeting etc. Members’ meetings normally take place 5-6 times a year.
For more information, please visit www.dirf.dk.
IR Club is a well-established investor relations community that allows IR professionals to network with peers from all over the world.
IR Club was formed in 2011, to address the need for an online investor relations community. Since then, it has become an overwhelming success and has around 1,400 members!
The main objectives of IR Club include the promotion of networking, communication, exchange and transfer of knowledge among investor relations professionals – we are particularly interested in the use of social media in investor relations.
IR Club is open to anyone interested in investor relations such as scientists, students and those wishing to make a career change. For the opportunity to mingle with practising IROs at all levels, as well consultants and service providers. Colleagues from the areas of private equity, open-end and closed-end funds, unlisted companies and of course all those who deal with the communication with lenders (creditor relations / fixed income) are welcome, too – we are all one ecosystem.
It takes no time to register as a member and it’s free of charge!
IR Club
Patrick Kiss
Email: [email protected]
Tel.: +49 177 232 0001
The IR club Schweiz was founded 1992 to promote the interests of the IR profession among Switzerland’s publicly-quoted companies. It is an interactive forum for the exchange of ideas, the discussion of current IR issues and the development of practical solutions.
For more information, please visit www.irclub.ch.
Turkish Investor Relations Society – TUYID, founded in 2009, is designed to foster collaborative ties among investor relations professionals and the constituencies which they serve such as management, shareholders, bondholders, private investors, analysts, employees, government, corporate customers and media, at both the corporate and personal levels, with a view to develop professional know-how, to be a reference center and to elevate Turkish investor relations applications on a par with global standards.
Our mission is to contribute to the promotion of the Turkish markets, provide assistance for Turkish companies to achieve fair market value for their capital market instruments and to support Turkish capital markets to gain depth and resilience.
For more information, please visit www.tuyid.org.
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If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Williams at [email protected] or +44 208 090 2156.
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