C O N F E R E N C E S i

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1 i 2016 will be a crucial year for the green economy at a UK, uropean, and global level, as businesses and policymakers take the first steps towards making the historic Paris Agreement a reality. BusinessGreen will, as always be keeping the green economy up to date on all the latest developments across the sector through its award-winning online coverage, subscription service, and annual green business awards. The following proposed events cover areas that BusinessGreen expects to emerge as major trends throughout ach event programme would be tailored to resonate with a green business audience, provide a high profile platform for sponsors, and spark wide-ranging debate on the future direction of the low carbon economy. But we are also keen to take a deeper look at some of the topics that will shape the green business community over the next 12 months and beyond through a series of in-depth events and reports that will explore the issues and trends business leaders will have to wrestle with.

2 The divestment trend that entered the mainstream during 2015, garnering support from everyone from Mark Carney to the Rockefellers is showing no signs of slowing down. But if the investment community is to fully embrace the carbon bubble hypothesis it needs to combine an understanding of climate risk with an ever greater appetite for green investment. This event will explore how the City of London can cement its position as the world s climate finance hub, discuss how new investment products can aid the development of the green economy, and ask if carbon bubble concerns have become overblown. The government has signalled that it sees clean tech innovation as absolutely critical to the UK s long term decarbonisation efforts. But how do you successfully foster a culture of innovation and how can the UK better ensure exciting new clean technologies make it from the lab and into commercial production. Drawing on the expertise of high profile clean tech entrepreneurs, this event will offered in-depth advice on how to bring clean technologies to market and debate the policy and investment climate that is needed to maximise the chances of building a UK clean tech hub.

3 The circular economy has long been a goal of environmentalists, but for the first time its principles are starting to be embraced by businesses and policymakers. With the U s ambitious new circular economy package expected to be finalised this year and economic headwinds focusing minds once again on resource security, the pressure on businesses to embrace circular economy thinking on everything from food waste to product development is mounting. But how should businesses respond to this pressure and how can resource efficiency grab the attention of board level executives? This event will take a detailed look at the business case for circular economy models and explore how some leading firms are already seeking to close the loop and bring an end to inefficient throw away resource models. The rapid rate of urbanisation is bringing with it intense environmental, economic, and societal pressures that a growing number of experts are convinced can only be overcome through the use of smart city technologies. But how should these technologies be deployed and managed, how can businesses take advantage of the trend towards smarter city infrastructure, and how can concerns about privacy and security be addressed. This event will explore the latest smart city thinking and ask how to best ensure smart technologies live up to their considerable environmental promise.

4 As the environmental risks businesses face escalate, the importance of ecosystem services such as clean air, productive soil, and a stable climate become ever more apparent. But very few companies are aware of the ecosystem services they rely on or the natural capital position of their operation. This event will provide an insight into the latest natural capital thinking and explore why businesses should be making a more co-ordinated to quantify and optimise the ecosystem services they rely on. Green building technologies are evolving rapidly, delivering an expanding array of financial, environmental and productivity benefits. However, the sheer variety of green building technologies can leave many businesses disorientated, while concerns about a potential building performance gap undermine confidence in some energy-saving solutions. This event will offer a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in green building, providing an invaluable insight into how effective management and astute investment can slash the environmental impact of a firm s estate.

5 As clean technologies continue their march into the mainstream, building public awareness and stimulating market demand becomes ever more important. Yet many green businesses remain reliant on the same marketing strategies they have always used, undermining hopes of ever developing mass market appeal. This event will look at the latest thinking in green marketing and how eschewing traditional environmental messages in favour of a more sophisticated marketing and communications strategy can reap immediate rewards. According to a host of recent surveys, supply chain risks and resource scarcity represent one of the biggest long term challenges faced by manufacturers and retailers. But while business leaders recognise that they are vulnerable to resource shocks and climate impacts on their supply chain, relatively few have developed the kind of comprehensive supply chain strategies that can help mitigate such risks. This event will explore the scale of the environmental risks faced by UK firms global supply chains and explore the best practices that can help to manage and mitigate such risks.

6 This series of events will invite leading lights from across the green economy to offer their reflections and insights on the health of the green business movement and where it goes next. Through a lecture and/or interview format these informal evening events would provide both a fantastic networking opportunity and a chance to tap into the expertise of some of the leading players in the green business community. The sessions could also be recorded to create an invaluable resource for green business leaders. Prospective interview candidates would include Lord Deben, Lord Rose, Sir Ian Cheshire, Lord Drayson, Mark Carney, d Davey, Lord Stern, Christiana Figueres, Mike Coupe, Dale Vince, Juliet Davenport, Paul Polman, Deborah Meaden, David Blood, Zac Goldsmith, etc. This weekend long event will invite BusinessGreen readers to join us at a leading green venue for a series of lectures and roundtable discussions on a wide range of green business trends and clean tech developments. The sessions will be specifically designed to provide sustainability executives with invaluable insight into how to improve their performance, as well as the opportunity to share experiences and jointly address the challenges the green economy faces.