Sustainable Business Conference (Guernsey)

The inaugural Sustainable Business Conference takes place on Tuesday 15 October in Guernsey and on Wednesday 16 October in Jersey and will include a series of keynote speakers, panel interviews and solutions-driven interactive round table discussions with renowned industry experts and thought leaders to inspire positive change for a more sustainable future. Both events will conclude with a speaker panel, audience Q&As and networking drinks.

The vision of the conference is to bring together leaders from a diverse range of organisations across the Channel Islands to drive innovation and to discuss best practices in sustainable business. The event will focus on practical tools that will help delegates to take the necessary steps to support the current and future wellbeing of people and planet.

The conference’s headline sponsor is law firm-led professional services business, Mourant. Supporting sponsors include Handpicked Hotels, Investec, The International Stock Exchange (TISE) and TPA. The events are supported by The Institute of Directors branches in both Guernsey and Jersey as well as by The Jersey Association of Sustainability Practioners (JASP) and the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce.

Speakers include Dr Victoria Hurth, an Independent Pracademic and Fellow from the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainable Leadership. Dr Victoria Hurth works at the intersect of academia and hands-on decision-making to help drive long-term wellbeing for all. She enables decision-makers to cut through the chaos via operational clarity on purpose, governance, marketing, leadership, culture, sustainability and ESG. In her keynote speech, she will discuss the shared objective of long-term wellbeing for all and will explain how to supercharge the capacity for transformative change.

She will also guide interactive round table discussions and demonstrate how to use the CISL Business Transformation Tool to inform and inspire the transformation journey of a modern-day business.

Joining Victoria as a speaker at the conference is Steve Kenzie, the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network UK. The Global Compact is the UN’s corporate sustainability initiative. It calls upon participants to align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. The UK Network coordinates UN Global Compact activity for 900 UK-based member organisations. The Network facilitates learning, knowledge exchange and networking, while promoting the UN Global Compact and advocating for business engagement in sustainable development. Steve Kenzie’s keynote speech at the conference will examine the need for businesses to support the transition to a sustainable future, including a deep dive into practices and governance that need to change.

The final speaker is Dr Marc Kahn, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer at Investec Plc where he chairs the group’s ESG Executive Committee and heads the group strategy function. He is also a senior associate at the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership, Cambridge University. Prior to joining Investec in 2008 he led a management consulting firm specialising in large scale change initiatives and executive development. He is a chartered business coach, psychologist, author and teacher. Dr Mark Kahn’s keynote speech will highlight transforming organisational models that embrace sustainability and will reinforce the practical guidance from the Business Transformation Framework and link a sustainable strategy to exceptional performance.