Program & Speakers 2023
March 22, 2023
MCG, Melbourne
Full Day Program
Welcome to Country
Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation
Setting the scene – who is in the room and why?
Peter Castellas, CEO, Climate Zeitgeist
Opening Plenary
Connecting the climate investment ecosystem: the incredible opportunity in front of us
Leaders share their thoughts on the key developments and trends that are shaping the climate investment landscape and the current conditions that are creating the foundation for platform for growth in the pathway to a net-zero emissions world.
MODERATOR
Megan Flynn, Managing Director-Chief Growth & Impact Officer, Pollination
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
- Audrey Zibelman, International energy transition leader and Advisor, X, the Moonshot Factory
- Elizabeth O’Leary, Senior Managing Director, Head of Agriculture & Natural Assets, Macquarie Asset Management
The keys to unlocking capital for climate solutions
How do different types of investors define the climate thematic and frame the risk return profile? What are the differing views on how more funds can be directed to investments that can help accelerate decarbonization.
MODERATOR
Ben Krasnostein, Managing Director, Kilara Capital
PANELISTS
- Kristian Fok, Chief Investment Officer, Cbus Super
- Andrew Bullock, Managing Director, Adamantem Capital
- Paul Hunyor, Co-Founder, Wollemi Capital
- Ian Learmonth, CEO, Clean Energy Finance Corporation
- Diana Callebaut, Global Head of Investments, Pollination
Morning Tea
Concurrent sessions 1
Investment and market opportunity overview and three leading company presentations for each sector.
Nature Based Solutions- Olympic Room
Moderator: Nerida Bradley, Chief Impact Officer, Green Collar
With the unprecedented corporate commitments to meet net zero targets, businesses involved in carbon offset project development, nature-based solutions, carbon trading platforms and carbon neutral services, biodiversity credits, climate smart technologies and indigenous land management are experiencing extraordinary demand.
- Guy Hudson, CEO, Loam Bio – Microbial technology capturing carbon in agricultural soils.
- Andrew Walker, CEO & Co-Founder, AirSeed Technologies – Accelerating the restoration of biodiversity by combining technology, science and people.
- Megan Wolf, Chief of Commercial, Climate Friendly – Koala Friendly Carbon: Carbon farming to support the restoration of key habitat for the endangered koala.
Circular Economy- Jim Stynes Room
Moderator: Matt Genever, Interim CEO, Sustainability Victoria
The transition to a circular economy is gathering pace. Circular economy business models include designing out waste and pollution, renewable, recycled, or highly recyclable inputs in production processes, reducing biodiversity loss, sharing economy businesses, products as service and resource recovery.
- Vanessa Vongsouthi, Research Founder and Protein Engineering Lead, Samsara Eco – Climate repair through infinite recycling.
- Ben Grant, Co-Founder, Grounded Packaging – Next generation of packaging materials and technology.
- Lewis Dunnigan, CEO & Co-Founder, Bygen – Low-cost and sustainable activated carbon production from
common waste streams.
Concurrent sessions 2
Investment and market opportunity overview and three leading company presentations for each sector.
Climate Tech- Olympic Room
Moderator: Dougal McOmish, Partner, Kilara Capital
Climate tech is broadly defined as technologies deployed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or solve any aspect of the complex and multi- faceted problem of climate change. The technology innovations are part of a hot, fast-growing, ever-expanding sector and are becoming the primary destination for an entire generation of tech talent (engineers, developers, data scientists etc.)
Charlotte Connell, Director of Climate Tech Ecosystems, Climate Salad
- Rob Waterworth, CEO, FLINT Pro -Natural capital and carbon reporting platform.
- Julian Turecek, Managing Director, AspiraDAC – Solar-powered Direct Air Capture.
- Camille Socquet-Clerc, CEO Bloom Impact Investing – Mobile climate investing platform.
Mobility and Transport- Jim Stynes Room
Moderator: Rasika Mohan, Sustainability, Resilience and ESG Market Lead, GHD Advisory
This sector is attracting significant investment globally in innovative transit models and infrastructure leading to advances in electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, micro mobility, sustainable fuels, marine transport, aviation and rail freight.
- Tim Washington, CEO & Co-Founder, JET charge – End-to-end provider of EV Charging Infrastructure and technologies.
- Richard Savoie, CEO & Co-Founder, Adiona – AI-powered logistics platform.
- Jennifer Lauber-Patterson, CEO Renulem Global – Market-leading biomass to renewable fuels project developer.
Alan Schwartz AM, Chairman Trawalla Group – “Our place in history”.
Raf Wood, Managing Partner, Silva Capital
The role of the corporate ‘buyer’ and investor in scaling decarbonization solutions
This session will feature senior executives from leading companies across sectors sharing their insights and strategies on industry approaches to investing in meeting their emissions reductions and net zero targets. As we start to see significant increases in corporate investment in climate action, this session will illustrate opportunities for new commercial collaborations and pathways for solutions to scale in deployment.
MODERATOR
Holly Kramer, Non-Executive Director, Woolworths Group & Fonterra.
PANELISTS
- Graham Winkelman, Head of Carbon Management, BHP
- Ingrid Maes, Founder & Managing Director W23 at Woolworths Group
- Fiona Messent, Head of Climate Change, Qantas
Concurrent Sessions 3
Investment and market opportunity overview and three leading company presentations for each sector.
The Energy Transition- The Olympic Room
Moderator: Megan Fisher, CEO EnergyLab
The clean and renewable energy space covers economy wide deployment of technologies, products and processes and a vast array of business models from mature technologies and infrastructure to innovative Hydrogen and battery storage businesses, microgrids, industrial process innovation, to digitisation and demand management.
- Sarah Russell-Smith, GM Special Projects, Amber Electric – Customer empowered grid integration.
- Tom Gooch, Head of Operations and Legal, Neara – B2B SaaS platform that creates engineering-grade, 3D digital models of infrastructure networks.
- Mark Croudace, Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer, MGA Thermal – Enabling 24/7clean energy in a
world that is desperately looking for secure, stable, green energy.
Blue Economy – Oceans and water- Jim Stynes Room
Moderator: Nick Chiarelli, CEO, Ocean Impact Organisation
Alongside established ocean industries, new emerging business are proliferating as part of the blue economy. Addressing challenges from overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and the impact of climate change, are growing businesses in diverse areas such as aquaculture, marine renewable energy and blue carbon.
- Sam Elsom, CEO & Co-Founder, Seaforest – Cultivating Asparagopsis to decarbonise livestock production.
- Jon-Paul Cox, CEO, Canopy Blue – Hyperscale ocean restoration for a decarbonised & sustainable future.
- Sam Bastounas, CEO, Pacific Bio – Biotech company using macroalgae for wastewater treatment and sustainable onshore aquaculture.
Concurrent Sessions 4
Food and Agriculture – Olympic Room
Moderator: Matthew Pryor, Co Founder, Tenacious Ventures
Climate smart and regenerative agriculture is a boom area for investment with business that include addressing food security, climate change adaptation, and mitigation, innovative feedstocks and plant- based and cellular meat.
- Ellen Dinsmoor, Chief Operating Officer, Vow – Cultured meat production.
- Andrew Pedley, CEO, Carbonaught – Carbon-neutral agriculture through innovative soil creation.
- Jim Fader, CEO & Co-Founder, Eden Brew – Animal free, brewed dairy.
Buildings and Infrastructure – Jim Stynes Room
Moderator: Chris Lee, CEO, Climate -KIC
As urban and industrial ecosystems evolve, rapid advances in energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment and infrastructure include innovations in design and construction, heating and cooling, residential buildings, commercial buildings, integrated transport solutions and materials in the supply chain.
- Gavin Dietz, CEO, Wattwatchers – Digital Energy Platform
- David Wright, Chairman, CIM – Supercharge your property operations through operational efficiencies, improving financial performance and minimising climate impact.
- Gus Carfi, Executive Chairman, Polar Enviro / Smarterlite –
Photoluminescent signs and exit solutions, renewable light replacing electrified solutions.
closing Plenary
Highlights – what was Wow?
Climate Investor Forum Advisory Committee representatives provide their highlights of the climate solutions presented during the day and views of what will be the technologies, products or services to watch – the next
Australian Unicorns!
MODERATOR
Matt Drum, Managing Director, NDevr Environmental
PANELISTS
- Emma Jenkin, Investment Director, Kilara Capital
- Tim Hannon, Managing Director, Gaia Natural Capital
- Charles Ill, Chief Investment Officer, Investible
Closing Feature
Intelligent, Courageous Optimism – A journey to the Future
Dr Angus Hervey, Co-Founder, Future Crunch
Closing and thanks
Olympic Room, Melbourne Cricket Ground
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Lord Mayor, Sally Capp, City of Melbourne
SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL GUEST
Mr Anote Tong, former President of the Republic of Kiribati
A must-attend networking and dinner experience.
A zeitgeist is ‘the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time’…
Capital providers are the catalysts for the transition of our global economy to Net Zero. Entrepreneurs are leading actors in transforming global ecological challenges into economic opportunities while developing and scaling innovative sustainable business models.
More funds are flowing in climate action than ever before. The whole ecosystem of investors and financiers: superfunds, VCs, Private Equity, banks, family offices, high net worth individuals, sovereign wealth funds, government agencies and corporate investors are actively allocating funds to emission reduction and avoidance projects, companies and initiatives.
At the same time, we are seeing a global entrepreneurial phenomenon with new business models, innovations, projects and technologies coming to market in a rapid proliferation of solutions with untapped climate impact potential.
Key Decarbonisation Sectors
Nature Based Solutions
Nature Based Solutions
With the unprecedented corporate commitments to meet net zero targets...
Climate Tech
Climate Tech
Climate tech is broadly defined as technologies deployed to reduce greenhouse gas...
Circular Economy & Waste
Circular Economy & Waste
The transition to a circular economy is gathering pace. Circular economy business models include designing...
Clean Energy
Clean Energy
The renewable energy space covers economy wide deployment of technologies, products and processes...
Blue economy – Water & Oceans
Blue economy – Water & Oceans
Alongside established ocean industries, new emerging business are proliferating as part of the blue economy.
Food & Agriculture
Food & Agriculture
Climate smart and regenerative agriculture is a boom area for investment with business that include...
Buildings & Infrastructure
Buildings & Infrastructure
Rapid advances in energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment and urban infrastructure...
Mobility & Transport
Mobility & Transport
This sector is attracting significant investment globally in innovative
transit models and infrastructure...