Agenda

10.00am Registration

10.30am Opening remarks

10.40am-11.25am Speaking up when it matters most: how general counsel can navigate pressure, influence decisions and protect long-term value in ESG

In boardrooms today, General Counsel are increasingly expected to be more than legal technicians. They are ethical navigators and may find themselves the only voice asking difficult questions about sustainability, risk and long-term impact. Yet speaking up isn’t straightforward.

When ESG considerations appear to conflict with short-term profit, even the most principled professionals can hesitate because of group dynamics, time pressure, commercial incentives and the human desire to conform.

This keynote explores why good people stay silent and how organisations can create conditions where they don’t.

• • Philippa Hann, CEO, Paradigm Norton Financial Planning

11.25am AI and sustainability: risk, opportunity and responsible innovation, in association with Travers Smith

• • Sarah Walker, partner, Travers Smith
  • Georgina Becker, human-centric responsible AI consultant, Kainos
  • Oliver Light, principal director and sustainability lead for private equity and real estate, Accenture UK&I
  • Chantal Beaudoin, head of ESG, Knight Frank Investment Management

12.10pm Lunch

1.10pm Breakout Sessions

Breakout Session A: ESG and crisis management, in association with Dentons

In an environment defined by regulatory scrutiny, stakeholder activism and disruption, the ability of businesses to respond effectively to ESG crises has never been more critical. This breakout session will explore how General Counsel and legal teams can manage ESG crises in real time. The session provides an opportunity to strategise with peers and Dentons lawyers on a range of emerging ESG risks.

Topics covered include:

• Early crisis identification and management
• Responding to investigations and enforcement action
• Brand protection and litigation avoidance
• ESG litigation strategies
• Managing critical supply chain risks

• • Helen Bowdren, partner, Dentons
  • Alexander McGregor, partner, Dentons

Breakout Session B: Energy transition and security – the drivers and the solutions, in association with Travers Smith

As geopolitical uncertainty continues to move energy security higher up the agenda, this breakout session explores the continued relevance and utility of the energy transition.

Energy security has never mattered more, so this session will help untangle the regulatory backdrop, identify the diverse low-carbon solutions for businesses, and pose strategies to overcome the challenges and hurdles in implementing and actioning marketable transition plans.

• • John Buttanshaw, partner, Travers Smith
  • Richard Brown, partner, Travers Smith

Breakout Session C: Building legal capability from the ground up: the General Counsel’s role in emerging businesses, in association with Gowling WLG

What does it take to build a legal team in a business creating a new asset class? Join Ben Stansfield, Sustainability Partner at Gowling WLG, and George Pawley, General Counsel at Oxygen Conservation, for a practical discussion on scaling legal teams, managing risk and governance, and navigating disclosure, supply chain and greenwashing challenges in the fast-evolving natural capital sector.

• • Ben Stansfield, sustainability partner, Gowling WLG
  • George Pawley, general counsel, Oxygen Conservation

1.55pm The ESG reset: what GCs need to re-prioritise in 2026

Amid a recalibration of sustainability regulation, changing expectations from boards and investors, and a political reputation shift surrounding ESG, the space has never been more complex, challenging, or critical. This session gathers leading GCs to discuss how the in-house mandate is evolving and how, despite the changing context, legal leaders can move from ESG ambition to authenticity.

• • Lisa Lischak, general counsel, Nexora
  • James Thorne, associate general counsel, Associated British Foods plc

2.40pm Coffee Break

3.45pm  Closing Remarks

4.00pm Networking Drinks

5.00pm Event Concludes

* Please note that session times and programme details are provisional and may change