Conservation Optimism Summit

This session aims to provide a platform to share the latest research and best practice examples of business’ involvement in biodiversity conservation. This session will focus specifically on biodiversity accounting (e.g., the development of biodiversity metrics for business) and disclosure (e.g., reporting on biodiversity impacts in corporate social responsibility reports and financial reports), as many UK based businesses, academics and NGOs are undertaking world-leading work in this area.

This session will be structured as an interactive panel discussion and Q&A event. We will firstly focus on some of the positive steps businesses are currently taking to account for biodiversity in their business, and some of the scientific advances helping businesses do this. Panelist will then answer some more challenging and forward thinking questions about where businesses should be going for corporate biodiversity accounting and disclosure; and importantly what steps they can take to go above and beyond mitigating their impacts to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity.

At this session you will be joined by business, NGO, and academic representatives who are undertaking world-leading work on corporate biodiversity accounting and disclosure. Our session will provide a platform to network with your peers, share current ideas and best-practice, and debate the future direction of corporate biodiversity accounting and disclosure. This session finally aims to ensure a strong and positive message from the corporate sector will be a part of the broader Conservation Optimism summit dialogue.

This session is proudly sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council, the UK's largest funder of independent environmental science, training and innovation.

Follow the conversation from this session on twitter: #ConservationOptimism #Business&Biodiversity

Session panelists include:
Prue Addison, Knowledge Exchange Fellow and Postdoctoral Researcher, Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science, University of Oxford
Julia Baker, Biodiversity Technical Specialist, Balfour Beatty
Richard Barker, Professor of Accounting, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Giulia Carbone, Deputy Director, IUCN Global Business and Biodiversity Programme
Helen Crowley, Head of Sustainable Sourcing Innovation, Kering
Chris Eves, Foresty Officer, Zoological Society of London
Clément Feger, Postdoctoral researcher, University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute and Luc Hoffmann Institute
Martina di Fonzo, Postdoctoral researcher, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Camrbidge Conservation Research Institute
Mark Gough, Executive Director, Natural Capital Coalition
Pippa Howard, Programme Director, Corporate Partnerships, Fauna & Flora International
Keith Tuffley, CEO of The B Team
Bhaskar Vira, Founding Director of the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute
Francis Vorhies, Executive Director, Earthmind
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Room requirements: >40 people, projector & screen, 2 microphones