Sustainability: the imperative for the 21st century

We are pleased to announce the annual “Corporate Sustainability Management 2012 - A Social and Economic Imperative” conference which is running on the 27th and 28th August 2012 at the Protea Balalaika Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg in South Africa.

Judge Merwyn King, the Chairman of both the International Integrated Reporting Committee and South Africa’s King Committee, said “Sustainability is the primary moral and economic imperative for the 21st century.”

This conference aims to answer the questions facing management and sustainability teams in today’s business environment. It will also allow for peer-networking and constructive discussion around finding solutions and answers, discussing and sharing ideas with industry leaders and peer-grouped professionals. Below you will find the overview of the conference, including topics on discussion, benefits of attending, anticipated professional target audience and the structure for this two day interactive conference.

Conference overview

Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but all definitions of sustainable development require that we see the world as a system—a system that connects space; and a system that connects time.

This conference does not try to explore what sustainable development is or to create yet another definition for Sustainable development, instead it explores what it aims to achieve and how successful organizations achieve it. While most professionals in the sustainability space know what sustainability is and why it is so important, they will also tell you that this is only the first part and also the easiest step in a long process.

Doing business to today’s dynamic and turbulent environment is tough but doing business in Africa has very particular challenges. Companies operating in Africa face a multitude of internal and external issues that including rampant crime rates, abnormally high rates of unemployment, extreme poverty, political instability and corruption to name but a few.

Internally the war for talent wages on making succession planning a sometimes near impossible task. Strong leadership is probably the most vitally important ingredient for any company looking to build a sustainable business. Strong leadership is core to ethical practise, honesty, compassion and a deep-seated rooting to caring about what happens to our planet and its people, today and tomorrow. Great companies apply this in their practise and in their product.
Sustainable development can only work if it is implemented across the entire corporate value chain. This requires complete management buy-in and participation from both today’s leaders and tomorrow’s.

stakeholders demand more transparency

Stakeholder pressure has driven sustainability practise and reporting to the forefront as investors, staff, clients, government and a host of new emerging stakeholders demand more transparency, openness and ethical business practise. Globally, recent financial and economic crisis have seen the financial and legal regulatory community stepping up the legal frameworks in order to enforce more stringent controls. These actions have forced governance, legal compliance and transparency to the forefront of sustainability practise, both globally and on the home front.

“King III recognizes that companies cannot separate their business objectives and drive for profitability from sustainability.”

Africa is a continent straddled with social injustices from years of political intolerance and brutal wars both of which have left more than 80% of the population on the wrong side of the economic tracks. Governments, many of them unable, and some of them unwilling to tackle the massive social shortfalls, rely on corporates to implement social citizenship initiatives as part of their Corporate Sustainability plan.

Critical areas of Corporate Social Responsibility include education, healthcare, nutrition, environmental protection and management, Nature and Wildlife preservation and human rights causes are but a few of the more dominant areas. However as CSI Professionals well know, this list can be quite exhaustive.

We live in extremely dynamic and volatile times where internal and external pressures and expectations collide on a daily basis. Climate change, population growth and explosion, poverty, food security and rising energy demands are but some of the day to day challenges that companies have to deal with regularly. In Africa companies face a multitude of additional challenges such as skills shortages, rampant poverty, in-effective education systems, collapsing health structures ravaged by HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and malnutrition.

managing challenges

This conference will detail how companies can and do best manage these challenges and in doing so make Africa a better place, not only to live in but to do business in.

“Sustainability underpins future profits” - Sir Neville Simms, CEO, Carillion

Sessions will address Sustainability Management challenges that include:-

• The active role of collective business action in entrenching thriving and just societies
• Understanding the business case for Sustainable Development
• Collective Leadership For Sustainability
• Stakeholder Inclusiveness
• Building Corporate sustainability and driving it through the business
• Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues – Through the eyes of the investor
• Carbon Footprint – Understanding, Minimizing and Managing Carbon Footprint
• Localization is key to sustainability: Closing the gap between global sustainability vision and local subsidiaries’ implementation
• Corporate conduct and reporting is not what it used to be
• Reporting Sustainability
• Expect the unexpected: Building business value in a changing world
• Sustainability Accounting
• Stock exchanges on the tightrope between financial gain and sustainability
• Sustainability Reporting Trends and Tools
• Resource Efficiency - a Structured approach to driving environmental sustainability performance
• Environmental Indicators and Indices
• Risk Management and Sustainability

Speakers include:

• Marjolein Baghuis – Director Communications & Network Relations @ Global Reporting Initiative (Keynote)
• Mervyn King @ Chairman King Committee (Keynote)
• Graham Terry – Senior Executive Strategy & Thought Leadership @ SAICA (Keynote)
• Angel Hsu - Project Manager - 2012 Environmental Performance Index @ Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy (Keynote)
• Dr Brad Beira – Managing Consultant& Marsh Risk Consulting @ Marsh Africa
• Jeremy Grist - Director for Climate Change & Sustainability Services @ Ernst & Young
• Steve Nicholls – Programme Manager for Climate Change and Water @ National Business Initiative (NBI)
• Andre Fourie – Head of Sustainable Development @ SAB
• Dr Claudious Chikozho - Business and Biodiversity Programme Director @ The Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership
• Corli Le Roux – Head of SRI Index and Sustainability, Strategy and Public Policy Division @ JSE
• Reana Rossouw – Managing Director @ Next Generation Consultants
• Karin Ireton - Director of Group Sustainability Management @ Standard Bank
• Carlman Moyo - Regional Director Sub-Saharan Manager @ Du Pont Sub-Saharan Africa
• Adrian Bertrand - Environmental, Social and Governance Manager @ Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF)
• Kevin James - Chief Executive Officer for the Global Carbon Exchange
• Chesney Bradshaw – Sustainability Manager @ ABB Africa
• Simon Clarke - Practice lead for Sustainability and Climate Change Team @ ERM South Africa

Why attend this conference?

• Understand how African countries score on the 2012 Environmental Performance Index
• Explore how Profit and Sustainability are integrally linked to corporate performance
• Gain insight in changing Investor decision making and views on Sustainability
• Align Corporate Strategy and Sustainability
• Explore the role of Localizing Sustainability Strategy for effectiveness at a country level
• The role management play in successful Sustainable Development
• Build leadership capacity to better develop Sustainability practice and to achieve sustainability goals and targets
• Develop clear, open and effective stakeholder engagement programmes
• Build Sustainability across the entire corporate reporting chain

Who should attend this event:

• Executive and Non-Executive Directors including:- CEO’s, COO’s, MD’s, FD’s, CFO’s,
• Heads of Strategy, Innovations, Marketing, Brand, Product and Planning
• Investor Relations, Corporate Reporting, Communications and Public Relations professionals
• HR Directors and Management
• Lawyers, Legal Professionals, Consultants and Advisors
• Corporate and Merchant Bankers, Consultants and Advisors
• Regulators, Government and Industry Institutes and Associations

Click here to download the full schedule and registration form.

Please keep in mind that the conference carries a Early-Bird Discount for delegates who book and pay by the 31st May of R1,000.00 per delegate, regardless of group booking discounts.