EPA’s Gina McCarthy, Amory Lovins, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Mary Nichols & Driscoll’s Miles Reiter Headline Ceres Conference
California Drought, Sustainable Agriculture, Green Bonds, Unburnable Carbon & Clean Energy Investing Among Key Topics
SAN FRANCISCO, May 8, 2015 /3BL Media/ — As California’s epic drought and the worsening impacts of climate change signal the urgency for new business models to accelerate the transition to a sustainable global economy, the nonprofit group Ceres is hosting its 2015 conference, Innovate. Collaborate. Accelerate, May 13-14 at the Fairmont Hotel. More than 500 businesses, investors and NGO leaders will gather to discuss strategies and solutions for accelerating action on water scarcity, food security, climate change and other global sustainability threats.
Click here to see the full two-day agenda. Among the key highlights:
Plenary Panel: The Future of Food: J. Miles Reiter, Chairman, Driscoll’s Inc.; Dennis Dimick, Executive Editor, Environment, National Geographic Magazine; Janet Ranganathan, Vice President for Science and Research, World Resources Institute; Brooke Barton, Senior Program Director, Water Program, Ceres (moderator) (Wednesday, May 13, 12:30 PM)
Diving Into California's Water Crisis: Field Notes on the Drought: Nancy Sutley, Chief Sustainability and Economic Development Officer, LA Department of Water and Power; Barat Bisabri, Managing Partner, Shiraz Ranch LLC; Lester Snow, Executive Director, California Water Foundation; J. Miles Reiter, Chairman, Driscoll’s Inc.; N Kirsten James, Senior Manager, California Policy and Partnerships, Ceres CA Office (moderator) (Wednesday, May 13, 2:45 PM)
Catalyzing the Clean Trillion: Accelerating Clean Energy Opportunities: Sean Kidney, Chief Executive Officer, Climate Bonds Initiative; Rob Olson, Chief Financial Officer, IKEA U.S.; Ethan Zindler, Head of Americas, Bloomberg New Energy Finance; Alicia Seiger, Deputy Director, Stanford Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy & Finance (moderator) (Wednesday, May 13, 11 AM)
Wasted Capital: Keeping Unburnable Carbon in the Ground: Mark Fulton, Founding Partner, Energy Transition Advisors; Senior Fellow, Ceres; Natasha Lamb, Director of Equity Research and Shareholder Engagement, Arjuna Capital; Brian Rice, Portfolio Manager, Corporate Governance, CalSTRS; Bill Slaton, Board of Directors, CalPERS; and Andrew Logan, Director, Oil & Gas, Insurance Programs, Ceres (moderator); (Wednesday, May 13, 2:45 PM)
Plenary Panel: The Beginning of the End of Oil: Disruptive Futures for the Oil Industry: Amory Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute; Carl Pope, Principal, Inside Straight Strategies (Thursday, May 14, 12:30 PM).
Pre-Conference Corporate Renewable Energy Workshop, May 12
Reporters are also invited to attend a reception Monday evening, May 12, from 6:00-7:30 PM, at the Fairmont Hotel following an all-day corporate renewable energy workshop hosted by Ceres, Business for Social Responsibility, Rocky Mountain Institute, World Wildlife Fund and the World Resources Institute. Representatives from 60 companies will be attending the hands-on workshop.
Media interested in attending the Ceres Conference should contact:
Meg Wilcox, Ceres, at 617-319-6457, wilcox@ceres.org
Peyton Fleming, Ceres, at 617-733-6660, fleming@ceres.org
ABOUT CERES: Ceres is a nonprofit organization mobilizing business and investor leadership on climate change, water scarcity and other sustainability challenges. Ceres directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network of over 100 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $13 trillion. Ceres also directs Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP), an advocacy coalition of 34 businesses committed to working with policy makers to pass meaningful energy and climate legislation. For more information, visit www.ceres.org or follow on Twitter @CeresNews.
