Infrastructure
Investor
Investor
ESG & Sustainability Forum Global Summit 2021
18 October 2021,
Hilton, Berlin
The role of infrastructure in the route to net-zero
The 3rd annual ESG & Sustainability Forum will bring together more than 200 delegates from across the infrastructure asset class. Join the Forum to discuss the role of infrastructure in the route to net-zero and to explore what the future looks like for the asset class.
Advance your fundraising
Connect with a global audience of investors with an interest in sustainability and showcase your ESG credentials. Benefit from focused networking with the right people.
Gain peer-to-peer insights
Hear how investors are aligning themselves with the Paris agreement, discuss how you can work with management teams to drive the sustainability agenda, address human rights within a portfolio of investments and much more.
Save time building your network
Create and nurture sustainable relationships with infrastructure’s elite at the event and on our sophisticated networking platform.
2021 speakers include:
One Summit. Seven Forums.
The ESG & Sustainability Forum is part of the industry leading Infrastructure Investor Global Summit. Taking place across four days, the Summit has something to offer everyone involved in infrastructure.
The private infrastructure industry’s annual general meeting
Scaling emerging market investment in a post-pandemic world
Investing in assets which provide essential services
The future of energy
Building the inclusive digital economy of the future
From pandemic-resilience towards sustainable growth
Sponsorship opportunities
The Infrastructure Investor Global Summit offers a unique opportunity for organisations to raise their profile as a part of the premier meeting for infrastructure investment professionals.
For more information on available sponsorship opportunities contact Alexander Jakes, alexander.j@peimedia.com, +44 (0)203 862 7498
View agenda page
Agenda
ESG & Sustainability Forum - Monday 18th
ESG & Sustainability Forum
09:00 - 09:15
Introduction from Infrastructure Investor
09:15 - 09:25
Welcome from the chair
Chris Heathcote
09:25 - 09:45
State of ESG: where are we now?
Rick Walters
Presentation referencing GRESB results as well as latest work of the PRI in infrastructure
09:45 - 10:25
Net-zero asset owners: how investors are aligning themselves with the Paris agreement
Kalliope Gourntis,
John Anderson,
Gordon Bajnai,
Cameron Talbot-Stern
- Update on latest initiatives and opportunities for convergence
- How are asset owners getting to net zero? Is capital allocation being impacted?
- How are LPs setting interim targets and on what basis?
- Engaging with government, regulators and broader society? What is the LPs role?
- How can LPs help GPs and vice versa? How can this effort be most collaborative? Is there friction and fakery that inhibits progress?
Moderator: Kalliope Gourntis, Editor, Infrastructure Investor
10:25 - 11:00
What will moving to net zero mean for infrastructure?
Bengt Enge,
Kate McKeon,
Mary Nicholson,
Karl Nietvelt
- Will certain sectors of infrastructure become unacceptable to invest in?
- Where to start? Practical tips for a decarbonisation roadmap
- How are investors committing to net-zero? To what extent is pressure being put on managers?
- How managers/investors/assets can collaborate effectively on net-zero goals
Moderator: Bengt Ove Enge, COO, Klinkby Enge
11:00 - 11:30
Coffee & networking
ESG & Sustainability Forum
11:30 - 12:15
Sustainable value creation: How ESG has moved from a cost centre to a value driver
Sabine Chalopin,
Peter Dickson,
Thibault Richon,
Valeria Rosati,
Johan Tiselius
- How investors and managers can work with management teams to help ESG drive growth
- Making data useful for investors and other key stakeholders
- How to show the value of ESG work to investment teams future owners
- Justifying significant effort and investment in long-term issues
- Examples of work on ESG adding to multiple paid at exit
Moderator: Sabine Chalopin, ESG & Impact Director, Denham Capital
Thibault Richon
Managing Director, Head of Infrastructure Multi-Strategy, SWEN Capital Partners
Read bio
12:05 - 12:35
Regulatory update and what it means for investors in infrastructure
Patricia Volhard,
Martin Bresson,
Isabelle Combarel
- Latest on the higher-level platform on sustainable finance
- Where are we with the EU taxonomy?
- What’s coming next in Europe and globally? How should managers prepare?
- The importance on collaboration to develop joint taxonomies and standards
Moderator: Patricia Volhard, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton
12:35 - 12:45
Switchover time
Attendees to Ballroom for the keynote at 12.45
12:45 - 13:30
Keynote: ‘The Key Man’ explored- lessons learned from the fall of Abraaj
Simon Clark
- Red flags. What should investors be on the lookout for?
- Alignment of interest and the social licence to operate. Making stakeholder engagement a priority
- Doing well and doing good: what are the limits of impact investing?
Simon Clark, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
13:30 - 14:30
Networking lunch with Emerging Markets & Social Infrastructure Forums
ESG & Sustainability Forum
14:30 - 15:10
Sustainability in digital infrastructure investments
Brian Burns,
Vincent Cassagne,
Carmela Mondino,
Phoebe Smith
- Outlining the sustainability concerns linked to digital investments
- Determining the sustainability of digital assets such as data centres
- Considering the positive social impact of digital investments
- Infratech and how infrastructure investment could be redefined by sustainability
Moderator: Brian Burns, Telecoms Strategy Director, PWC
15:10 - 15:30
Addressing human rights within a portfolio of investments
David Thomas,
Nikolas Stone
- Defining what is meant by human rights in the context of infrastructure investing
- Balancing human rights with environmental challenges investors face
- Managing complex supply chains for technologies involved in the energy transition
- Social issues linked to labour policies, economic displacement etc, and dealing with them as they occur
- Considering regulatory changes particularly the social taxonomy
Moderator: David Thomas, Director, Infrastructure, GRESB
15:30 - 16:00
Coffee & networking
ESG & Sustainability Forum
16:00 - 16:30
Keynote Speech: how Meridiam uses impact targets to drive value creation
Zak Bentley,
Thierry Deau
16:30 - 17:00
Investor and Manager Scenario Session: Deal or No Deal
Anders Klinkby,
John Anderson,
Peter Schümers
The session will highlight the increased role of ESG in due diligence. A fund manager and an institutional investor will discuss a hypothetical investment opportunity with ESG issues. They will ask the questions they would ask in a real investment situation with specific infrastructure assets and reflect on the ESG risk of the investment. The audience will then be given the opportunity to quiz the presenters on their decisions and decide whether they would themselves invest.
Moderated by: Anders Klinkby, Managing Partner, Klinkby Enge
17:00 - 17:30
Networking Roundtables
Paolo Alemanni,
Sarah Borg-Olivier,
Anna Chmielewska,
Tobias Griesshaber,
Anders Klinkby,
William Lowry,
Estelle Mandigout,
Mary Nicholson
- Nature Based Solution Infrastructure / Biodiversity – Paolo Alemanni (B Capital Partners)
- Energy Transition – Tobias Griesshaber (Energy Infrastructure Partners)
- Impact Investing – William Lowry (Threadmark)
- Diversity & Inclusion – Sarah Borg-Olivier (Instar Asset Management)
- Circular Economy– Anna Chmielewska (EBRD)
- Human rights/modern slavery – Estelle Mandigout (CDC Group)
- ESG Due Diligence – Anders Klinkby (Klinkby Enge)
- Achieving net-zero – Mary Nicholson (MIRA)
Sarah Borg-Olivier
Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, Instar Asset Management
Read bio
17:30 - 17:35
Closing comments from the chair
Paolo Alemanni
Managing Partner, B Capital Partners
Paolo is a Managing Partner of B Capital Partners, Zurich. He has an extensive background in private equity and infrastructure investment management earned during his 30-years career. Paolo initially implemented growth strategies and turnarounds, whi… Read full bio
John Anderson
Global Head Corporate Finance & Infrastructure, Manulife
The most recent decade of John Anderson’s 30-year investing career has increasingly focused on gender and racial inclusion. John has been a leader in his firm building greater gender inclusion in his investment officer roster, including expanding rec… Read full bio
Gordon Bajnai
Partner, Campbell Lutyens
Gordon Bajnai joined Campbell Lutyens in 2017 and is responsible for the development of the firm’s infrastructure capabilities globally, advising on both primary and secondary mandates. Gordon is also Chairman of the firm’s Global Advisory Board. Pri… Read full bio
Zak Bentley
Americas Editor, Infrastructure Investor
Zak Bentley is Americas editor at Infrastructure Investor, based in New York. Zak joined Infrastructure Investor in London in 2016 from Centaur where he was a reporter at their Clean Energy Pipeline title. He now leads Infrastructure Investor’s cover… Read full bio
Sarah Borg-Olivier
Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, Instar Asset Management
Sarah Borg-Olivier is Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President for Instar where she is responsible for overseeing fund administration activities and non-investment operations, including investor relations, business development, environmental… Read full bio
Martin Bresson
Public Affairs Director, Invest Europe
Martin is Invest Europe's Public Affairs Director. He is head of Invest Europe’s existing team of five experienced public affairs staff who represent the interests of the association’s 650 private equity, venture capital, infrastructure and long-term… Read full bio
Brian Burns
Telecoms Strategy Director, PWC
Brian Burns undertakes corporate strategy and commercial due diligence assignments in the telecoms sector as part of our UK TMT Deals team. Brian’s focus areas include telecoms operators (fixed, mobile, cable, B2B telecoms), infrastructure (towers, f… Read full bio
Vincent Cassagne
Investment Director - Partner, Vauban Infrastructure Partners
Vincent leads transactions from origination to closing and manages equity investments in infrastructure projects and corporates. Vincent has acquired a strong experience in leading the structuring, negotiating and closing for both greenfield and brow… Read full bio
Sabine Chalopin
Head of ESG, Denham Capital
Sabine Chalopin is Head of ESG at Denham Sustainable Infrastructure and is responsible for overseeing ESG management for both equity and credit investments in OECD and non-OECD markets. She brings 16 years of power and renewables experience to the fi… Read full bio
Anna Chmielewska
Associate Director, Senior Banker, EBRD
Anna has over 15 years of finance and banking experience, including extensive expertise in structured finance. Currently Anna is responsible for EBRD activity in Central Europe in the broadly defined Energy Sector. Her responsibilities involve struct… Read full bio
Simon Clark
Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Simon Clark is a reporter at The Wall Street Journal in London. A British citizen, he has been a journalist since 2000, reporting on a wide range of financial, economic and political subjects that led him as far as the poppy fields of Afghanistan, th… Read full bio
Isabelle Combarel
Deputy CEO - Head of Business Development & ESG, SWEN Capital Partners
Isabelle COMBAREL is Deputy CEO and Head of Development and ESG at SWEN Capital Partners. She began her career in 2001 at MAIF, where she spent 10 years as an equity portfolio manager for public and private markets. In 2012, she joined the unlisted a… Read full bio
Thierry Deau
Founder and CEO, Meridiam
Thierry Deau Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Meridiam Thierry Déau founded Meridiam in 2005 with the belief that the alignment of interests between the public and private sector can provide critical solutions to the collective needs of communiti… Read full bio
Peter Dickson
Co-Founder and Technical Partner, Glennmont Partners
As Founding Partner and Director of Glennmont Partners, Peter is responsible for the technical aspects of all investments. He oversees many of the investments and plays a significant part in the management of the portfolio, through construction and o… Read full bio
Bengt Enge
Partner, Klinkby Enge
Bengt Enge is a Partner at Klinkby Enge, an independent advisory firm specialized in ESG due diligence, ESG data for private assets and consulting on sustainable investing. Before founding Klinkby Enge, Bengt Enge was CIO and held other senior positi… Read full bio
Kalliope Gourntis
Deputy Editor, Infrastructure Investor
Kalliope is Deputy Editor at Infrastructure Investor, focusing primarily on the print edition, the latest role she’s assumed since joining the company in 2013. Kalliope initially covered the US market when she was based in New York, but has since rel… Read full bio
Tobias Griesshaber
Co-Head of Investments, Energy Infrastructure Partners
Tobias Griesshaber is Investment Director at Energy Infrastructure Partners, a sector specialist with a proven track record making long-term, direct investments into large-scale renewables and system-critical energy infrastructure. He has more than t… Read full bio
Chris Heathcote
Independent
Chris brings a wealth of knowledge in infrastructure, developed through extensive experience in both the public and private sector. Whilst advising and working with a variety of clients, Chris has recently become COO of Regenerate Asset Management, a… Read full bio
Anders Klinkby
Managing Partner, Klinkby Enge
Anders Klinkby is CEO & Senior Partner at Klinkby Enge, an independent advisory firm specialized in ESG Due Diligence, ESG data for private assets and consulting on sustainable investing. Before founding Klinkby Enge, Anders Klinkby was CEO of Da… Read full bio
William Lowry
Associate, Threadmark
Will is a member of the distribution team and is based in London. He has over seven years of private capital raising and financial markets experience. Will joined Threadmark in 2021 from ClearlySo, where he specialised in the distribution of impact f… Read full bio
Estelle Mandigout
Executive, Safeguarding Domain Lead, CDC Group
Estelle is the Safeguarding Domain Lead within the Environment and Social Governance Team at CDC Group, a domain practice that looks at Forced labour, Gender-Based violence and Harassment, child labour and broader human rights risks, including supply… Read full bio
Kate McKeon
Head of Sustainability, InfraRed Capital Partners
Kate joined the InfraRed team in 2016. Kate is responsible for the development and implementation of InfraRed’s sustainability strategy and programme. Kate works closely with the Investments, Asset Management and Portfolio Management teams to evaluat… Read full bio
Carmela Mondino
Head of ESG & Sustainability, Partners Group
Carmela Mondino is Head of the ESG and Sustainability team, based in Zug. Carmela is also a member of the firm's Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Team and a leader of the firm's Women's Network. Prior to joining Partners Group, she worked at Total,… Read full bio
Mary Nicholson
Head of Responsible Investment, Macquarie Asset Management
Mary is the Head of Responsible Investment for Macquarie Asset Management (MAM). Supported by a global team of experienced sustainability professionals, Mary sets and guides implementation of best practice sustainability integration and measurement a… Read full bio
Karl Nietvelt
Global Head of Analytics and Research, Infrastructure Ratings, S & P Global
Karl Nietvelt is S and P Global’s head of Analytics and Research for Infrastructure ratings. This comprises Infrastructure Corporate entities, Utilities and Project finance. Karl is based in Paris and works with a team of 12 industry experts across t… Read full bio
Thibault Richon
Managing Director, Head of Infrastructure Multi-Strategy, SWEN Capital Partners
Thibault started his career in 2006 at Morgan Stanley in the M&A department in Paris and London as part of the Energy and Utilities team. In 2010, he joined the Canadian pension fund OPTrust within its Private Markets Group, based in the London t… Read full bio
Valeria Rosati
Senior Partner, Vantage Infrastructure
Valeria joined the business in 2006 and has two decades of relevant experience. Based in London, Valeria leads Equity asset management and is the portfolio manager of the NatWest Group Pension Fund’s unlisted infrastructure equity mandate. She is Cha… Read full bio
Peter Schümers
Co-Head of Investments, Energy Infrastructure Partners
Peter Schümers has 15+ years of experience in the utilities and infrastructure sector having worked on some of the largest and earliest pathfinder transactions in the sector Prior to joining EIP in 2016, where he acts as the Co-Head of the Investment… Read full bio
Phoebe Smith
Senior Investment Director, Whitehelm Capital
Phoebe Smith is a Senior Investment Director in the equity team of Whitehelm Capital, based in London. She is involved in the origination and execution of infrastructure transactions as well as the asset management of the existing portfolio. Phoebe h… Read full bio
Nikolas Stone
Director, Environment and Social Governance (ESG), CDC Group
Nik is a Director of Environment and Social Governance at CDC Group, and leads the ESG workstream for the infrastructure sector. Prior to joining CDC Group, he was a consultant for Mott MacDonald and has previously worked for Iberdrola on its operati… Read full bio
Cameron Talbot-Stern
Senior Responsible Investment and ESG Manager, APG Asset Management
Cameron leads the ESG integration for APGs ~€20bn Private Markets Infrastructure Portfolio and is a member of the GRESB Infrastructure Advisory Board. He has 13 years’ experience working across infrastructure and real estate with a focus on energy/su… Read full bio
David Thomas
Director, Infrastructure Engagement, GRESB
David is a Director at GRESB, the global ESG benchmark for Real Assets. He leads business development in Europe for the GRESB Infrastructure platform, working with institutional investors and managers to support engagement and the improvement in the… Read full bio
Johan Tiselius
Head of Sustainability and Investment Manager, Infranode
Johan is Head of Sustainability at the Infranode and with over 7 years of experience from M&A and consulting. Since joining Infranode he has participated in several transactions in the Nordic infrastructure space. Johan is responsible for the str… Read full bio
Patricia Volhard
Partner, Debevoise and Plimpton
Patricia Volhard is a partner in Debevoise and Plimpton’s Frankfurt and London offices and is a member of the firm’s Private Equity and Funds/Investment Management Groups. Her practice focuses on advising private funds, including on the full range of… Read full bio
Rick Walters
Director, Infrastructure, GRESB
Rick has more than 30 years experience in Sustainability, Investment, Engineering and Management. His spans a diverse range of businesses, infrastructure and industry through design, construction and operations phases. Rick was a founder of the Infra… Read full bio
