Ron joined China Hongqiao Group in January 2020, following 11 years as Secretary General of the International Aluminium Institute (London). Previous roles include Executive Director of the Australian Aluminium Council (2002 to 2008), Chief Executive of the World Coal Institute London (1997 to 2001) and senior positions with the Minerals Council of Australia (1987 to 1996). Prior to these appointments, Ron was an economist with the Australian Government (1976 to 1987). Ron is an Australian with a small beef cattle farm in Australia.

China Hongqiao Group is one of the largest fully integrated aluminum company in the world with extensive activities along the whole production chain, based on major direct investments and long-term strategic partnerships. Production is dominated by operations in China, combined with key resource developments in Indonesia and Guinea.

China Hongqiao attaches great importance environmental protection, energy conservation and sustainable development. with clean green production and higher value products as core business goals. China Hongqiao seeks to continuously improve the full industrial chain by building unique aluminum industry clusters. Central to the industrial cluster philosophy is the development of surrounding enterprises and the cities in which the plants are located

China Hongqiao is committed to helping achieve China’s carbon peak and carbon neutral goals – and has adopted a roadmap to take positive actions to optimize the energy structure, carry out industrial upgrading, and promote low-carbon transformation of the industry. The goal is to achieve peak carbon emissions before 2025 and net-zero carbon emissions in Scope 1 and 2 before 2055.

1. In my current role I am responsible for the implementation of our Henkel sustainability strategy in the Supply Chain (specifically the production sites as well as outbound logistics)of our Consumer Brands business unit.

Joachim von Schéele has a career spanning over more than three decades working with manufacturing industries, predominantly in steel, minerals, and metals production, but also in automotive, and chemical sectors, etc.

With a mix of metallurgical research and consultancy background, Joachim von Schéele joined the industrial gases industry in 1996. Since then, he has served in many different technical and commercial management roles at AGA, BOC, and Linde, and been actively doing business in more than 40 countries around the world. After a decade in Asia, first in India as VP for South Asia and then in China heading Application Development & Sales for Asia-Pacific, he is since 2020 based in Munich, Germany, pursuing his current role at Linde.

Focusing on decarbonisation including use of hydrogen, Joachim von Schéele is very much engaged in driving the sustainability agenda supporting steel, metals, mining, and other hard-to-abate industries to achieve measurable progress and success.

Joachim von Schéele is a well-known speaker and panelist, and has published more than 200 papers, mainly on energy and emission conservation, recycling, and production. He has served as a member of more than 30 boards of companies, associations, and research and education organizations. Joachim von Schéele is included in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Engineering, and Who’s Who in Asia, and he holds seven patents related to metallurgical production. He is the author of chapters in five books, most recently on China in ‘Touching Hydrogen Future – Tour Around the Globe’.

Joachim von Schéele received his MS and PhD from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1987 and 1992, respectively, and a BA from Stockholm University in 1990.

Paul graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with Environmental Management BSc degree in 2006. Paul has held environmental advisor roles within the waste management, food and drink, consultancy and transmission and distribution sector. Paul also holds various auditor qualifications and NEBOSH general certificate for health and safety. Paul has worked for British Glass since 2017 leading the energy and environment committee with a primary focus on energy and decarbonisation policy. Paul was instrumental in delivering the glass sector Net Zero Strategy which was published in 2021.

He represents the glass industry on the Energy Intensive User Group (EIUG), Emission Trading Group (ETG) and directly with government departments.

Sanjit joined ABB in December 2020 as the Head of Digital for Process Industries, primarily focused on the Global Digital Strategy and Sustainability.

He has 25 years of experience in advanced industrial software and automation across many verticals, including energy, process, and discrete manufacturing.

Prior to joining ABB, Sanjit worked for Honeywell Process Solutions, Danaher Product Identification, and Stelco Ironmaking businesses in different functions.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University and a Master’s degree in Management Sciences from the University of Waterloo, both from Canada

Laurent Delmotte is Sustainability and Product Stewardship Director for AGC Glass Europe and Project Manager for the Low Carbon glass range. Master of Engineering, (engineering geology, from ULiege), Laurent has 20+years of experience in glass : research in glass composition and raw materials, technical coordination on float glass furnaces, purchasing manager for float raw materials and Procurement senior manager leading corporate purchasing team, to supply European floats, laminating, coater, mirroring, fire-resistant and glass processing lines, now active in sustainability field focused on product stewardship and plants compliance.

Babette is the VP Europe for LanzaTech, a pioneer in carbon capture technology that turns waste streams into CarbonSmartTM ethanol to create value as sustainable fuels and chemicals. Before joining LanzaTech, Babette was Director of Business Development at Ginkgo Bioworks, an early stage leader in synthetic biology.

Prior to this, Babette was the Chief Business Development Officer at Capricorn Venture Partners, a European manager of venture capital and equity funds, Chief Commercial Officer for BioAmber, a market leader in renewable chemicals, and VP New Business Development for Performance Materials at Royal DSM. Prior to this, Babette held Marketing & New Business Development roles in different industry groups for over 20 years at Dow Corning.

Babette has a BSc in Biology from Wellesley College, USA and an MBA from INSEAD, France.

As Sweep’s VP Climate Action, Renaud brings to Sweep a decade of experience in the field of carbon offsetting and corporate climate strategy. Committed to helping businesses be a driving force to reach global net zero, he launched the Net Zero initiative reference framework for corporate carbon neutrality and carbon finance website Info Compensation Carbone.

Michiel Smets recently joined Borealis as Lead Buyer Renewable Energy, bringing expertise on renewable energy strategy development and detailed insights in PPA transactions and energy markets. His knowledge on renewable electricity transactions needs to accelerate the sustainable sourcing of energy to meet the 100% green electricity target by 2030 Borealis has set itself. Over the past years, Michiel grew expertise in all types of PPA transactions, driven by different underlying business strategies and resulting in both on- and off-site renewable developments. He held responsibilities in electricity procurement and hedging strategies within the EMEA region, giving him the market insights needed to develop renewable sourcing strategies.

Michiel holds a Master’s degree in Bio-science Engineering from the University of Leuven and a Master’s in General Management from Vlerick Business School.

Mr. Sarim Sheikh is an experienced global business leader and an independent director with more than two decades of P&L and business leadership experience across energy, transportation, health care and retail sectors. He has held several global and regional leadership positions since joining Shell Group Plc in 1995, in Downstream, Midstream and Renewables and of living and working on 5 continents. In 2012 he joined as President & CEO of GE Industrial businesses in the Central Asia region for Aviation, Health Care, Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables. In 2019, he was appointed the Chief Operating Officer, GE Offshore a start-up within GE.

Mr. Sheikh was named one of the "Best Performing CEOs" by Karachi Stock Exchange and was also awarded the GE Chairman’s Leadership Award. Mr. Sheikh has served on several not for profit boards of charities, industry associations, public companies and government advisory boards. Mr. Sheikh is a global thought leader on energy transition and a passionate advocate its acceleration.

Mr. Sheikh has a B.Sc in Physics and an MBA from London Business School awarded with distinction. He and his wife live with their daughter and son in London.

Pascal van Putten, CEO and founder of VPInstruments studied Mechanical Engineering at Delft University of Technology and performed his masters’ research project at North Carolina State University. Pascal founded VPInstruments in 1999. VPInstruments offers industrial clients Energy Management solutions for compressed air, technical gases as well as other utilities. VPInstruments produces flow meters for both supply side (wet air) and demand side (typically dry air) down to the point of use and pioneered 3-in-1 sensor technology: All flow meters measure also pressure and temperature. Connected to VPVision monitoring software, they can provide easy insight into the energy consumption and efficiency of a compressed air system. Pascal has almost 25 years of experience in flow measurement, compressed air monitoring and industrial energy management. Pascal lives in Delft together with his wife Marjolijn and three daughters Janneke (who is now studying at Limestone University in SC), Annemarie and Willemijn.

Cristiana Ciaraldi Jolivet is currently Head of Sustainability at Holcim. She is responsible for accelerating the execution of Holcim’s sustainability strategy in the EMEA region on Decarbonization, Circular Economy, Nature and People.

Prior to Holcim, Cristiana managed the Built Environment project at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) where she passionately drove transformation towards net-zero carbon, circular, healthy, inclusive, adaptive and resilient built environment through multi-sector and multistakeholder collaboration. Before the Built Environment project Cristiana has had various roles within the Cement Sustainability Initiative at WBCSD.

Cristiana’s career in sustainability started in environmental NGOs (WWF and Greenpeace) followed by many years as Environment Legal Officer and CSR Manager for Construction Industry’s Trade Associations in France and Italy. She also worked for the Italian Government as a member of the Cabinet of the Environment Minister.

Cristiana holds a Master in European Law (University of Roma Tre) an LLM in International Environmental Law (University of Wales), and a DAS in Management of International Organization (University of Geneva).

In his current position Karsten Büker is principal chemist and team leader of the Carbon2Chem^® project at the division of Technology, Innovation and Sustainabilty of thyssenkrupp Uhde, the chemical engineering unit of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions. In addition he is leading R&D projects dealing with catalyst technology for the production and conversion of synthesis gas to hydrogen, ammonia and methanol. Karsten Büker has more than 20 years of experience in industrial catalysis among them 4 years in the refining industry. He holds a PhD in physical chemistry from the Free University of Berlin.

Sarah is an Innovation Lead at Innovate UK, supporting the Foundation Industries to be sustainable and internationally competitive through collaborative R&D competitions and tailored sector support. This includes social science aspects, addressing the future skills gaps, ensuring the sector is inclusive and captures diverse innovation and workforce, tracking societal behaviours and breaking down systemic innovation barriers.

Sarah is a Materials Engineer by background and has been working in the Materials Processing Industry for the past decade, initially conducting research at both the University of Oxford and Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, before joining Innovate UK in 2020.

Sarah is an Innovation Lead at Innovate UK, supporting the Foundation Industries to be sustainable and internationally competitive through collaborative R&D competitions and tailored sector support. This includes social science aspects, addressing the future skills gaps, ensuring the sector is inclusive and captures diverse innovation and workforce, tracking societal behaviours and breaking down systemic innovation barriers.

Sarah is a Materials Engineer by background and has been working in the Materials Processing Industry for the past decade, initially conducting research at both the University of Oxford and Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, before joining Innovate UK in 2020.

Ira Brueckner is Senior Manager Sustainability Strategy at Heidelberg Materials, based in Heidelberg, Germany. At Heidelberg Materials, she assists and reports to the CSO regarding sustainability strategy and leads the global circularity strategy implementation. In her professional career to date, Ira has gained experience in waste and wastewater treatment as well as change and strategy management. She is a Waste (B. Sc.) and Environmental (M. Sc.) Engineer and holds a PhD from RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

Chris is a leading member of the projects team and has worked in glass R&D since 2005. Prior to that, he developed products for the food industry. Chris co-ordinates a team of eight researchers at Glass Technology services and participates in a wide variety of projects ranging from desk-based research through to practical laboratory, pilot scale development, site trials and testing. He also regularly undertakes non-standard testing and consultancy work.

His background is in marine biology and environmental science but has wide-ranging interests from recycling and environmental improvement to novel uses of glass in biomedical applications, energy generation and photonics. Recent initiatives have included waste and energy minimisation projects for European Glass Manufacturers, the Horizon 2020 FISSAC Construction industry Industrial symbiosis project, and developing a manufacturing facility for novel biomedical and photonic glasses.

Chris’ background in environmental science has led to a focus on projects that reduce the environmental impact of the glass supply chain either through efficiency improvements in the glass manufacturing process, increased use of recycled materials, and the development of products with lower environmental impacts. Chris has worked as technical lead on container recycling projects in the UK and Russian Federation, and circular economy projects in the construction and architectural glass supply chain across Europe. He has also carried out studies into the technological and economic potential for low grade post consumer glass. He has delivered training courses on glass recycling and environmental improvement in the UK and internationally.

Andrew leads GCCA’s work promoting the sustainability value of concrete in the future of construction. His role includes improving the understanding of concrete’s lifecycle and its role in the circular economy.

He joined from Mineral Products Association in the UK where he was Executive Director for both The Concrete Centre and British Precast.

Özgeholds a MSc in Chemical Engineering. She has 17 years of experience in thepetrochemical industry in various roles including R&D in the field of energy and yieldimprovement for various petrochemical processes as well as strategic investment planning.Since 2015, Özge has been working at SABIC. She started in the Feedstocks and CrackerTechnology team and then moved to the Business Strategy team responsible with olefins andcarbon neutrality. She currently works in the Circular Economy Business team as a businessmanager where she leads a portfolio of activities to achieve the commitment of SABIC for 1million metric tons TRUCIRCLETM solutions by 2030. To make this happen, she isresponsible with business development via the collaborations along the value chain.