Sustainability Conference | 10 June 2025
REGISTRATIONS OPEN :
Sustainable Global Supply Chains: Turning Ambition into Action
Business Leadership for a Net-Zero Future
Climate change is no longer a distant concern; it’s an immediate reality impacting communities worldwide. Global news is filled with reports of record temperatures, flooding and extreme weather events. In 2024, global temperatures surpassed pre-industrial levels by 1.5°C for the first time, with the average global temperature reaching 1.6°C above this benchmark. This milestone highlights the urgency for comprehensive climate action. Our window of opportunity to take effective action is shrinking as we witness changes the world has never seen before.
Many organizations have started to rapidly address their direct emissions, but not enough has been done to reduce indirect emissions, including the emissions arising from suppliers and consumers. With global supply chains accounting for as much as 80% of the world’s total carbon emissions, it is vital for business to step up the pace in reducing indirect emissions.
Now, more than ever, as global supply chains evolve, businesses must take the lead in reducing Scope 3 emissions, helping their supply chain partners to integrate sustainable trade practices, aligning with net-zero targets, and putting sustainability at the core of their business practices and operations. It is only through co-operation that business can help to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
This conference will bring together business leaders, policymakers, investors, and sustainability experts to:
- Understand the Scope 3 landscape and the latest methodologies for managing emissions.
- Explore innovative solutions in technology, finance, and policy to drive sustainability.
- Address human rights and social equity in global supply chains.
- Mobilise finance through carbon markets, sustainable investments, and green finance mechanisms.
- Shape the future of policy by engaging with international regulators and trade institutions.
Discussions will shape ICC United Kingdom policy agenda and the business input into key policy forums at the UN, WTO and G20.
Arrivals, Coffee & Networking
Welcome Remarks
- Emma Bennett, Chief of Staff & Director of Operations, ICC United Kingdom
- EY Representative
- ICC Sustainability Chair, Gabrielle Giner
Fireside Chat: Paris – 10 Years On
Overview:
A decade after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, what progress has been made? This fireside chat will explore global climate leadership, policy changes, and trade dynamics while looking ahead to COP30 in Brazil.
Panel 1 – The Cost of Inaction (ICC-Oxera Report)
Overview:
The economic cost of inaction on climate change is staggering, with climate-related extreme weather events costing the global economy more than $2 trillion over the past decade. This panel, based on the ICC-Oxera report, will examine the financial burden of extreme weather, global supply chain disruptions, and insurance risks.
Coffee Break
Panel 2 – Driving Ambition via Policy & Regulation: Unlocking the Net-Zero Economy
Overview:
The transition to net zero is not just an environmental imperative—it is an economic opportunity. This session will explore how smart policy and regulation can catalyse innovation, drive investment, and unlock economic growth. Drawing on the latest evidence from the UK’s net-zero transition, the panel will examine how governments, business leaders, and trade institutions can work together to create stable, investable policy frameworks that enable long-term business planning and accelerate the shift to clean, resilient growth.
Rather than framing policy as a burden, this session will focus on how well-designed regulation can de-risk investment, stimulate private sector leadership, and ensure countries like the UK remain competitive in the global race for green investment.
Lunch Break
Panel 3 – Unlocking Carbon Markets & Carbon Pricing for Net-Zero Supply Chains
Overview:
Carbon pricing mechanisms, including carbon taxes and emissions trading systems, are Carbon pricing mechanisms, including carbon taxes and emissions trading systems, are becoming essential tools in decarbonising global supply chains. This session will explore how businesses can integrate carbon pricing strategies into their Scope 3 emissions reduction plans, harness digital innovations to track carbon footprints, and leverage financial tools to mobilise investment for sustainability.
Discussion Points:
- How can businesses integrate carbon pricing and emissions trading into supply chain sustainability strategies?
- The evolving role of voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) in mobilising finance for net-zero supply chains.
- AI and digital solutions for enhancing carbon measurement, transparency, and verification.
- The interplay between compliance and voluntary markets, and how regulations like CBAM are shaping corporate strategies.
- How AI, and data-driven platforms can enhance carbon credit verification and prevent greenwashing.
Panel 4 – Transparency in Global Supply Chains: Human Rights, Anti-Corruption & ESG Integrity
Overview:
Transparent supply chains are the foundation of sustainable and ethical trade. With rising legal requirements and investor expectations, businesses must ensure robust systems for human rights due diligence, anti-corruption compliance, and ESG verification. This session will bring together global experts to discuss how technology, governance, and regulation are reshaping supply chain accountability.
Discussion Points:
- Complying with human rights due diligence laws (e.g. EU CSDDD, German Supply Chain Act)
- Embedding ethical sourcing, diversity, and social equity into global operations
- Leveraging AI and digital traceability tools to monitor risks and uphold standards
- Strengthening ESG reporting and fraud detection to guard against greenwashing
- Aligning corporate strategies with international rules on corporate integrity
Coffee Break
Panel 5: Trade, Tensions and Transformation – Global Leadership for Sustainable Supply Chains
Overview:
As global sustainability regulations proliferate—from CBAMs and green tariffs to mandatory due diligence and circular economy laws—businesses find themselves navigating a rapidly shifting and increasingly fragmented global trade landscape. This panel will examine how countries can foster a coherent international approach to sustainable trade while addressing rising geopolitical tensions, including the growing influence of US industrial strategy, EU climate regulation, and divergent approaches from emerging economies.
With the world entering a critical five-year window to deliver the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, this session will ask how global businesses and policymakers can prevent sustainability ambitions from fuelling protectionism and policy divergence, and instead champion collaboration, innovation, and economic opportunity.
Discussion Points:
- What is the role of CBAMs and green tariffs in levelling the playing field—and how can they avoid creating new trade barriers?
- How can circular economy and ESG regulations be better aligned to support global value chain resilience and material reuse?
- What are the risks of regulatory divergence between the US, EU, China, and others—and how can businesses manage compliance across markets?
- How can competition, anti-subsidy, and trade rules keep pace with the scale of climate-related public and private investment?
- What are the global leadership opportunities for countries, companies, and coalitions to shape a fairer, more sustainable trading system?
- What role can the ICC play in fostering policy coherence, mutual recognition, and practical tools for business adaptation?
Closing Keynote – The Future of Sustainable Trade
Final Remarks
- Speaker: Gabrielle Giner, ICC United Kingdom Sustainability Committee Chair
Networking Reception & Drinks
