Speakers

Mr. Gordon S. Bennett has been Managing Director at Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. since February 2015. Mr. Bennett is responsible for the strategy, sales and product development of ICE’s global environmental portfolio, the world’s largest environmental marketplace.

He is a member of the Board of ICE Endex, ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, Spark Commodities and a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of BeZero Carbon.

He was named Environmental Finance’s sustainable business leader of the year in 2022 and contributes to a wide range of external environmental and energy market initiatives including being a current member of the Steering Committee of the City of London Carbon Market Forum, the Responsible Carbon Finance Advisory Council of the Clean Cooking Association, the Advisory Group for BSI Flex 701 - Nature Markets, the VCMI Stakeholder Forum and the Advisory Board of the University of Cambridge Energy Policy Research Group. He has also served on the Nature Based Solutions Taskforce of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, UNDP Advisory Group for Paris Agreement Investments and the Transition to Net Zero Working Group of the FCA and Bank of England’s Climate Financial Risk Forum.

Prior to ICE, Mr. Bennett spent 12 years at the global energy broker, Spectron, joining as Group Financial Controller. During his tenure at Spectron he held several Board roles including Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer. After the acquisition of Spectron by Marex he joined the Executive Committee of Marex Spectron in the role of Managing Director and Global Head of Energy.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. He served as a Senior Manager in the Energy, Infrastructure and Utilities division of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

Mr. Bennett holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (with Honours) in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh.

Currently Chief Sustainability Officer at Aviva. Claudine was previously the Director of Sustainability and Digital Strategy at Argent LLP for 3 years.

Claudine delivered the net zero carbon flights strategy at easyJet in her role as Director of Sustainability. Prior to this she set up the Group sustainability function at Sainsbury’s covering sustainable sourcing, operational waste and community activity as well as group charitable partnerships and overall development of group wide sustainability strategy and implementation.

Claudine was responsible for the sustainability strategy for The Crown Estate’s business. Claudine joined from SEGRO where she was Head of Sustainability. Prior to this she was Director of Corporate Responsibility at British Land where she was responsible for Group corporate responsibility policy, implementation and communication.

Before this Claudine was the Environment Manager at Honda (UK). Claudine is on the City Corporation Property Investment Board and was previously on the Board of Business in the Community (BITC) and the Mace Group Responsible Business Board and was Chair of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS) from 2015-2017. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

Natalia Dorfman is the CEO and co-founder of Kita, the carbon insurance specialist. Kita’s purpose is accelerating investment in high quality carbon sequestration projects with insurance products that reduce transaction risk and safeguard the performance of carbon credit investments. Prior to founding Kita,

Natalia spent 15 years as a business development and strategy specialist within the legal sector. She was named among the “Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch” by NatWest and the Telegraph in November 2022, is one of the leaders recognised in the 2023 “Meaningful Business 100”, and was named among Fin-Erth's '101 Leading Women in Climate' for the Women in Climate Awards 2024.

Tim Gould was appointed the Agency's Chief Energy Economist in 2021. As Chief Energy Economist, he provides strategic advice on energy economics across a wide range of IEA activities and analysis. Mr Gould is also Head of the Office of the Chief Energy Economist, in which capacity he co-leads the World Energy Outlook, the IEA's flagship publication series, and oversees the Agency's work on investment and finance, including the World Energy Investment report.

Mr Gould joined the IEA in 2008, initially as a specialist on Russian and Caspian energy, and in recent years has designed and directed a wide range of IEA analytical outputs, while continuing to contribute also as an author. Prior to joining the IEA, Mr Gould worked on European and Eurasian energy issues in Brussels and has ten years of experience in Eastern Europe, primarily in Ukraine. He graduated from Oxford University and has a post-graduate diploma from the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.

Nicola Ranger is Director of the Global Finance and Economy Group of the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford and a Senior Research Fellow. She also directs the Oxford Martin Systemic Resilience Initiative, the UK Integrating Finance and Biodiversity Programme and the Resilient Planet Finance Lab.

Nicola brings 20 years' expertise in risk, analytics, economics, finance and fiscal policy as a practitioner and researcher across industry, government, IFIs and academia. She works with governments, Central Banks, regulators, financial institutions and international organisations to help align policy and finance with resilience and sustainability goals.

She has formerly held senior positions at the World Bank, HM Treasury/Cabinet Office, the UK Department for International Development, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a member of several high-level expert groups, including the European Commission’s HLEG on Sustainable Investment in LMICs and the UK’s Green Taxonomy Advisory Group (GTAG).

Lord Sharma was a Member of the UK Parliament from 2010-2014. Prior to entering Parliament he qualified as a chartered accountant and then worked in investment banking for 16 years based out of London, Frankfurt, and Stockholm. 

He served in a range of UK Government ministerial roles prior to entering the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development.  He was appointed President Designate of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2020, alongside his role as Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. In 2021, he took on the COP26 role full-time, leading the UK’s work in bringing together the world to tackle climate change and getting almost 200 countries to sign up to the historic Glasgow Climate Pact. 

Sir Andrew Steer is Distinguished Professor of Practice in Economics and Sustainability at Georgetown University and the London School of Economics.

In 2024 Dr. Steer was knighted in recognition of his “sustained contribution as one of the world’s best-known leaders in global sustainable development economics"; and was named by Forbes as one of the world’s 50 most impactful climate leaders, in its inaugural Sustainability Leaders awards.

As the first President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund (2021-2025), he directed the world’s largest philanthropy for climate and nature. During his tenure, the Earth Fund has supported major initiatives to help restore 100 million hectares of land in Africa, protect 30% of land and sea by 2030, de-risk private investment in green infrastructure, and advance satellite technology and AI for nature and climate.

He served as President and CEO of the World Resources Institute (2012-2021), leading a team of 1600 professionals, and overseeing the transition of WRI to become a global institution, opening 10 international offices. He was responsible for launching major initiatives such as the New Climate Economy Commission, the NDC Partnership, the Adaptation Commission, and the Systems Change Lab.

Previously, he served as Special Envoy for Climate Change at the World Bank, Director General at the UK’s Department of International Development; Director of the World Bank in Vietnam and Indonesia; and Director of the World Bank’s Environment Department.

He is a member of the UK Foreign Secretary’s External Foreign Policy Board, co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Innovative Finance; and a member of the boards of BRAC, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, and the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.

Andrew was educated at St Andrews University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cambridge University, and has a PhD in Economics and Finance. He is married to Dr. Liesbet Steer. They have two children: Charlotte, an environmental professional, and Benjamin, an Indie Pop artist.

Irem Yerdelen is the Managing Partner of ERM’s Sustainability & Climate Solutions in Northern Europe, which includes several strategic advisors, subject matter technical experts, consulting staff and other partners. Irem is advising global clients from all sectors to manage their transition to a low carbon economy; from strategy, reporting to operationalising sustainability - including all types of ESG, Climate, Biodiversity and Net Zero related matters.

Irem is also an elected Councillor for the City of London Corporation, representing the Lime Street Ward. Currently acting as the Policy Lead for Sustainable Finance and Board Director of the Green Finance Institute.

Irem brings decades of international risk management and insurance industry experience, having worked at Marsh and WTW, specialising on (re)insurance and alternative risk solutions for global complex risks.