Sustain Exchange

Richard Walker OBE
Chairman of Bywater | Executive Chairman of Iceland Foods Group | Author | Speaker

Richard Walker OBE is Chairman of Bywater, a leading property developer in the office and living sectors focused on low carbon mass timber construction. He is also Executive Chairman of The Iceland Foods Group, his family business within which he leads a team of 30,000 colleagues, serving 5 million customers in more than 70 countries with annual sales of over £4 billion. In recent years he has exemplified transformative leadership by steering both businesses towards substantial social and environmental impact. Richard is also Chairman of The Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (which has given £37 million to good causes across environmental, health and children's charities), VP of the conservation group Fauna & Flora International and Ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts and Alzheimer’s Research UK. His first book, The Green Grocer, was published in 2021 and he was appointed OBE for services to business and the environment in the late Queen’s final Birthday Honours list in 2022. He has sat on various government advisory boards and is a regular panellist on debate shows such as Question Time.

Dr Tara Shine
World-leading Environmental Scientist & Climate Change Negotiator | Author | Broadcaster

Tara has dedicated her career to the pursuit of equality between humans and our planet. She advises government bodies and world leaders on environmental and climate policy and has worked for 25 years as a climate change negotiator for the United Nations. Tara is the co-founder and CEO of Change by Degrees and she chairs the Board of Trustees at the International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED), one of the world’s leading independent policy and research organisations with a mission to build a fairer and more sustainable world. As a broadcaster her onscreen credits span BBC, Channel 4 and RTE with acclaimed programmes including Brave New World with Stephen Hawking. Her book "How to Save Your Planet One Object at A Time" reveals the environmental significance of a range of commonplace objects, from mobile phones and televisions, to pens and wet wipes. Tara suggests how to make achievable, affordable, and genuinely effective changes that can improve your life and simultaneously benefit our planet.

Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben
UK’s Longest-Serving Environment Secretary | Chairman of Climate Change Committee | Founder of Sancroft International

Between 2012 and 2023 the Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben, was Chairman of the UK’s Independent Climate Change Committee. He is also the UK’s longest serving Secretary of State for the Environment (1993-97) having previously been Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food. His sixteen years of top-level ministerial experience also include Minister for London, Employment Minister, and Paymaster General in HM Treasury. Lord Deben is currently Chairman of Valpak Ltd and of PIMFA, the trade body representing financial advisers and wealth managers. He is the founder and Chairman of Sancroft International, a consultancy that advises both businesses and investors on all areas of Sustainability and ESG. Throughout his political, business, and personal life Lord Deben has consistently championed an accord between sustainability and business sense.

Mary Robinson (virtual)
First Female President of Ireland | Former UN High Commissioner | Passionate Advocate for Climate Justice

As the first female President of Ireland, Mary elevated the country to a new level of international status and pioneered seismic change in the country. She then took up the role of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and was listed as one of Time’s top 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world. She is a founding member and currently the Chair of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders formed by Nelson Mandela to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. Awarding Mary the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, Barack Obama praised her as an “advocate for the forgotten and the ignored,” noting that she has “not only shone a light on human suffering but illuminated a better future for our world.” A highly sought after speaker, Mary brings the thought leadership of a former head of state, a grandmother’s passionately felt concern for the future and the compelling stories of the thousands she has met traveling the world as a champion for climate justice, human rights, gender equality and corporate responsibility. Drawing on one of Ireland's most impactful leadership careers, Mary will offer her reflections decision-making, speaking truth to power and long view leadership.