Mike Barry is Head of Sustainable Business at the UK retailer, Marks & Spencer. He was part of the small team that developed the company’s groundbreaking Plan A, a 100 point, five-year plan to address a wide range of environmental and social issues. Mike helps provide the vision and the energy to affect change and ensure a leading but efficient approach to sustainability across the company. In May 2011, Mike was named the Guardian’s inaugural Sustainable Business Innovator of the Year.
2012 SESSIONS
Sustainable Capitalism: Integrating Sustainability from the Copy Room to the Board Room
Location: Nelson Mandela Lecture Theatre
Addressing our world’s most pressing challenges – climate change, food shortages, water scarcity, deforestation, poverty –requires a rethink of our entire economic system. Governments and civil society cannot win this battle alone; capital markets will need to mobilise resources to bring about this transformation. The business case is becoming clear; investors and companies that consider all costs and opportunities are seeing superior long-term value creation. Hear from leading investors and companies that are moving from sustainability strategies to strategies that are sustainable and making money along the way.
Speakers: Gary Milsted, James Cameron, Roberto Artavia, Mike Barry, Mindy Lubber
2010 SESSIONS
Beyond The Single Bottom Line: Pioneers In Blended Value
Mainstream companies are moving beyond gifts to charities and are incorporating social entrepreneurship into their business models. Recognising that social and environmental, as well as financial returns can have direct and positive impacts in a company’s branding, mainstream markets, and employee moral, blended value is replacing the single bottom line approach. This session engages pioneers in blended value practice and examines what it takes from leadership and organisational culture to managing shareholder expectations to truly move beyond the single bottom line.
