Environmental

SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee and 350.org’s Bill McKibben announced as keynote speakers for RI Digital: USA 2020

Some of the biggest US asset owners are also confirmed for online conference on December 2-3

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Allison Herren Lee, Commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Bill McKibben Co-Founder of 350.org, have been confirmed as two of the keynote interviews at this year’s RI Digital: USA 2020 conference, taking place on December 2-3. The conference is free to attend.

They join prominent US asset owner and city speakers including Henry Jones, President of CalPERS; Aeisha Mastagni, Portfolio Manager for Corporate Governance at CalSTRS; Mike McCauley, Senior Officer of Investment Programs and Governance for the Florida State Board of Administration; and Grant Ervin, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Pittsburgh.

Alison Herren Lee has been a prominent supporter at the SEC of standardised ESG corporate disclosures and has backed the work of shareholder proxy advisors, despite broader pushback within the Commission. The keynote interview will be a great insight into how the SEC’s work is evolving around the increasing demands on companies and investors for ESG-related regulation and reporting.   

Bill McKibben needs little introduction as the instigator of 350.org, the community environmental group that has championed the divestment campaign. The keynote interview promises to be a fascinating look at how environmental-financial campaigning is becoming increasingly successful in persuading investors to consider divestment or more radical interrogation of their investment relationship to fossil fuel companies.

The strapline for the RI Digital: USA 2020 conference is: How ESG is disrupting the US corporate and investment scene.

The focus on ESG and sustainability-driven policy globally – taxonomies, green deals, carbon taxes and sustainability/impact disclosure – especially around climate change and energy transition, has never been more intense or more pertinent for companies and investors. And the US is no exception. Surveys show that sustainability-labelled investment funds are expected to account for half of all professionally managed assets in the US in the next five years. 

What makes RI Digital conferences different? We get to the point.

At the RI Digital: USA 2020 conference, you get the answers to the questions you have on what all this means for your day-to-day business.  

  • Our journalistically-focused events team puts together professional, and specialist, curated panels and panellists = sustainability drivers, policy, regulation, commercial and financial realities and sustainability outcomes.
  • The relevant business and finance questions are elaborated…and answered!
  • No time waste: we get to the point on what it means for your business reality.

Check out the RI Digital: USA 2020 conference agenda now. The conference agenda includes plenary sessions on:

  • The battle for shareholder democracy: who’s right? Looking at the increasingly restrictive environment for investors’ rights under the SEC's proxy advisor regulations.
  • The shut down of fiduciary choice: one step forward, two steps back? Looking at the Department of Labour's new ERISA rules on ESG fund objectives.
  • Black Lives Matter and diversity/equal rights: do companies and investors really care; or will the courts make them? Looking at investment risks and the rise of derivative lawsuits.

Take a look at the agenda and register. The conference is free to attend.