As per the norm, Joel Makower and the GreenBiz team have assembled an enviable array of speakers and themes for this year’s GreenBiz which will undoubtedly provoke much thought and debate throughout the week.  And this year of all years, it will be intriguing to hear the views and sentiment of speakers and delegates alike with respect to the future of environmental and sustainability management given the current “turbulence” associated with the recent change of US Government, as well as the UK’s planned exit from the European Union.

Our initial conversations with peers, co-professionals and clients have been balanced – yes, there is a considerable amount of uncertainty, but there is also some optimism too.  A law firm partner has suggested that in the wake of an Anglo-US trade deal, there could be a requirement for the watering-down of environmental compliance requirements in the UK (post EU-exit).  However, their view was that, in the opposite direction, there could be a drive to shift the focus towards tighter product compliance in terms of chemical composition and environmental performance.  Similarly, in the absence of certainty on the environmental policy and legislation landscape, it has been advocated that we could see more robust adherence to environmental, social and governance (or ESG) criteria by corporates and investors to demonstrate and evidence their performance?

Perhaps one of the newer areas of interest could be the wider adoption in the use of social value assessment and metrics?  The newly elected US President has set-out his manifesto for delivering greater benefits to communities and society in general; social value assessment could become one of those cornerstones for evidencing the wider societal contribution of specific policies and projects.  Whilst still in its early stages of development, there is a growing awareness and use of such metrics in the UK and Europe which could see wider use in the very near future.  Anthesis has successfully used social value assessment to establish the wider societal contributions of corporates’ business activities as well as driving insightful assessments of new developments; from a new growth village, to a potentially contentious waste management scheme.

So, it will be great to “test the water” with everyone gathered at GreenBiz this week and establish their mood and opinions as to what’s on what’s on the horizon, for us all.  And if you’re attending GreenBiz yourself – please look up a member of the Anthesis team for a chat over a coffee?

We look forward to seeing you there!

Anthesis’ Anna Rengstedt is presenting at GreenBiz on "Driving Business Growth Through Sustainability Assessment" (Grand Sauaro East, 07.45 to 12.30, Tuesday 14^th February)

Anthesis GreenBiz ’17 team are:
Anna Rengstedt: anna.rengstedt@anthesisgroup.com
Jen Reed: jennifer.reed@anthesisgroup.com
John Heckman: john.heckman@anthesisgroup.com
Matt Wood: matt.wood@anthesisgroup.com
Josh Whitney: josh.whitney@anthesisgroup.com
Chris Peterson: chris.peterson@anthesisgroup.com
Brad Blundell: brad.blundell@anthesisgroup.com