Speakers

Our Summit brings together a cross-section of industry leaders from across climate investment, policy, academia, and company boards. This year’s line-up features influential voices from Australia and around the world, offering diverse perspectives on navigating the transition to a net zero economy.

Al Gore
Founding Partner and Chairman
Generation Investment Management

Former Vice President Al Gore is the founder and chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a nonprofit devoted to solving the climate crisis, a founding partner and chairman of Generation Investment Management, and a co-founder of Climate TRACE. He is also a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a member of the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees, and a past member of the board of directors at Apple. 

Gore was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1982 and to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and 1990. He was inaugurated as the 45th vice president of the United States on January 20, 1993, and served eight years. 

He is the author of the #1 New York Times best-sellers An Inconvenient Truth and The Assault on Reason and the NYT best-sellers Earth in the Balance, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, and most recently, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. 

He is the subject of the documentary movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” which won two Oscars in 2006 — and a second documentary in 2017, “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.” In 2007, Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for “informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change.” Gore is a native Tennessean who currently resides on his farm in Carthage, Tennessee.

Saul Griffith
Inventor, Author, Founder and Scientist

Saul is an engineer and entrepreneur specialising in clean and renewable energy technologies. Saul has founded a dozen technology companies across 20 years in Silicon Valley. Saul is the author of 3 books including "Electrify", and "The Big Switch".

Saul has recently turned his attention from Otherlab, his independent Research and Development lab, to policy work and writing, including founding Rewiring America, Rewiring Australia and Rewiring Aotearoa, non-partisan organisations dedicated to electrification and decarbonisation. He also serves as an Honorary Professor of Practice at the University of Wollongong’s School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering.

Alexis Cheang 
Head of Investment Stewardship
NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp)

Alexis Cheang joined TCorp as the Head of Investment Stewardship in June 2022. In her role, Alexis leads the organisation’s commitment to integrate climate change, ESG and active ownership across all asset classes, using a total portfolio approach to investing. 

Prior to joining TCorp, Alexis spent 8 years at Mercer as Partner and Head of Sustainable Investment for Asia Pacific. In that role, she advised asset owners in designing and implementing sustainable investment and climate change strategies. 

Alexis chairs the NSW Sustainable Investment Working Group and, in a personal capacity, is an advisory Board member of HOPE Housing, an affordable housing impact fund supporting home ownership for essential workers. 

Alexis holds a Master of Science in Politics of the World Economy (with Merit) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Religion with honours, from Barnard College, Columbia University.

Bernie Hobbs
MC

Bernie Hobbs is best known as a popular judge from ABC TV's The New Inventors, and she's a firm favourite with audiences for her weekly science spots on ABC radio around the country.

ZBernie has that rare combination of a sharp intellect, quick wit and warmth. With a background in medical research, environmental writing and science teaching, Bernie can tackle tough or technical subjects and bring the driest topics alive for lay or expert audiences.

She's worked with kids, animals and rocket scientists, and shared the stage with prime ministers and rock stars. She happily takes the hot seat at triple j when Dr Karl can't, and loves nothing more than working with a live audience. 

Bernie has won awards for the kids tv show the experiMENTALS, and for her infamous greenhouse website Planet Slayer - where you find out what age you should have died at so you don't use more than your share of the planet. 

She has a first class honours degree in biochemistry and microbiology, a very nerdy habit of birdwatching, and more than a passing interest in cycling, kayaking and ridding her backyard of asthma weed.

Ian Learmonth
CEO
Clean Energy Finance Corporation

Mr Learmonth has more than 30 years’ experience as a financier and investor, having worked in Australia, Asia and Europe across asset finance, clean energy and major infrastructure projects, as well as pioneering Australian social impact investing. Prior to his appointment as CEO for the CEFC in 2017, Mr Learmonth established Social Ventures Australia’s Impact Investing business, which included raising venture capital and affordable housing funds as well as launching Australia’s first Social Impact Bond in 2013.

Previously an Executive Director of Macquarie Group for 12 years, Mr Learmonth has extensive global investment banking experience establishing various Macquarie businesses, notably European renewable energy and carbon credit investing as well as cross-border asset and structured finance and securitisation in Asia and Europe. Mr Learmonth has degrees in Law and Commerce from the University of Queensland and is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is a director of venture capital firm Virescent Ventures, a member of the University of Queensland Business School Advisory Board and has been a long-standing director of Sydney’s Belvoir Street theatre company.

Rebecca Mikula-Wright
Chief Executive Officer
Investor Group on Climate Change & Asia Investor Group on Climate Change

Rebecca is the Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC) and Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC). She sits on the Steering Committees for Climate Action 100+, the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative and the Investor Agenda, as well as the Executive Committee for the Paris Aligned Asset Owners. Rebecca has worked in climate change, sustainability and investment banking for over 20 years in Hong Kong, Europe and Australia.

Rebecca started her career in investment banking working in equity research, credit analysis, commodities and derivatives for groups such as Nomura Securities, BlackRock, Exxon Mobil and JPMorgan. Involvement in early corporate sustainability programs in many of her roles was the catalyst to move into the nascent sustainable finance and investment field in Asia where she led ASrIA (Assoc. for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia) in Hong Kong. 

She is a Board member of Wildlife Conservation International – the umbrella organisation of The Orangutan Project, International Elephant Project and the International Tiger Project, focused on animal and environmental conservation in Indonesia. Rebecca has a BA (Asian Studies/Commerce), Dip. Business Administration and speaks conversational Japanese, French and Czech.

Carl Prins
Co-Founder & CEO
Pathzero

Carl Prins is the co-founder and CEO of Pathzero, an Australian company pioneering emissions data infrastructure for private markets. A Chartered Accountant with 20 years of experience, Carl previously served as CFO of a prominent multi-strategy hedge fund and then in venture capital. His deep familiarity with complex financial information flows inspired him to tackle the transparency gap in private markets. 

Passionate about bringing clarity and accountability to the sector, Carl founded Pathzero to provide asset owners with direct-from-source emissions data and audit-ready disclosures, enabling informed climate-related financial risk management and driving meaningful market change.

Mark Rogers
CEO
New Forests

Mark Rogers was appointed Chief Executive Officer of New Forests in April 2023. He is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the business, which includes overseeing the growth of both New Forests and New Agriculture. 

Mark joined New Forests in 2016, and was previously head of New Forests’ Australia, New Zealand and United States businesses where he oversaw the investments and operations in those regions. Mark has over 28 years’ experience in real asset sales and acquisition, regulation, greenfields project development, and finance. 

Mark is a member of several New Forests’ Investment Committees and operating company boards. He has also had extensive experience as a Non-Executive Director on numerous other real asset companies. Mark has a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Economics, and a Masters of Law from the Australian National University in Australia, and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Max Shramchenko
Lead Portfolio Manager, Climate Delta Fund
Antipodes

Max is a member of the PM Team and the PM of the Infrastructure team. Max is one of the earliest members of Antipodes’ team and is responsible for coverage of infrastructure, utilities, telecommunications and property sectors. His passion for climate policy and energy commodities goes back multiple cycles to 2014, including deep dives into key pieces of climate, air pollution and energy market legislation in EU, China, US and Australia. Prior to joining Antipodes in 2016, Max was an Investment Analyst at Harness Asset Management. From 2012 to 2015, Max was a Director of Research at Investing for Charity, a charitable fund run by students and young professionals. Max holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from JAMK University of Applied Sciences (Finland), a Master of Commerce in Funds Management from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Professional Accounting from Holmes Institute. He is a native Russian speaker.

Sue Lyn Stubbs
Sustainable Investing Analyst
Fidelity

Based in Sydney, Sue Lyn is a Sustainable Investing Analyst who focusses on ESG engagement and research of sustainable investment thematics. She works closely with Fidelity’s Investment and global Sustainable Investing team to integrate sustainability into Fidelity’s investment processes.

She previously worked at Macquarie Capital where she was an ESG Equity Research Associate evaluating the largest 300 listed companies in Australia on ESG and sustainability initiatives. During her time at Macquarie, her team ranked number one in Australia for ESG research in the well-known Peter Lee Associates Survey. Prior to Macquarie, she was a Senior Portfolio Analyst at an impact investing fund and a Senior Associate in Equity Capital Markets at Citigroup Australia.

She studied at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a BSc in Economics at the Wharton School and a BA in International Studies as part of the prestigious Huntsman Program. Sue Lyn considers herself a global citizen, having lived in four countries and speaking three languages.

Christina Tonkin
Managing Director, Corporate Finance
ANZ

Christina Tonkin is the Managing Director, Corporate Finance at ANZ. 

Corporate Finance comprises ANZ’s core loan and specialised financing activities in Project & Export Finance; Asset Finance; Leveraged & Acquisition Finance; Loans Agency & Debt Execution; Loan Product Governance & Analytics; Loan Underwriting & Syndications; Sustainable Finance and Environmental Markets. 

Corporate Finance also “houses” the Relationship Coverage teams for our global Resources, Energy & Infrastructure customers. 

Christina has more than 30 years of experience in specialised finance and loan syndications. Since joining ANZ in 2005 from Westpac Banking Corporation, she has held several roles within the Institutional Banking business. 

Christina holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Geology and Geophysics from Sydney University. 

Christina is a member of Chief Executive Women, the former longstanding Vice President on the Board for Women in Banking & Finance and a former Vice President and Director of the National Stroke Foundation. 

Christina is a member of the Advisory Board of the Australian Circular Economy Hub whose mission is to advance the development of a carbon neutral and circular economy in Australia and Asia Pacific region. 

Christina has recently joined the Industry Advisory Committee for the UNSW Institute of Industrial Decarbonisation. The UNSW Institute of Industrial Decarbonisation brings together transdisciplinary expertise across the many UNSW faculties to support Australian companies and industry sectors in achieving NetZero targets.

Brad Twynham
Leadership, Technology and First Nations Speaker

Brad is not just a leadership speaker; he is known as being a leader of leaders. He has built groundbreaking products that have disrupted the world's largest corporations, has guided C- level executives through business transformation initiatives and collaborated with CEOs and Boards to cultivate adaptable cultures that nurture resilient and innovative people.

Brad's keynote presentations and leadership workshops are transformational and highly interactive. He has developed and speaks on “Radical Leadership,” a term he coined that is recognised globally and is now used by Harvard Business School to describe the mission- critical mandate of today’s modern business leaders.  

His recent clients include CEO Institute, Singularity U, Minter Ellison, Rio Tinto, Port Waratah Coal Services, Endeavour Group, ARTC, Pitcher Partners, Mazars, EO Org, Western Sydney University and International Executive Coaching and Leadership (IECL). 

As a keynote speaker, Brad’s special gift lies in his powerful lived experiences, which capture the audience's attention and catalyse change. These stories are drawn from his extensive journey as an award-winning Enterprise Technology Entrepreneur, Corporate Innovator, and proud “First Nations” man of Garigal, Muroordial and Walkaloa descent and a descendant of Bungaree known in European History as the First Australian. 

As a First Nations leadership Speaker he brings his cultural knowledge, talent for the Didgeridoo, song in language and immersive storytelling to put a modern leadership twist on how our Ancient Aboriginal culture can unlock the keys to modern day leadership as we move into an era where intelligence is being rapidly commoditised and our human skills require amplification.

Zoe Whitton
Managing Director, Head of Strategy & Impact
Pollination

Zoe Whitton is Managing Director, Head of Strategy and Impact at Pollination Group, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm. Zoe helps companies and investors navigate the impacts of climate change and to build and invest in new businesses and products which take advantage of transition opportunities. She previously led the award-winning APAC ESG Research team at Citi, advising institutional investors globally on climate change and sustainable development. Earlier in her career Zoe covered ESG and climate change at Credit Suisse and at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and served as a youth delegate to the UNFCCC.

Zoe is the Chair of the Centre for Policy Development, serves on the board of the Investor Group on Climate Change, and is a member of both the Government’s National Hydrogen Strategy Advisory Council and the Expert Advisory Panel for the Federal Powering the Regions Fund.  

She was previously a member of the ASFI TAG and a member of the Expert Working Group for ASFI’s formation. Zoe also sits on the Advisory Council of the Climate Governance Initiative and the Gold Standard Enabling Impact Working Group. Zoe has won numerous awards for her research and work on climate finance and risk, and regularly contributes to the wider conversation on sustainable finance by commentating in the Australian and international press along with various publications.