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.

Michael Barbara
Director, Australasia
Campbell Global, a J.P. Morgan company

Michael is responsible for investment activities in Australia and New Zealand, including deal origination, due diligence, execution, and divestments. He also oversees client assets under management in the region and contributes towards the overall strategy of Campbell Global. 

Prior to joining Campbell Global in 2024, Michael spent almost 20 years at New Forests where he held numerous roles including Chief Commercial Officer, Director of Business Development, and lead roles in deal origination and execution. Michael has spent his career in the forestry and nature-based assets investment management industry working on funds and investment strategies in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, North America, and Africa focused on delivering investment returns from the sustainable management of timber, land, carbon, and nature based assets. 

Michael holds an M.B.A. from the Macquarie Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management from Macquarie University.

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.

Guy Debelle
Chair
FundsSA

Dr Guy Debelle is chair of FundsSA and a board member of Tivan, e61 and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. He is also an adviser to the Investment Committee of Australian Retirement Trust, chair of the advisory board at Famille Capital and honorary professor of economics at Adelaide University. 

Guy was the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia for six years having worked at the RBA for 25 years. After leaving the RBA, Guy worked at Fortescue Future Industries as CFO. He has a PhD from MIT and a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Adelaide.

Clay Dumas
Founding Partner/ GP
Lowercarbon Capital

Clay is a founding partner at Lowercarbon Capital where he works with unreasonably ambitious founders to slash CO2, suck up carbon from the atmosphere, and buy time for the people and places already suffering from too much heat. He is a leader in the industry who has spoken on prominent conference stages to the halls of government on the future of climate-industrial innovation. His unique combination of policy experience from his time as an aide in the West Wing and deep sector knowledge makes him a sought-after advisor for both entrepreneurs and government leaders navigating the complex landscape of next-generation energy technologies. Clay lives in Venice, CA with his wife Sarah and their four children.

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.

The Hon Matt Kean
Chair
Climate Change Authority

Matt was appointed as Chair of the authority on 5 August 2024 for a term of 5 years. He was previously the Member for Hornsby in the NSW Parliament from 2011 until 2 August 2024. Matt was most recently the NSW Shadow Minister for Health. He was Deputy Leader of the NSW Liberal party from August 2022 until March 2023. Throughout his 13-year political career, Matt also held ministries of Innovation and Better Regulation, Treasury, Energy and Environment.

As Treasurer and Energy Minister of NSW, Matt championed climate action that is in the best interests of households and businesses. In 2020, he delivered the Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap: A 20-year plan for NSW’s energy infrastructure. The roadmap spurs private investment in renewable energy while reducing emissions and power bills for the people of NSW. Matt commenced in the role of Director, Regulatory Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at Wollemi Capital on 15 August 2024. Matt studied a Bachelor of Business at the University of Technology Sydney and is a Chartered Accountant by profession.

Katerina Kimmorley
Net Zero Commissioner
Net Zero Commission

Ms Katerina Kimmorley is currently Head of Commercial and Investments at Boundless Earth. Previous roles include being a member of the NSW Government Net Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board, holding positions at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation's Venture Capital Innovation Fund and serving as the co-founder of Pollinate Energy.

Ms Kimmorley has been recognised by the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence, as the London School of Economics Entrepreneur of the Year and received the Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize.

Rory Lonergan
Chief Investment Officer - Infrastructure and Alternatives
Clean Energy Finance Corporate

Mr Lonergan leads the CEFC team responsible for the origination and execution of investments in infrastructure and alternatives, which includes the $500 million Powering Australia Technology Fund. 

Mr Lonergan works on direct investment opportunities as well as on indirect investments via third-party fund managers across multiple sectors. He has led the development of the CEFC Infrastructure, Natural Capital, Impact Capital and Private Equity platforms. 

Mr Lonergan has more than 30 years’ experience in the equity investment and wider funds management sectors, having worked at PwC, Zurich Capital Markets and Challenger Limited, where he was Head of Transaction Structuring. Mr Lonergan is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

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.

Kate Nelson
Head of Sustainability, Global Investment Management
Lendlease

Kate’s 20+ year career centres around understanding Customer and working with people and businesses on customer focussed strategy and growth initiatives towards improving business competitiveness and performance. 

She has a Masters of Change Management and is a recovering Engineer. She has successfully led multimillion-dollar business transformation, innovation and improvement programs, and construction and infrastructure projects. 

Kate joined Lendlease in 2011 and has since worked in a variety of roles across the Australian and Group businesses; from leading large-scale global technology transformation initiatives in IT, to helping shape cities through mixed-use precincts in Development, to driving strategic growth as Head of Business Technology and Innovation for the Construction business. 

In her current role as Head of Sustainability for the global Investment Management business, Kate is responsible for leading the delivery of Lendlease’s environmental sustainability and social impact strategies, and industry-leading decarbonisation targets for their assets and funds globally.

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.

Sonya Sawtell-Rickson
Chief Investment Officer
HESTA

Sonya was appointed to the role of Chief Investment Officer of HESTA in July 2017 and is responsible for overseeing the $95 billion investment program on behalf of HESTA’s 1.05 million members (as at 2 July 2025). Sonya has 25+ years’ experience in the investment management industry, including Investment Director at QIC, leading a global multi-asset team, managing diversified portfolios of $45 billion. 

Sonya is a Director of the Investor Group for Climate Change, a Member of the IFM Shareholder Advisory Board, and a Board Member of the Australian Advisory Board on Technology & Healthcare Competitiveness. Sonya is an Executive Member of the Australia/NZ Chapter of Bloomberg Women’s Buy Side Network, a Member of Chief Executive Women, a Member of the CFA Institute Research & Policy Centre Advisory Council and a Member of the University of Queensland School of Economics Advisory Board. Sonya holds a Masters of Applied Finance, Bachelor of Arts (Economics & Political Science), is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

David Scaysbrook
Co-Founder/Managing Partner
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners

David Scaysbrook is co-founder and Managing Partner of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a multi-award winning, specialist investment manager focused exclusively on the new infrastructure needed to drive the energy transition in Australia, the US and the UK. Quinbrook and its affiliates are owners, developers, constructors, operators and business builders across a diverse range of investments from renewable power supply solutions, storage, electricity retailing, community energy networks, biomass and anerobic digestion fuelled energy solutions, grid support, demand response and flexibility services through to the algorithmic optimisation of dispatchable assets using advanced AI data science. 

Quinbrook’s investment portfolio features several milestone transactions including the largest solar+storage projects ever undertaken in the US and the UK and the largest portfolio of synchronous condensers supporting the UK grid. In Australia, Quinbrook has commenced construction of its ‘Supernode’ battery storage project at Brendale and is progressing a development portfolio of over 3GW of solar, wind and storage projects to serve the needs of the Townsville Green Polysilicon and Gladstone Green Iron projects. 

 David Chairs the firm’s investment committee, the boards of multiple portfolio companies and serves as Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Climate Investment Centre at Imperial College, London. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honors) and Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.

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
Associate Director - Sustainable Investing
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.

Hudson Worsley
Chair
MECLA

As a co-founder of Presync, a sustainability consultancy and certified B Corp, Hudson works with organisations on their transition to the zero-carbon economy and adaptation to the changing climate. His ability to communicate complex technical concepts in clear language to non-specialist supports the change management required to achieve sustainability objectives. Hudson is chair of the Materials & Embodied Carbon Leaders’ Alliance (MECLA), an industry collaboration he helped establish with WWF and Climate-KIC to drive the national take-up of low emission construction materials.

Hudson holds a Bachelor of Arts (ANU), a Bachelor of Business (UTS) and a Master of Environmental Management (UNSW).