9.30 - 10.15: Joint keynote: How to create – and sustain - a 'win-win' Business/NGO partnership

HSBC is a truly global organization with 8,000 offices in 80 countries and a staggering US$800 billion in assets. But recently it's commercial banking and lending business has been criticized for its 'indirect impact' on the environment. So, in 2003 the company launched a strategic philanthropic initiative , its aim was to raise awareness of environmental issues amongst its managers and staff.

This led to the formation of a five year partnership, called Investing in Nature, with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) (among others) worth US$18.4 million . One aim of the partnership is to help the bank scrutinise its environmental practices and help its employees make better informed environmental decisions.

Another objective is to make a difference to the lives of more than 50 million people through WWF's work restoring river basin habitats and the implementation of better policies and decisions for water and land management.

In this session you'll find out:

• How corporate giving can be used to achieve real internal change and encourage better behaviour -   even though it's sometimes criticised as “green washing”

• How HSBC has reconciled working with a past - and current critic - on important environmental issues and what's been learned about the pros and cons of business/NGO partnerships

• Why the WWF was initially concerned about teaming up with a major company and how it dealt with those concerns

• What tangible results and gains does this partnership create for society… the WWF view
  

• How does the relationship function in light of WWF's stance on the Equator Principles ?

WWF-UK , Chief Executive Officer, Robert Napier

HSBC , International Corporate Social Responsibility Policy Manager, Amanda Combes

10.15-11.00 Joint keynote: Business/NGO engagement: Risk versus opportunity

Npower, part of the the multi-national utility giant RWE , is one of the UK 's largest retail suppliers of gas and electricity. npower has around 6.5 million residential and business customers.

npower now has a partnership with Greenpeace to produce a clean electricity product called Juice, which is based on renewable energy sources.

This is the first time Greenpeace has worked with an energy company to market a consumer energy product.

Juice costs the same as non-renewably produced electricity and allows customers to show their support for both renewable electricity and a proposed offshore wind farm which will eventually supply 50,000 Juice customers with green energy.

In this presentation npower and Greenpeace will discuss:

•   Why npower believes renewable energy is now a viable business opportunity

•   What do customers think about paying for renewable energy - and can it be profitable?

•   How and why the partnership is succeeding - despite ideological differences on issues such as nuclear power

•   What are the long term benefits for the environment of the initiative… the Greenpeace view

•   How both organisations reconciled differences of opinion at the start and developed a collaborative strategy designed to last

Greenpeace, Executive Director, Stephen Tindale and

npower, Chief Executive Officer, David Threlfall

11.00 - 11.45 Extended Networking and Exhibition Break

In addition to the Conference there's also an exhibition and networking area where NGO's and companies can meet and learn from each other. And even discuss potential partnerships.To maximise networking opportunities, this number will be strictly limited to 14 tables or exhibition booths for advertising products or services.                                                                        ONLY FEW EXHIBITION PLACES LEFT!

11.45 NGO accountability… what's being done to create greater transparency?

It's todays hot topic… should NGO's and companies conform to the same rules of disclosure? There are plenty of people who feel that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Listen to the 3 presentations in this session and then make up your own mind.

1 The expectations of regulators:

What standards of accountability and disclosure should registered UK charities be subject to?

Speaker: The Charity Commission, Charity Commissioner, Geraldine Peacock CBE

2 The power and the changing role of international NGOs

Speaker: Author, "The 21st Century NGO" report, SustainAbility, Director of Research and Advocacy, Seb Beloe

3 What stands in the way of greater NGO accountability?

Speaker: The One World Trust, Executive Director, Simon Burall

Speaker: Christian Aid, senior policy officer, Andrew Pendleton

Q&A with all speakers on a panel

Moderator : Ashridge Centre for business and Society, Director, Andrew Wilson

2.00 - 2.45 How to create the right balance in business/NGO partnership

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed at the UN Millennium Summit, aim to cut by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.

This led to the “Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor” (WSUP) initiative, which is a partnership between private, public and civil society. It aims to provide more effective delivery of water and basic sanitation. There are three corporate and three NGO partners involved.   Two are represented at this session.

RWE Thames Water, the world's third largest water company with 70 million customers.

CARE International a global humanitarian organisation, working with over 30 million disadvantaged people each year in 72 of the world's poorest countries.

In this session, you'll hear about:

• How the WSUP plans to retain a balance between members as it grows - and why limiting membership can help it to remain effective

• The structure: Although the alliance works on a non-profit basis the projects it develops will be for-profit. How will this work?

• How to make a 10% return and still meet stake or share holder expectations  

• Can the WSUP model be replicated?

• What can you learn from the WSUP's mistakes?

RWE Thames Water, CSR Projects Manager, Christian Matossian
Care International,Corporate Sector Adviser, Leah Hibbin

2.45 – 3.30 Consumers: How a partnership can be used to make consumers focus on sustainability issues  

In 1996 Unilever began working with the international conservation organisation WWF to establish a certification programme for sustainable fisheries. It's called the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

The MSC logo on fish products provides an assurance that the fish comes from sustainable fisheries, independently certified to the MSC Standard.

Nearly 200 products, made by different companies worldwide, now carry the MSC logo.

In this session you'll learn:  

•       How the MSC communicates sustainability issues to consumers… and the feedback so far

•       Does the MSC logo have any influence on consumer purchasing decisions?

•       How the MSC initiative created a successful partnership between Unilever and WWF even though both organisations started with different objectives

•       How did the MSC – despite many critics – succeed in bringing together a broad coalition of supporters (100 organisations in 20 plus countries)

•       What key lessons can you learn from the MSC initiative?
  

Unilever, International Marketing Manager , Dr. Dierk Peters
WWF, Company Relations Manager, Dax Lovegrove
Marine Stewardship Council, Chief Executive, Rupert Howes

3.30– 4.15 Panel Discussion: When agreements do not work out, what can be learned for the future?

In this section,   two experts  on business/NGO engagement will discuss their views  on what can be learned from partnerships  in South East Asia and elsewhere  .

You'll be free to question the panel and draw your own conclusions.

Both speakers will make 15 minutes of remarks and then take questions together from the floor.

Speakers:
Jonathan Wootliff, independent consultant and NGO engagement expert

Arian Ardie , former director of sustainability and stakeholder engagement, Asia Pulp and Paper

4.45 - 5.30 Case Study: Kraft Foods… the Rainforest Alliance … and coffee sourcing

Coffee production is a major source of income in the developing world.

However in the 1970s, many producers cleared their forested farms and switched to a new, open-field agricultural system. While these intensely managed fields  produce more beans, they require the destruction of forest and the intensive application of agrochemicals, which is an unhealthy combination for workers, wildlife and local communities. Sustainable coffee seeks to reverse this trend.

What's more, overproduction means coffee farmers have faced historically low prices. And the human and environmental consequences of this are reverberating across coffee growing regions.

Kraft Foods is a leading coffee company whose brands include Maxwell House, Jacobs, Kenco, and Carte Noire and which has been supporting sustainable coffee projects for more than a decade.Since 2003 it has partnered with Rainforest Alliance, a pioneer in forestry and agriculture certification,   in bringing sustainable coffee to its mainstream brands.

The Rainforest Alliance coordinates a NGO-led agriculture certification programme that benefits both workers and wildlife.

Hear about:

• Why the Rainforest Alliance believes this partnership will benefit farmers, consumers and the environment

• Why both parties feel the initiative will stimulate consumer demand for products that meet strict sustainability criteria

• The value of independent, third-party certification in validating company claims and improving transparency

• How a major multinational was helped by an NGO to integrate sustainability into its way of doing business

Kraft Foods, Senior Director, Commodities, Annemieke Wijn

Rainforest Alliance, Chief of Sustainability Programmes, Chris Wille
German Technical Co-operation Agency (GTZ) , Director Centre for Cooperation, Joerg Hartmann

5.30 - 6.15 Case Study : Recipe for success: Take one retailer, one apparel maker, one Trade Union with many more stakeholders. And Bulgaria . Then mix well.

There's a lot of interest today in labour conditions where clothes are produced. And that's why ethical production can mean competitive advantage. You will hear three of the pioneering stakeholders (H&M, Nike, Levi Strauss, Adidas Salomon and a Trade Union) that are helping the Bulgarian apparel industry to become a world leader in Corporate Social Responsibility.  

In this session you'll:

• Find out how the initiative encourages constructive dialogue between government, industry and the trade unions

• Learn how the initiative provides a better understanding of local, national and international laws and standards

• Discover why its important to focus on workers' rights and their impact on business operations, work qualifications, production costs and profitability

• Learn how the initiative builds a closer relationship between voluntary CSR initiatives and the General Labour Inspectorate

• Get a full and frank evaluation of the initiative - how far it's come, and where goes next?

European Trade Union Federation of Textiles, Clothing and Leather, General Secretary,  Patrick ITSCHERT

Nike, Director of Corporate Responsibility Compliance, Sonya Durkin-Jones