Driving sustainable change: Matt Whineray and Sir Jonathon Porritt in conversation

The Centre’s Board members, Matt Whineray and Simon Robberts, recently joined a conversation with Sir Jonathon Porritt. Hosted by our partner BNZ, the discussion shed light on key challenges and strategies for a sustainable future.

Matt Whineray on risks to investors:

“As long-term investors, we need to understand the risks that portfolio companies are holding on our behalf, because these are our risks. There are a number of system level risks that you can't stock pick your way around.  These require a different, collaborative response.”

Sir Jonathon Porritt's transition planning tips for business leaders:

1. Make it urgent – Bring forward 2050 targets to 2040 and see what happens to your transition plans

2. Make it real – Don’t be complacent about flawed scenarios and targets.  Appoint an advisory panel to scrutinise and challenge your approach. 

3. Make it collaborative - Climate change can’t be addressed by individual organisations.  Take collective action and be strategic about your partnerships. 

4. Make it binary – The old world is fossil fuels, the new world is net zero emissions.  This is not nuanced, it’s binary.

In his keynote address, Sir Jonathon also pointed to a new report from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, The Emperor's New Climate Scenarios, which highlights that widely available climate change scenarios, while necessary, systematically underestimate the risks.