The Highlights from Sustainability LIVE New York 2024

Connecting the world’s sustainability and ESG leaders, innovators and pioneers, this week saw the return of Sustainability LIVE New York – the ultimate event for sustainability leaders in North America.

Attendees of Sustainability LIVE New York had the opportunity to hear from influential thought leaders and experienced executives in sustainability at ESG across the two days, including:

• Deborah Dull, VP and Global Supply Chain Sustainability Leader at Genpact
• Angela Baker, Chief Sustainability Officer at Qualcomm
• Hélène Gagnon, Chief Sustainability Officer at CAE
• Heather Herndon Wright, Director of Supply Chain Diversity and Sustainability for the Vistra Corp
• Pedro Pereira, Chief Sustainability Officer (Latin America and the Caribbean) at SAP
• Noel Anderson, Chief Sustainability Officer at the American Red Cross
• Thomas Vazakas, Managing Director at Cushman & Wakefield
• Kristin Edie, Vice President of Enterprise Sustainability at Hallmark Cards
• Darcy Robison, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company 
• Shannon Schuyler, Chief Purpose and Inclusion Officer at PwC
• Ann Tracy, Chief Sustainability Officer at Colgate-Palmolive 
• Kurt Harrison, MD, Founder and Co-head of the Global Sustainability Practice at Russell Reynolds Associates
• Rachel Mattes Greenberg, Head of Sustainability at Citizens Financial Group
• Michelle Bachir, Managing Director of Sustainability Advisory (North America) at Arcadis
• Suzanne DiBianca, EVP and Chief Impact Officer at Salesforce
• Ellen Jackowski, Chief Sustainability Officer at Mastercard
• Amy Brachio, Global Vice Chair of Sustainability at EY
• Jessica Gallagher, Susterra® Marketing Manager (Americas) at Covation Bio PDO
• Jim Andrew, Chief Sustainability Officer, EVP and Executive Committee member, PepsiCo
• Madge Thomas, President of the American Express Foundation and Head of Corporate Sustainability at American Express
• Mark Hartman, CSO of the City of Phoenix
• Dave Rimkus, Associate Director, Supply Chain Renewables, Schneider Electric
• Kevin Dunkley, Chief Sustainability Officer, HH Global

Supply chain emissions

For Schneider Electric, 99% of emissions fall into the Scope 3 category – a representative statistic of the challenge that supply chain emissions are presenting for companies attempting to achieve net zero.

In his keynote address at Sustainability LIVE New York, Dave Rimkus, Associate Director, Supply Chain Renewables at Schneider Electric explored some of the key challenges that companies are facing in the space – and how Schneider Electric is battling them.

“It’s important to see companies building a better team, more resources, and getting more focus on it,” he said. 

“You really have to have supply chain sustainability embedded within your core foundational company structure, either based around metrics or within your mission. Start today. Get your hotspots. Because it's not too far away that we need to be that little, start taking action”

Founded in 1836, Schneider Electric has been a pioneer in digital automation and energy management for more than 180 years. At the core of its mission, Schneider Electric promotes progress and sustainability for all including its colleagues, customers, partners, communities and societies.

Combatting data centre energy inefficiencies 

With the rise of AI has come attention on data centres – and their energy guzzling nature. At Sustainability LIVE New York, Jessica Gallagher, Susterra Marketing Manager, Americas at CovationBio gave a keynote speech titled ‘100% Bio-Based and Responsibly Sourced Glycol for Data Center Process Cooling’ to explore. 

“It is estimated that data centres across the world account for up to 4% of global energy consumption, and contribute to 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions,” she explained.

“The International Energy Agency estimates these emissions to rise in coming years due to new technologies in the data centre world.”

So how can bio materials be incorporated into the data centre industry?

“There's an increase in power density at data centres caused by new technologies such as AI,” she says. 

“Data centre servers with increased processing capabilities are causing a lot of excess heat, so it's requiring the use of heat transfer fluids to cool equipment to be able to function properly.”

What are the audiences and speakers saying?

Pedro S. Pereira, Chief Sustainability Officer, SAP, spoke at the event:

“I was honoured to participate in Sustainability LIVE New York as a speaker. The BizClik team was incredibly engaging and wonderful to work with. They allowed me to focus on ‘The Data Journey of Sustainability Transformation,’ a crucial topic for today’s sustainability challenges. The support and professionalism of the team were outstanding. Post-event, I received numerous LinkedIn requests, which highlights the reach and impact of the event. This virtual platform truly caters to a global audience, addressing essential sustainability issues. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and look forward to participating again next year.”

Jim Andrew, CSO at PepsiCo, spoke at the event:
“Good for farmers. Good for the environment. Good for the food industry. Today at Sustainability Live New York, I was able to share how regenerative agriculture is helping to build climate resilience AND bring many other benefits for those in the food system. Thanks to Neil Perry for an enjoyable discussion on one of the most impactful changes we can make around how our crops and ingredients are grown.”

Neil Perry, Group Content Director at BizClik Media, hosted the event:

“Once again, it was a pleasure to host Sustainability Live New York, with a fantastic line-up of guests really showing their passion and expertise in the field of sustainability.  What is always fascinating is how bringing professionals together from varying industries can demonstrate the value of collaboration across different sectors to aid the sustainability agenda.”

Attendees agree: 

“Sustainability LIVE New York was very well produced. I appreciate the shorter lengths of the presentations – that makes it seem faster paced and easier to remain engaged in the virtual format.” 

“All very useful and provided some insights that I will be developing - thanks!”

“Thank you for the thoughtful and careful arrangement. The emcee/moderator is very good at engaging.”

More to come in 2024…

Sustainability Magazine will be hosting a further three events in 2024, both virtual and in-person. Don’t miss out on your chance to hear from leading industry experts at:

• Sustainability LIVE London
• The Global Sustainability & ESG Awards – Submissions now CLOSED
• Sustainability LIVE: Diversity & Inclusion – November 12

To find out more about these events and awards, click here.

Essential diary dates – 2025

• Net Zero & Scope 3 LIVE 2025 | QEII Centre, London | 5-6 March 2025
• Sustainability Singapore Virtual Conference | 19 March 2025
• Sustainability Dubai Virtual Conference | 23 May 2025
• Sustainability LIVE Chicago and Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Chicago | 4-5 June
• Sustainability LIVE & Sustainability Awards 2025 | BDC, London | 9-10 September 2025
• NEW | ClimateTech Magazine

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Make sure you check out the latest edition of Sustainability Magazine and also sign up to our global conference series - Sustainability LIVE 2024

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