Sustainability LIVE: Q+A with Ellen MacArthur Foundation

January 15, 2025

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Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero will take place on 5-6 March 2025

We caught up with the Executive Lead, Business Network of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Joe Murphy, before Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero

Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero will arrive at the QEII Centre on 5 and 6 March.

This two-day, hybrid conference will delve into the latest strategies, technologies and frameworks you can harness to advance sustainability in your organisation and achieve net zero.

During our event, you can look forward to engaging with a range of keynote presentations and panel discussions hosted by some of our industry’s leading organisations, such as EY, British Airways and Siemens Energy.

Join us this year and discover how you can embark on the route to a carbon-neutral world.

To get your exclusive ticket, click here.

Sustainability LIVE London Global Summit

Joe Murphy, Executive Lead, Business Network at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Joe Murphy, Executive Lead, Business Network at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (Credit: Chris Watt)

Joe Murphy is the Executive Lead, Business Network at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

In this role, he manages the strategy for the foundation’s business initiatives and advises cross-sector coalitions and companies on ecosystem development, strategy, organisation transformation and innovation.

Joe has over a decade of experience supporting the circular economy as a catalyst of business value and had collaborated with many globally renowned organisations, such as IDEO, IKEA, Chanel, Microsoft, H&M and Jaguar Land Rover.

He helped to grow London’s social enterprise sector and empower innovators to craft practical solutions to international challenges before joining the foundation.

At Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero, Joe will feature on our Global ESG Strategies panel alongside Michael Batstone, Global Climate Strategy Manager at IFS, Olivia Ruggles-Brise, Vice President of Sustainability at BCD Travel, Kuram Gwakyaam, Head of Sustainability at Mitie and Alessandro Spagarino, Climate Impact Advisor & Business Development Manager at Terraformation.

This panel discussion will highlight the importance of global ESG strategies in enhancing sustainable economic growth while tackling key global challenges such as social equity, ethical governance and climate change.

What inspired you to get involved in Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero?

With focus on sovereignty and competitiveness, the circular economy offers a model for long-term and resilient economic growth.

In the discourse around ESG and sustainability, this is often overlooked.

Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero should provide an opportunity to position the circular economy and share progress with influential stakeholders from across the globe.

Provide an overview of what your panel, ‘Global ESG Strategies’, will focus on.

ESG is a mixed bag and coming under increasing scrutiny for not helping to address the business fundamentals. Circular economy requires real change to businesses and supply chains, which will take innovation, supportive policy and long-term investment.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has a network of over 200 businesses ranging from start-ups to global conglomerates that are making tangible progress today but are also running into barriers they can’t address alone.

Through the panel, I hope to share a perspective on what is working and what isn’t, so we can focus attention on the areas where circular economy solutions can be ‘in the money’ today and what is needed to unlock commercial feasibility in the future.

What do you hope to achieve through our event?

What we want to see is the transition from ambition into action and for more organisations to take forward valuable learnings as they strategise for the remainder of the decade and beyond.

I hope for a rich conversation where we can celebrate successes but also be honest about the roadblocks and challenges facing organisations and discuss what needs to be done to accelerate action and ultimately provide a roadmap for other ambitious companies.

Audience at Sustainability LIVE: Net Zero 2024

What emerging trends do you believe will shape the future of sustainability over the next decade?

In short – the circular economy.

The world needs a new narrative for economic growth that responds to the world’s biggest challenges and celebrates the competitiveness and innovation that businesses are capable of.

Collectively, as a community working on these issues, we need to do a better job of marrying this vision with technological disruption, polarisation and national competitiveness.