Casadia Innovation & Circular Economy Conference

7 December 2021

The Path Forward: Regional to Global Circular Solutions

• Bill Wescott, Managing Partner, BrainOxygen LLC
• Armando Yáñez Sandoval, Head of Green Growth Unit, Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)
• Frances Edmonds, Head of Sustainable Impact, HP Canada
• Robert Duff, Sustainable Business Development Director, Office of Economic Development & Competitiveness, Washington State Department of Commerce

Circular economy approaches can create trillions of dollars per year in economic gains and millions of jobs. The same approaches could achieve one third of the Paris climate goals while reducing all environmental impacts and resource consumption without major public investment. How can the private sector lead the way for this new future of commerce? What are the barriers?

• Laurent Auguste, Chief Executive Officer, Circular Resources, France
• Shannon Bouton, President and Chief Executive Officer, McKinsey.org, USA
• April Crow, Vice President, Circulate Capital, USA
• David McGinty, Global Director, Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy, The Netherlands

Chaired by

• William Wescott, Managing Partner, BrainOxygen LLC, USA

Preceding the COP26 in Glasgow the US and China agreed to strongly reduce their pollution levels, but their actual mechanisms are not yet agreed. Will this dissuade the developing Asian nations who attend COP26? What are the politics involved? What are the odds of a breakthrough like Kyoto or Paris?

• Kerry Adler, Chief Executive Officer, SkyPower Global, UAE
• Pina Hirano, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Asteria, Japan
• Kunihiko Shimada, Chief Executive Officer, K S International Strategies, Japan
• William Wescott, Managing Partner, BrainOxygen LLC, USA

Chaired by

• William Bohnett, Chairman, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, USA

As part of Princeton’s series of panel discussions on climate tech topics, this panel features one of the lead researchers of the Net-Zero America Project and three Princeton founders with innovative solutions that address carbon mitigation in various consumer sectors.

• Chris Greig, Senior Research Scientist, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University
• Randy Altschuler ’93, Founder, Mr. Fusion
• Joseph Vellone ’10, Head of North America, ev.energy
• Sanchali Pal ‘12, CEO and Founder, Joro
• Moderated by Bill Wescott '85, Managing Partner, BrainOxygen LLC

Nations globally acknowledged the 2015 UN Paris Accord yet much of the momentum to reduce climate impacts is in the private sector. Businesses working with access to over $35 trillion to address climate issues can create positive change. What is your firm doing to meet the climate change criteria? 

• William Wescott, Managing Partner, BrainOxygen LLC, USA
• Ghassan Afiouni, Managing Partner, Steel Wood Industries, UAE
• Bernhard Bauhofer, Founder and Managing Partner, Sparring Partners, Switzerland
• Jason Kibbey, Chief Executive Officer, Higg, USA
• Peter Kovacs, Founder, CQ Savvy Inc., USA

Chaired by

• Isabela del Alcazar, Global Head of Sustainability, IE University, Spain