HLB ESG Forum 2026

Join us for an afternoon with peers, clients and stakeholders from across the ESG ecosystem.
About this Event

The ESG Pivot: From Regulatory Pressure to Strategic Advantage

ESG is moving from regulatory obligation to strategic transformation. The next competitive advantage will belong to firms that integrate sustainability into data, capital access and innovation. Join us for an afternoon with peers, clients and stakeholders from across the ESG ecosystem.

Sponsor

The ESG Forum is sponsored by FuturePlus

FuturePlus is a sustainability management and reporting platform that helps organisations turn ESG ambitions into measurable action. Operating across 17 countries and more than 30 industries, it combines technology and expert guidance to help businesses assess impact, prioritise initiatives, track performance, and deliver credible reporting. By simplifying sustainability management, FuturePlus enables organisations to embed ESG into decision-making and drive continuous improvement with confidence.

Agenda

🕑: 02:15 PM - 02:45 PM
Doors open and networking
🕑: 02:45 PM - 02:55 PM
Welcome and introductions
🕑: 02:55 PM - 03:50 PM
Keynote: Beyond Compliance: Sustainability, AI, and Long-Term Value
Host: Justin Tan

Info: Most firms still treat ESG as a compliance burden, and AI as the tool to make that burden lighter. This keynote takes a more strategic view: sustainability is a sharper way of seeing where a business genuinely creates long-term value, and AI, used with intent, can reveal that more clearly than before. Firms that gain a real advantage are those deliberate about treating sustainability as a strategic lever and equally deliberate about how they integrate AI.

What attendees will take away:
* Why sustainability is a source of business value, not just a cost of compliance
* Why your business is part of a wider system, and how AI helps you see the risks and value in it
* Why AI only accelerates the direction you've already chosen, so your intent is what really matters
* Why AI tools have real flaws, and why that makes due diligence essential before you rely on them
* Why professional judgement is what ties it all together, and why AI rewards it rather than replacing it

🕑: 03:50 PM - 04:55 PM
Panel discussion: From Compliance to Business Imperative

Info: Join moderator Bettina Cassegrain, HLB Global Director of Professional Standards and Sustainability Assurance, for a discussion on how ESG has evolved from a compliance requirement into a business imperative.

Panel speakers:
Nirav Patel, Partner, Bates Wells, Alex Smith, CEO, FuturePlus, Cecily Liu, Sustainable Finance & Investment Specialist, LSEG, and Christoph Geppert, Director, Menzies (HLB UK).

🕑: 04:35 PM - 04:45 PM
Key-take aways and closing remarks
🕑: 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Networking reception

Info: You're invited to an evening filled with drinks, canapés and networking. This reception is hosted by Menzies, one of HLB's UK member firms.