Inogen WorldView® Conference, Thriving in Uncertainty Post Copenhagen: While Government Falters, Business Lead the Way - A Summary

The 18^th Inogen WorldView® Conference was hosted by Asia-Pacific Associate, Peter J Ramsay & Associates, on 20 October 2010 at the RACV Club in the international cosmopolitan city of Melbourne, Australia.

We had a fantastic turn out for the event with 40 Inogen Associates and 54 clients attending, so thank you very much for your support. We trust that you enjoyed an informative Conference!
The conference kicked off in good form with keynote speaker, Ms Anita Roper, CEO Sustainability Victoria, providing us with a snapshot of some of great work that the Victorian Government is doing to support industry in addressing the challenges of sustainability. Anita was followed by Ms Elisa de Wit, Leader of the Australian climate change practice at Norton Rose, who set the scene on Australia's policy response options following the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen, and also highlighted the opportunities that are available to those companies that act now.

Mr Tim Bowser, the Commercialisation Manager of GlaxoSmithKline and Mr Peter Dobney, Group Manager Resources and Energy, Amcor Australia were next up and it was clear that their organisations are already well ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainable development, including notably, GSKs development of its own green metrics and tools for assessing projects, and Amcor's implementation of resource efficiency programs and their preparation for transitioning to a carbon constrained economy. After a lunch showcasing regional produce with lots of networking, the high calibre of presentations continued with Mr Tim Gunning, the General Manager of Marstel Terminals, who gave us an insight into the challenges of building a world class best practice terminal facility that is both sustainable and competitive in the market place.

We finished the day with Mr Andrew Cattanach, the Sustainability Manager of ING Real Estate Investment Management, who gave an excellent overview of what sustainability means in the world of real estate and how far the industry has progressed, and where it needs to go in the future.
The take home message from the Conference was that Industry, across the board, from real estate, chemical to manufacturing, really is taking the lead on sustainability despite the lack of a clear and transparent policy response to climate change at a global level. At least that is the message we are getting from Sustainability Victoria, Norton Rose, GlaxoSmithKline, ING Real Estate, Amcor and Marstel Terminals; are you also taking the lead?

The speaker presentations are currently available to view through the Inogen website. For further information from the conference please go to www.inogenet.com.