Net Zero Collaborations & Partnerships: But How?

Welcome to this discussion with three climate leaders hailing from corporate Australia, the cutting edge of the hyperscale green economy and the ice floats of Antarctica. 

We're exploring the necessity of collaboration in driving climate action, the evolution of the new collaboration models necessary for success and how you can use these models to create deep partnerships with unlikely allies.

Your panelists are:

• Beth Dowe - Executive Director, Climate Leaders Coalition
• Dr. Fraser Thompson - co-founder and Managing Partner, Cyan Ventures; Co-founder and former Chief Strategy Officer of Sun Cable
• Liz Courtney - Award-Winning International Film Director and Climate Action Week Sydney Co-organiser

The panel will be moderated by Dan Leverington, Managing Director of The Ocelli Group, and Climate Action Week Sydney Co-organiser. 

Key themes:

• Translating science into hope and action: Combine creativity, passion, and purpose to inspire a sustainable future for all; 
• Creating the conditions for adoption readiness: Learn how building effective partnerships through cross-sector collaboration can unlock solutions and accelerate the low carbon transition;
• The new models for collaboration: If the level of required systems change is too large for one person, how do you find the people who are looking for you?
• Stakeholder Acceleration: How can you ensure the right people are involved at the right time by removing long-standing silos;
• Corporate leadership: Discover how corporations are leveraging their resources and influence to drive sustainable change;
• Startup innovation: Explore the role of startups in developing and scaling climate-focused technologies and business models dedicated to solving for real-world impact.

Come on the journey to see how cross-sector collaboration unlocks innovative solutions, how large organisations are leveraging their resources and influence sustainable change, as well as how the climate science community is collaborating with private and public partners to provide critical data, modelling and insights to through accessible climate education with your panelists. 

Beth Dowe:

Beth is the Executive Director of the Climate Leaders Coalition, an organisation that drives radical collaboration among large businesses to accelerate the transition to net-zero and nature-positive business. Under her leadership, the coalition focuses on system-level projects that capture opportunities presented by the transition, as well as future-proofing the Australian economy and ensuring a just transition. The coalition comprises 50 member CEOs from diverse industries, offering comprehensive value-chain representation to address complex strategic and operational challenges. 

Before joining the CLC, Beth spent 10 years at McKinsey & Company, where she was a leader in the sustainability consulting practice and spearheaded mergers and acquisitions for the firm's global sustainability practice. She has also worked in large scale recycling, focusing on pilot systems in South-East Asia and Europe. She began her career as a litigator with Blake Dawson (now Ashurst), bringing a strong legal foundation to her work in sustainability and business strategy.

Beth draws inspiration from her two children, her love of nature, and her dedication to creating opportunities where business and the natural world can thrive together. She has an MBA from INSEAD and is a former member of the Australian rowing squad. 

Dr. Fraser Thompson:

Fraser is an entrepreneur and economist, passionate about tackling sustainability concerns and developing a low carbon, green economy across the Asia Pacific. He now lives in Melbourne, with his wife and three young children. Fraser is currently the co-founder and Managing Partner of Cyan Ventures, a specialist sustainability project development and advisory firm that aims to create ‘Big Bets” to accelerate the shift to a green, low carbon economy. He also serves on the board of the Climateworks Centre.

His past business roles include:

Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Sun Cable, which is developing the world’s largest solar energy infrastructure network, to help electrify and decarbonise the Northern Territory and Asia Pacific region. The plans include development of the world’s largest solar farm, largest battery and longest undersea HVDC cable, bringing renewable electricity from Australia to Singapore. 

Co-founder and Managing Director of AlphaBeta, an economic strategy firm, headquartered in Singapore, which was sold to Access Partnership in November 2021. AlphaBeta worked with governments, multilateral institutions, investors (e.g., Temasek), technology firms (e.g., Google, Microsoft) and philanthropists (e.g., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) to develop new economic models to address sustainability and other societal challenges.

Senior Fellow and consultant with McKinsey & Company for 9 years, in Dubai, London and Singapore, where he led work globally on decarbonisation, sustainability and economic development topics. This included leading McKinsey Global Institute, the economic thinktank of McKinsey, on sustainability research. 

Economist at the World Bank in Washington DC, focused on East Asia and North Africa.

Lecturer in economics at Oxford University

Fraser received a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Fraser is a keen runner, and has represented Australia at international level and was a dual All-American in track and field, and cross country. He served as President of the Oxford University Athletic Club, including being named Athlete of the Decade.

Liz Courtney:

Liz Courtney is an internationally acclaimed film director and visionary science communicator dedicated to accelerating awareness and action around climate solutions. As a trailblazer in the climate education space, Liz leverages the power of storytelling to mobilise communities and inspire transformative change.

With a career spanning over 55 documentaries, a youth anime series, and numerous groundbreaking projects, Liz has become a global leader in translating complex climate science into relatable, actionable narratives. Her unique background, combining two decades in corporate communications—including roles as Managing Director at Ogilvy PR Australia and Partner at Cartwright Williams—has honed her strategic edge and innovative approach to digital, streaming, and free-to-air media.

Recognised for her creative vision and unrelenting passion, Liz was awarded the 2024 Women Changing the World in Media honour, presented by the Duchess of York in London. She has been named one of the 100 Women of Influence for uniting youth in climate action through the Youth4Planet initiative and is an inductee into the Australian Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame. Her latest book, Women Living Fearlessly, co-authored with a select group of global changemakers, underscores her commitment to empowering others.

Over the years, Liz has spearheaded groundbreaking initiatives, including Earth’s Survival with the IPCC, Mega Melt Greenland, The Tipping Points with Prof. Tim Lenton, and youth programming at COP28 Dubai. Her most recent works include Antarctica: The Giant Awakens, exploring the impact of glacial melt on sea levels, which included the first live television cross from Antarctica. Currently Liz is in development on 'The Positive Tipping Points', a documentary series spotlighting scalable solutions to the climate crisis with a social impact tool.

As Artist in Residence at The Earth Observatory of Singapore (2019–2024), Liz advanced cutting-edge projects like Changing Ocean Asia, narrated by Dr. Sylvia Earle, and Future Cities, focused on nature-based solutions. Her youth programs, including Earth Girl Mission and Daily Juice, continue to engage and educate the next generation of changemakers. Her ability to build cross-sector partnerships, coupled with her innovative approach to digital storytelling, ensures her work resonates across audiences, from grassroots communities to global policymakers.

With an unwavering commitment to translating science into hope and action, Liz exemplifies how creativity, passion, and purpose can inspire a sustainable future for all.

Dan Leverington:

Dan is a change agent for future-thinking leaders. He is passionate about harnessing the power of technology to build a sustainable and equitable future where profit and purpose are not mutually exclusive.

As the Managing Director of the The Ocelli Group, Dan is inspired to help organisations generate long-term value for all stakeholders by creating Collaborative Advantages and the cross-pollination of successful innovations.

Dan has a wealth of experience in the corporate, startup and non-profit sectors in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. He is the author of ‘Honey Drops’, a weekly Sustainability newsletter and co-host of the Green Fix podcast. 

Dan’s a creative thinker and problem solver who is doing his best to leave a positive impact on the world.

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