4.06.2005 ET

(CSRwire) BOSTON - More than 300 corporate leaders, investors and environmental experts will be converging on Boston next week for the Ceres Annual Conference April 13 and 14 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.

The conference includes dozens of workshops and plenary sessions on topics ranging from corporate social responsibility and biodiversity protection to the business impacts of the Kyoto Protocol and upcoming greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program in the Northeast.

The conference, "Building Equity/Reducing Risk," will also include keynote speeches by Gus Speth, nationally acclaimed author of the newly released book, Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment, and Timothy Wirth, former U.S. Senator from Colorado who is now president of the United Nations Foundation.

"This year's conference has attracted a rich mix of participants who will be tackling a dizzying array of environmental challenges, not the least of which is global climate change which poses enormous risks and opportunities for U.S. businesses," said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, a Boston-based coalition of environmental groups and investors.

For information on the full agenda and registration, visit www.ceres.org.

Highlights of the two-day gathering include:

Wednesday April 13

9 - 10:20 a.m.: Building Equity, Reducing Risk: What's Corporate Social Responsibility Got to Do With It?

Speakers include Pat Nathan of Dell Inc., Michael Gelobter of Refining Progress, Jane Nelson of Harvard University and Tim Smith of Walden Asset Management

10:30 a.m. - Noon: Biodiversity, Investment Risk and Best Practices

Speakers include Peter Kostishack of the Amazon Alliance, Athan Manuel of U.S. PIRG and Elizebeth McGeveran of F&C Asset Management

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.: Keynote speech by Gus Speth, dean of the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and author of Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment

2 - 3:30 p.m.: Renewable Energy: Speeding the Transition

Speakers include Stephen Kretzmann, campaign director of Oil Change, Lewis Milford of the Clean Energy Group, and John Wilson of Christian Brothers Investment Services

2 - 3:30 p.m.: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): Update on New Tools and Uptake in North America

Speakers include Paul Hilton of the Dreyfus Corp., Bob Langert of McDonalds, James Murphy of GRI and Helen Sahi of Bank of America

Thursday, April 14

9:20 - 10 a.m.: Speech by Timothy Wirth, president of the U.N. Foundation

10:15 - 11:45 a.m.: Northeast Regional Climate Action: What Does It Mean for Businesses and Investors?

Speakers include Ashok Gupta, director of air/energy program at NRDC, Sonia Hamel of MA Office of Commonwealth Development, Seth Kaplan of the Conservation Law Foundation and Robert Teetz of Keyspan

12:30 p.m.: Announce winners of the Ceres-ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards

1 - 2:15 p.m.: Kyoto, Carbon Caps and the EU: Prospects and Pitfalls for U.S. Companies

Moderated by Living on Earth radio host Steve Curwood, Speakers include Matthew Kiernan of Innovest, Paul Tebo, formerly of Dupont and now with the Tebo Group, Kevin Knobloch of the Union of Concerned Scientists and Panos Ninios of McKinsey & Co.

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